IAS Rakesh Kumar Verma appointed Additional Secretary in the DoWR, RD&GR; 2 officers shuffled, 2 granted in-situ upgradations

New Delhi: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) recently appointed three IAS officers to Additional Secretary positions. Two officers also received in-situ upgradation to the level of Additional Secretary. The names and new designations of the officers are as follows:

IAS Rakesh Kumar Verma has been appointed as the Additional Secretary in the Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti. Verma, a 1993-batch officer from the Punjab cadre, is currently serving as the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism.

IAS officer Suman Billa has been appointed as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, replacing Rakesh Kumar Verma upon his transfer. This appointment keeps Verma’s temporary upgrade to the Joint Secretary position going. He is a 1996-batch officer from the Kerala cadre.

IAS officer Aradhana Patnaik has been appointed as Additional Secretary in the Department of Health & Family Welfare. Patnaik, a 1998-batch officer from the Jharkhand cadre, is currently posted as the Joint Secretary in the same department.

Additionally, the ACC has approved the in-situ upgradation of two officers to the level of Additional Secretary to the Government of India, temporarily upgrading the posts held by them:

1998 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer Himani Pande (IAS) has been appointed as Additional Secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Pande is currently the Joint Secretary at DPIIT.
IAS officer Kamal Kishore Soan (IAS), also from the 1998 batch and Jharkhand cadre, has been appointed as Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Labour & Employment. Soan is currently posted as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Labour & Employment.