ACC clears major Secretary-level reshuffle; Chanchal Kumar is new Secretary, MIB

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) Tuesday (March 31, 2026) approved a series of key appointments and reshuffles at the Secretary level across various ministries and departments in the Government of India.

The names of the officers and their postings are as follows;

1. Nivedita Shukla Verma (IAS:1991:UP), Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals, Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG), Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. She will also hold additional charge as Secretary, Department of Pensions and Pensioners’ Welfare.
2. Chanchal Kumar (IAS:1992:BH), Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), has been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB).
3. Narendra Bhooshan (IAS:1992:UP), currently serving in the cadre as Additional Chief Secretary, Energy & Additional Energy Source Deptt & Technical Education, Uttar Pradesh, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Land Resources, Ministry of Rural Development.
4. Chandra Sekhar Kumar (IAS:1992:OR), Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs, has been appointed as Chief Executive Officer, National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA), Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, in the rank and pay of Secretary.
5. Sanjay Jaju (IAS:1992:TG), Secretary, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, has been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) vice Chanchal Kumar (IAS:1992:BH).
6. Srivatsa Krishna (IAS:1994:KN), Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, has been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs in place of Chandra Sekhar Kumar (IAS:1992:OR).
7. Tejveer Singh (IAS:1994:PB), currently serving in the cadre as Additional Chief Secretary, Technical Education & Industrial Training, Punjab, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals in place of Nivedita Shukla Verma (IAS:1991:UP) upon her new assignment.
8. Sanjay Lohiya (IAS:1994:AM), Additional Secretary, Ministry of Mines, has been appointed as Special Secretary, Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance by temporarily upgrading a vacant post of Joint Secretary. He will take over as Secretary, Department of Financial Services after the superannuation of Nagaraju Maddirala (IAS:1993:TR) on May 31, 2026.
9. Rohit Kansal (IAS:1995:AGMUT), Additional Secretary, Ministry of Textiles, has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Rural Development, Ministry of Rural Development vice Shailesh Kumar Singh (IAS:1991:JH) upon his superannuation on March 31, 2026.
10. Bharat Harbanslal Khera (IAS: 1995:HP), Additional Secretary, Department of Consumer Affairs, has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) in the rank and pay of Secretary. He will take over as Secretary, MSME after the superannuation of Subhas Chandra Lal Das (IAS: 1992:AGMUT) on April 30, 2026.
11. Abhishek Singh (IAS:1995:NL), Director General, National Informatics Centre (NIC), Ministry of Electronics and IT, has been appointed as Director General, National Testing Agency (NTA), Ministry of Education, in the rank and pay of Secretary by temporarily upgrading the post.
12. Bhuvnesh Kumar (IAS:1995:UP), Chief Executive Officer, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), has been appointed as Secretary, Ministry of Tourism vice Srivatsa Krishna (IAS:1994:KN).

In addition, the ACC has approved in-situ upgradation of the following officers to the level of Special Secretary in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India as a measure personal to them:

1. Sanjay Rastogi (IAS:1991:OR), Director General, National Archives of India, Ministry of Culture, has been upgraded and designated as Director General, National Archives of India in the rank and pay of Secretary.
2. Sajjan Singh Yadav (IAS: 1995:AGMUT), Additional Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, has been upgraded as Special Secretary, Department of Expenditure.