New Delhi:
PK Mishra has been appointed as Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister of India. He took over the charge on Wednesday. Mishra, a 1972 batch Gujarat cadre IAS, had earlier worked with PM Modi when he was chief minister of Gujarat. Dr Pramod Kumar Mishra has varied work experience in the management of programmes relating to agriculture, disaster management, power sector, infrastructure financing, and regulatory issues and has an outstanding career profile comprising research, publications, policy formulation and programme/project management. In June, the Modi government had accorded cabinet rank to then Principal Secretary to the PM Nripendra Misra and Additional Principal Secretary PK Mishra. Both senior-most bureaucrats were also granted extensions.
Mishra has vast experience in policy making and administration and has handled major assignments such as Additional Principle Secretary to the Prime Minister; Secretary, Agriculture and Cooperation, Government of India; Chairman, State Electricity Regulatory Commission and in the area of Disaster management. As Secretary Agriculture& Cooperation, he was actively involved in path-breaking national initiatives such as the National Agriculture DevelopmentProgramme (RKVY)and the NationalFood SecurityMission(NFSM). As Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister during 2014-19. Dr Mishra is credited with introducing innovation and transformative changes in human resource management, particularly appointments to senior positions.
Meanwhile, in another key appointment, former Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha has also been made the principal advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, an official order said on Wednesday. Sinha was last month appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the PMO. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of P K Sinha, currently functioning as OSD in the Prime Minister's Office, as Principal Advisor to Prime Minister with effect from 11th September, 2019, according to the order.
In July, the Narendra Modi government reshuffled top bureaucrats in 12 ministries. It was the first such rejig of the Modi government 2.0. According to multiple media reports, Finance Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has been moved out. He has been transferred to the power ministry. Another big name in the reshuffle is that of Atanu Chakraborty. In charge of the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management, Chakraborty has now been appointed as economic affairs secretary.
