In major bureaucratic reshuffle, Centre appoints Arvind Shrivastava Revenue Secretary

NEW DELHI: In a significant bureaucratic reshuffle , senior IAS officer Arvind Shrivastava has been appointed as the new Revenue Secretary . Shrivastava, a 1994 batch officer from the Karnataka cadre, is currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. His appointment was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Friday.

The reshuffle, which includes over a dozen top-level appointments, also saw major changes in the finance ministry. Vumlunmang Vualnam, the current Civil Aviation Secretary, has been named as the new Expenditure Secretary, replacing Manoj Govil, who will now serve as Secretary (Coordination) in the Cabinet Secretariat.

Samir Kumar Sinha, Shrivastava’s batchmate from the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, has been appointed as the new Civil Aviation Secretary in place of Vualnam. Vivek Aggarwal, a senior IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been named Secretary, Ministry of Culture. Aggarwal was previously serving as Additional Secretary in the Department of Revenue and also held charge of Director, Financial Intelligence Unit-India.

In total, 18 senior IAS officers have been reassigned to key positions across ministries. Hari Ranjan Rao, also from the 1994 batch and currently in the PMO, will become Sports Secretary after Sujata Chaturvedi’s retirement in June 2025. Anuradha Thakur, now Additional Secretary in the Corporate Affairs Ministry, has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Department of Economic Affairs and will take over as Secretary following Ajay Seth’s retirement.

Further appointments include Rajesh Agarwal as Special Secretary in the Commerce Ministry, who will later become Commerce Secretary, and K Moses Chalai as Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises. Meeta R Lochan will move to the National Commission for Backward Classes, while Rajit Punhani is set to become Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.

Additional changes involve senior roles in the Ministries of Parliamentary Affairs, New and Renewable Energy, Youth Affairs, Food Processing Industries, and Human Rights Commission, with several officers also elevated to the rank of Special Secretary.