NEW DELHI, AUG 29:
Senior IAS officers V Somasundaran and Rakesh Singh were today appointed as new secretaries in ministries of Civil Aviation and Steel respectively.
Somasundaran, who is serving in Kerala, will take over the charge from Ashok Lavasa, who has been appointed Secretary in Ministry of Environment and Forests. Somasundaran is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.
NEW DELHI: In a first sign of interministerial squabble, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan to carve out a separate department for skill development and entrepreneurship is facing stiff resistance from ministries who will see a major chunk of their funds disappear if the plan is approved.
Skill development is a massive government programme with annual allocation of about ` 5,000 crore. The funds and the work are spread over 11 ministries including HRD, labour and rural development that often end up working at cross purposes.