PK Pradhan is new health secretary; Uday Varma in Information and Broadcasting

PK Pradhan taking charge as health secretary

IN A major bureaucratic reshuffle in Delhi’s corridors of power, two special secretaries of 1977 batch IAS, PK Pradhan and Vilasini Ramachandran, have got the secretary berths, and 1976 batch MP cadre IAS Uday Kumar Varma has been appointed as secretary, ministry of Information and Broadcasting in place of Raghu Menon, a 1974 batch Nagaland cadre IAS who had retired. PK Pradhan has become the Union health secretary, and Vilasini Ramachandran is the new secretary in the ministry of drinking water and sanitation.

Also, 1975 batch UT cadre IAS Kiran Dhingra who has been on a compulsory wait for sometime, has assumed charge of office as secretary, ministry of Panchayati Raj. Dhingra had served secretary, ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation.

Here are the key takeaways of the big-ticket reshuffles concerning important ministries.

* PK Pradhan, a 1977 batch West Bengal cadre IAS, presently special secretary in the department of health and family welfare, has been appointed as secretary, department of health and family welfare in place of K Chandramouli, a 1975 batch UP cadre IAS who had retired. An MSc in botany, Pradhan had also worked as a joint secretary in urban development ministry.

* Vilasini Ramachandran, a 1977 batch Gujarat cadre IAS and presently special secretary in the department of expenditure, has been appointed as secretary in the ministry of drinking water and sanitation in place of 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS Navin Kumar who is new chief secretary, Bihar. A post graduate in English literature, Ms Ramachandran is a Mason fellow from the USA. In late 1990s, she was the municipal commissioner, Vadodara. 

Uday K Varma (File photo)

* Uday Kumar Varma, a 1976 batch MP cadre IAS, has been appointed as secretary in the ministry of Information and Broadcasting. In early 1990s, he was on the Central deputation and had worked in the ministry of rural development and HRD. Varma was also additional secretary and special secretary in the ministry of information and broadcasting before becoming Central Provident Fund commissioner. In September, 2010 Varma became secretary in the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprise.  

* Kiran Dhingra, a 1975 batch UT cadre IAS, has already assumed charge of office as secretary in the ministry of Panchayati Raj. She had earlier worked as Director General (Shipping), in the ministry of shipping and joint secretary in the textiles ministry. She was also the chief secretary of Goa.

* In another development, the government has cancelled its earlier order of appointing VK Pipersenia, a 1980 batch Assam cadre IAS as secretary, National Commission of Scheduled Castes and debarred Pipersenia from Central deputation for a period of five years. Now, Shyam S Agarwal, a 1980 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS will become secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Castes in the rank of an additional secretary.