The Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government on Friday announced new secretaries for five ministries/departments. This is for the first time since Modi took charge as prime minister that so many ministries have undergone bureaucratic changes at the top. The most significant shuffle seems to be that of Ashok Lavasa, who has been named secretary, environment ministry.
Lavasa, a 1980-batch Haryana cadre IAS officer, has been the civil aviation secretary since January 2014 and is believed to have been keen on a more challenging role. He was in the power ministry as special secretary before that. The environment ministry is currently the scene of action, with the Modi government focused on removing unnecessary hurdles for important infrastructure projects.
V Rajagopalan, who held the post of environment secretarytill now, has superannuated.
V Somasundaran, a 1979-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, is moving from the post of additional chief secretary in Kerala to secretary, civil aviation. He held the charge of finance and information technology in Kerala as additional chief secretary. He was earlier additional secretary at the department of defence production.