By THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA.COM| A significant administrative reshuffle sees the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approving 48 appointments at Joint Secretary and equivalent levels, strengthening governance across key ministries and departments.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved a wide-ranging set of appointments at the Joint Secretary and equivalent levels, reflecting a strategic effort to reinforce administrative capacity across critical sectors of the Government of India. The appointments span agriculture, defence, finance, infrastructure, social sectors, and governance institutions, indicating a balanced deployment of experienced officers.

Notably, Kapil Meena has been appointed Managing Director of National Horticulture Board, while Priyanka Das takes charge as Joint Secretary in Civil Aviation. The defence sector sees multiple inductions including Preeti Meena, Shailesh Kumar Chourasia, and Vinod Kumar, alongside financial oversight with Ajeet Kumar Srivastava as Additional FA.

Economic governance is further strengthened with Sakshi Mittal and Laya Madduri in the Department of Economic Affairs, while strategic ministries like Home Affairs, Power, and Road Transport witness key appointments. Hardik Satishchandra Shah’s appointment as Private Secretary to the Prime Minister stands out among high-profile postings.

The reshuffle also reflects focus on social and developmental sectors, with appointments in Health, Labour, Tribal Affairs, and Social Justice. Institutions like LBSNAA, NITI Aayog, EPFO, and NMCG also receive new leadership at senior levels.

Overall, the appointments underline the government’s emphasis on administrative continuity, domain expertise, and efficient policy execution across sectors.

Kapil Meena appointed MD, National Horticulture Board under Agriculture Ministry for tenure up to January 2027, replacing B. Srinivas; earlier appointment order of Satyendra Singh stands cancelled.

G Venkatesh appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Chemicals and Petrochemicals for five-year tenure, succeeding Deepak Mishra, strengthening administrative leadership in the key industrial sector.

Priyanka Das appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation, for tenure up to March 2030, replacing Shobhit Gupta, bringing administrative experience to aviation sector governance.

Jawahar Packirisamy appointed Chairman, MPEDA under Commerce Ministry at Joint Secretary level for five years, succeeding Dodda Venkata Swamy, strengthening marine exports sector administration.

Preeti Meena appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Defence, for tenure up to February 2028, replacing Mayank Tewari, contributing to policy and administrative functions in defence sector.

Shailesh Kumar Chourasia appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Defence for five-year tenure, succeeding Rakesh Mittal, enhancing administrative capacity in defence establishment.

Vinod Kumar appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Defence for five-year tenure, replacing Dharmendra Kumar Singh, contributing to defence administration and policy coordination.

Ajeet Kumar Srivastava appointed Additional FA and Joint Secretary, Department of Defence, for tenure up to April 2029, succeeding Vedveer Arya, strengthening financial oversight.

Vipul Aggarwal appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region for tenure up to March 2027, replacing Shantanu, focusing on regional development initiatives.

Sakshi Mittal appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs for tenure up to May 2029, replacing Rajeev Saksena, contributing to economic policy formulation.

Laya Madduri appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs with upgraded post for two years, tenure up to April 2030, strengthening financial administration framework.

Vikas Singh appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities for tenure up to April 2026, enhancing inclusive policy implementation.

Girish Chandrashekhar Hosur appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities till October 2027, strengthening leadership in social justice initiatives.

Chaudhari Uday Gaurishankar appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change for tenure up to June 2026, contributing to environmental governance.

Bandana Preyashi appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Fertilizers for five-year tenure, replacing Aneeta C Meshram, strengthening policy execution in fertilizer sector.

Venkata Nagi Reddy Kovvuri appointed Executive Director (General), Food Corporation of India, till September 2029, succeeding Sachindra Kumar Patnaik, enhancing food distribution management.

Muthukumar Alagumuthu appointed Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare for tenure up to December 2027, replacing Ankita Mishra Bundela, strengthening public health administration.

Prabhakar appointed Joint Secretary, Health and Family Welfare for five-year tenure, replacing Vijay Nehra, contributing to healthcare policy and programme implementation.

