The most significant transfers are of Tarun Bajaj & AK Sharma from the PMO to 2 key posts that will play a big role in economic recovery.
New Delhi| India is in its final week to complete the 40-day lockdown on May 3. The purpose of lockdown was to curb the spread of highly infectious novel coronavirus but it has also impacted the economic activities of the country.
A major bureaucratic reshuffle amid national lockdown may have come as a surprise for a few, but looking at the appointments made on Sunday explains the motive behind the move.
Most significantly, senior IAS officers AK Sharma and Tarun Bajaj, both close aides of PM Modi, were moved out of the Prime Minister’s Office to take on key economic roles.
A 1988-batch IAS of Gujarat cadre, Sharma was considered as one of the most powerful bureaucrats in the Prime Minister’s Office as he has been with Narendra Modi since October 2001 when he took over as the CM of Gujarat. He will take over as the Secretary, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises.
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The other major shift has been that of Baja who has been made the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) Secretary in the finance ministry. A 1988-batch Haryana cadre officer, he will replace Atanu Chakraborty, who will be retiring later this month.
The Central government has appointed 23 new secretaries as part of the reshuffle.
The move indicates that the Prime Minister wants the focus now to be fully on reviving the economy, even as the forecast says that there could be a massive prolonged slowdown.
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