Samir Kumar Sinha Named Civil Aviation Secretary in Major IAS Reshuffle

New Delhi, April 18, 2025 — In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), operating under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, on Friday, approved several high-level appointments and transfers of senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers. A large number of appointments were from the 1994 batch across various state cadres.

Samir Kumar Sinha Appointed Civil Aviation Secretary
Samir Kumar Sinha, IAS (Assam-Meghalaya cadre: 1994), has been appointed as the new Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He will replace Vumlunmang Vualnam, who has now been posted as Secretary, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance.

Hari Ranjan Rao Moves to Sports Ministry
Hari Ranjan Rao, IAS (Madhya Pradesh cadre: 1994), currently serving as Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. He will eventually take over as Secretary in the department.

Other Key Appointments Include:

• Rajesh Kumar Sinha, IAS (Kerala: 1994), as Special Secretary, Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways.
• Ranjana Chopra, IAS (Odisha: 1994), as Special Secretary and Financial Advisor, Ministry of Culture.
• Rajesh Agarwal, IAS (Manipur: 1994), as Special Secretary, Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• Arvind Shrivastava, IAS (Karnataka: 1994), as Secretary, Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance.
• Vivek Aggarwal, IAS (Madhya Pradesh: 1994), as Secretary, Ministry of Culture.
• Santosh Kumar Sarangi, IAS (Odisha: 1994), as Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
• Pallavi Jain Govil, IAS (Madhya Pradesh: 1994), as Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
• Nidhi Chhibber, IAS (Chhattisgarh: 1994), as OSD, Ministry of Food Processing Industries (with the rank and pay of Secretary).
• Anuradha Thakur, IAS (Himachal Pradesh: 1994), as OSD, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance (with Secretary-level rank).

Additional Secretary-Level Appointments:

• Meeta R. Lochan, IAS (Maharashtra: 1990), as Secretary, National Commission for Backward Classes, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
• K. Moses Chalai, IAS (Manipur: 1990), as Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises, Ministry of Finance.
• Manoj Govil, IAS (Madhya Pradesh: 1991), as Secretary (Coordination), Cabinet Secretariat.
• Vandana Gurnani, IAS (Karnataka: 1991), as Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment.
• Rajit Punhani, IAS (Bihar: 1991), as Secretary, Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
• Ashish Srivastava, IAS (Madhya Pradesh: 1992), as Secretary, Inter-State Council Secretariat, Ministry of Home Affairs.
• Nikunja Bihari Dhal, IAS (Odisha: 1993), as Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.
• Rakesh Kumar Verma, IAS (Punjab: 1993), as Director General, India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management (with Secretary-level rank).

Tenure Extension in NHRC
The ACC also extended the tenure of Bharat Lal, retired Indian Forest Service (IFoS) officer, as Secretary General of the National Human Rights Commission. His service has been extended for another year beyond June 30, 2025, on a contractual basis.

Most of these appointments will take effect following the superannuation of incumbents or reassignment of posts, primarily around May 31, 2025.