NEW DELHI: The government has appointed a new set of secretaries, naming Arunish Chawla as the new Revenue Secretary, just five weeks ahead of the Union Budget. Chawla, a 1992-batch IAS officer from the Bihar cadre, will lead the revenue department, taking over from Sanjay Malhotra, who was recently appointed Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.
Other key appointments include Vineet Joshi, the Chief Secretary of Manipur, who will head the Higher Education Department, and Rachna Shah, who will oversee the Department of Personnel and Training. Shah, a 1991-batch IAS officer from Kerala, will be replaced by Neelam Shami Rao, her junior from Madhya Pradesh, who was serving as the Secretary of the National Commission for Minorities.
Amit Agrawal, currently the CEO of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), will move to the Pharmaceuticals Department, succeeding Chawla. Meanwhile, Sanjay Sethi, a Maharashtra-cadre IAS officer, will replace Rao in the textiles department. Neerja Sekhar, from Haryana, has been appointed as the Director General of the National Productivity Council.
Joshi’s appointment to head the Higher Education Department comes a day after Ajay Bhalla was named the Governor of Manipur. Joshi’s career in the education sector, which includes roles as Additional Secretary in the Education Department and leadership positions in the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the National Testing Agency (NTA), made his appointment widely anticipated.
Chawla’s appointment as Revenue Secretary completes the team for the upcoming budget season. Despite not having direct experience in the revenue department, Chawla’s background is impressive, having served as Joint Secretary in the Expenditure Department, where he managed the critical Plan Finance Division overseeing major government schemes. Chawla also holds a doctorate from the London School of Economics and has worked as a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Additionally, he served as the Minister (Economic) at the Indian Embassy in Washington.
With the Union Budget just weeks away, Chawla will have to quickly navigate the demands of industry while ensuring robust government revenue streams.