Mahatme Sandeep Namdeo appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs for tenure up to May 2026, replacing Lokhande Prashant Sitaram, strengthening internal security administration.

Rakesh Rathi appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs for five-year tenure, replacing Anant Kishore Saran, enhancing governance in internal security matters.

Karma R Bonpo appointed Director of Census Operations and Citizen Registration, Sikkim at Joint Secretary level, for tenure up to November 2027, strengthening census administration.

S Tejaswi Naik appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment for tenure up to December 2027, enhancing labour policy and employment initiatives.

Shakil Alam appointed Additional CPFC (HQ), EPFO for five-year tenure, replacing Bhaskar Choradia, strengthening provident fund administration and services.

Parikipandla Narahari appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Land Resources for five-year tenure, replacing Kunal Satyarthi, contributing to land management and policy.

Ramesha G appointed Incharge, Central Agency Section, Department of Legal Affairs at Joint Secretary level for tenure up to May 2027, strengthening legal administration.

Kulveer Singh Yadav appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Mines for five-year tenure, replacing Dinesh Mahur, enhancing mineral sector governance.

Mohammad Afzal appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs for tenure up to October 2027, replacing Shersha, strengthening minority welfare initiatives.

Anupam Kumar appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy for five-year tenure, replacing Sanjay Chilwarwar, boosting renewable energy policies.

Pradeep Singh appointed Adviser, NITI Aayog at Joint Secretary level for tenure up to February 2027, replacing Jayant Singh, contributing to policy think-tank functions.

Shanmuga Priya Mishra appointed Joint Director, LBSNAA at Joint Secretary level for tenure up to February 2029, strengthening training of civil servants.

Ganesh Shankar Mishra appointed Joint Director, LBSNAA at Joint Secretary level for tenure up to February 2029, replacing Udit Agrawal, enhancing training administration.

Harmit Singh Pahuja appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training for tenure up to November 2026, strengthening personnel administration.

Venkatesapathy S appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways for tenure up to May 2028, enhancing maritime sector governance.

Praveen P Nair appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways for tenure up to July 2029, replacing R Lakshmanan, strengthening maritime administration.

Pankaj Kumar appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Power for five-year tenure, replacing Mohammad Afzal, contributing to power sector policy.

Hardik Satishchandra Shah appointed Private Secretary to the Prime Minister at Joint Secretary level on co-terminus basis, strengthening PMO functioning.

Kajal appointed Joint Secretary, DPIIT for tenure up to April 2028, replacing Sandhya Bhullar, contributing to industrial promotion policies.

Sumeet Kumar Jarangal appointed Joint Secretary, DPIIT for tenure up to April 2028, replacing Sanjiv, strengthening industry and trade facilitation.

Rohan Chand Thakur appointed CEO, National Land Monetization Corporation at Joint Secretary level for tenure up to February 2030, replacing Vikas Anand.

Shankar Lal Kumawat appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Revenue for tenure up to March 2030, replacing Naval Kishore Ram, strengthening revenue administration.

Udit Agrawal appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways for tenure up to January 2030, replacing Vinay Kumar, enhancing infrastructure governance.

Sanjay Chilwarwar appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Social Justice and Empowerment till August 2029, replacing Latha Ganapathy, strengthening welfare policies.

Saravanan M appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Space for five-year tenure, strengthening administrative support to space sector.

K Balaji appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Telecommunications for tenure up to April 2027, replacing Sunil Kumar Verma, enhancing telecom governance.

Alaknanda Dayal appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Textiles for five-year tenure, replacing Ajay Gupta, strengthening textile sector administration.

Suvasish Das appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourism for tenure up to June 2026, replacing Mebanshailang Synrem, promoting tourism development.

Pratima Satish Kumar Verma appointed Commissioner, NESTS at Joint Secretary level for five-year tenure, strengthening tribal education initiatives.

Rashi Sharma appointed Executive Director (Admin), NMCG at Joint Secretary level for five-year tenure, replacing Satya Prakash Vashishth, strengthening Ganga rejuvenation efforts.