Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, May 2: Former petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor was named as an advisor to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the Centre on Monday.
Kapoor, a 1987 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the Himachal Pradesh cadre, retired from service in November and was later tasked to lead the Energy Transition Advisory Committee, a panel established by the oil ministry in December to develop an energy transition roadmap for the oil and gas sector. After Amit Khare, who was appointed in October last year, Kapoor will be the second officer admitted as an advisor in the PMO.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved appointment of Kapoor, as advisor to the Prime Minister, in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), in the rank and scale of Secretary to Government of India, initially for a period of two years from the date of joining,” it said.
Along with Kapoor, two IAS officials, Atish Chandra and Hari Ranjan Rao, were appointed as additional secretaries to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Monday.
Atish Chandra, a Bihar cadre IAS officer from the 1994 batch Chandra was the chairman and director of the Food Corporation of India (FCI), whereas Rao, a Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer from the 1994 batch, is the administrator of the Department of Telecommunications’ Universal Services Obligation Fund.
Meanwhile, Sanjay Kumar a 1990 batch officer who is currently serving in Bihar’s Nitish Kumar government, has been named Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs. SKG Rahate, a classmate of his, has been named Secretary of the Department of Justice. Rahate was previously an additional secretary at the Ministry of Power.
Devendra Kumar Singh, a Kerala cadre 1989 batch IAS officer who served as Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation, has been appointed Secretary General of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).