Manoj Ahuja Appointed As New Agriculture Secretary in a Bureaucratic Reshuffle

According to a decision made by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Tuesday, Manoj Ahuja, currently Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary Education, would take over as Agriculture Secretary when incumbent Sanjay Agarwal retires at the end of March.

For the time being, he has been assigned to the Agriculture Ministry as an ‘Officer on Special Duty’.                                                                                                  

Ahuja, an IAS officer of the 1990-batch is currently serving as the Chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education, Ministry of Education, in the rank of Secretary to Government of India. He holds a B.E (Mech.) Degree from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala, MBA from Punjab University, Chandigarh and Masters in Public Administration (International Development) from Harvard University, USA. Having numerous training modules and research papers to his credit, the new Agriculture secretary is credited with an extensive experience and professionalism. 

The ACC also confirmed REC Chairman Sanjay Malhotra's appointment as the New Secretary, Department of Financial Services. Malhotra has an exhaustive power sector experience. The reforms-based result-linked power distribution sector scheme to be applicable till 2025-26 aims to reduce India’s AT&C loss to 12-15% and gradually narrow the deficit between the cost of electricity and the price at which it is supplied to ‘zero’ by 2024-25. Arti Ahuja, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Health, has been named as the next Secretary of Chemicals and Petrochemicals. 

Alkesh Kumar Sharma, a Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, has been appointed as Secretary (Coordination) in the Secretariat. Commerce special secretary, S. Kishore has been appointed chairman of the staff selection commission, while Central vigilance commission Additional Secretary P.Daniel has been posted as secretary to the commission.