Punjabborn Rajiv Gauba takes charge as home secy
NEW DELHI : Senior IAS officer Rajiv Gauba on Thursday took charge as the Union home secretary after incumbent Rajiv Mehrishi retired from service. Mehrishi will be appointed the next comptroller and auditor general.
A 1982-batch officer of Jharkhand cadre, 59-year-old Gauba was appointed as the home secretary about two months ago and since then he has been serving in the home ministry as officer on special duty.
Gauba had served as secretary in the Union urban development ministry before being appointed on the sensitive post. Earlier, he had worked in the home ministry as additional secretary, looking after left wing extremism division.
Gauba has wide-ranging experience in senior positions at policy making and programme implementation in both central and state governments and in international organisations.
Born in Punjab in 1958, Gauba had graduated in physics from Patna University.
NEWDELHI: Outgoing Union home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi will be the next Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) as the Centre on Thursday announced a reshuffle of 17 senior bureaucrats.
The Centre also filled up a vacancy in the Election Commission with the appointment of former information and broadcasting secretary Sunil Arora as election commissioner.
Rajiv Kumar was appointed secretary in department of financial services (DFS), while Anita Karwal was named CBSE chairperson.
Along with Mehrishi, who retired on Thursday, the government’s audit watchdog also got a new deputy CAG, IA&AS officer Ranjan Kumar Ghose.
With the post of CAG, Mehrishi has now held three positions of utmost importance in the Indian bureaucracy — economic affairs secretary, home secretary and now the new auditor general.
His appointment also put to rest speculations of him taking over the governor’s post from NN Vohra.
Mehrishi will assume charge on September 24 after the incumbent CAG retires. He will be the second Union home secretary after TN Chaturvedi to become the CAG — a constitutional post.
Two years ago on August 31, 2015, the day he was to superannuate as Union finance secretary, Mehrishi was appointed as the next home secretary that gave him two more years in service.
On Thursday, two years later, the government decided to appoint him as the CAG after he retired as home secretary. This will give the 62-year-old a tenure till he attains the age of 65.
There was also a vacancy in the poll panel after Nasim Zaidi retired as chief election commissioner (CEC) in July.
As on date, Achal Kumar Joti is the CEC, while OP Rawat is the other election commissioner. The government also made a few more bureaucratic appointments on Thursday. Dr Asha Ram Sihag, secretary (coordination), in the Cabinet Secretariat will be new secretary in department of heavy industries.
Rajiv Kumar, establishment officer and special secretary in ministry of personnel, will be new secretary in department of financial services.
Pradip Kumar Tripathi, a J&K cadre IAS officer of 1987 batch, will be next establishment officer and additional secretary in the department of personnel.