PM Modi reorganizes Prime Minister's Office (PMO); shuffles work allocation
Before starting his week-long trip to the US, Prime Minister Narendra Modi completed the process of revamping his office, formally known as Prime Minister's Office (PMO). The said reorganization was done with respect to work allocation to senior officers, and is aimed at upping efficiency and ensuring optimum delivery. The process of revamp was commenced in late August. Here are more details.
Additional Secretary Tarun Bajaj to handle Parliament, RTI
Following the said makeover, many old faces have gone and responsibilities have been reshuffled. Additional Secretary Tarun Bajaj, a 1988 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, has been handed charge of key ministries. These include Parliament, Right to Information (RTI), and Jammu & Kashmir and the Northeastern states and Haryana. Additionally, he will look over finance, trade, corporate affairs, NITI Aayog and statistics.
Arvind Kumar Sharma handed charge of civil aviation and petroleum
Another 1988 batch IAS officer, Arvind Kumar Sharma, who is in charge of most infrastructure industries, has been given additional charge of civil aviation and petroleum. Furthermore, responsibility of politically crucial states of Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala and Odisha has also been handed to him.
Debashree Mukherjee to oversee social-sectors; Gopal Baglay to handle defense
Moving on, Debashree Mukherjee has been positioned as the Joint Secretary in-charge of social sectors like health, human resources, and skill-development. On the other hand, Foreign Service officer Gopal Baglay will continue to handle defense, external affairs and atomic-energy, while charge of all finance and industry-related departments remains with Arvind Shrivastava. Finally, V Seshadri will handle personnel, anti-corruption unit and appointments committee of Cabinet.
Agriculture and rural sectors are with Shrikar Pardeshi
As far as agriculture and rural sectors are concerned, these have been allocated to Shrikar Pardeshi. Work concerning other states has also been divided among other joint secretaries, except Baglay. Reportedly, PM Modi has also ensured that joint secretaries aren't given any undue tenure extension. Notably, PM's private secretaries, Principal secretary, NSA Doval, and Principal adviser have a tenure same as the PM.
