Old hand in tourism Lalit K Panwar appointed as tourism secretary; where is Mayaram heading for?

Lalit K Panwar

THE government has cancelled the appointment of finance secretary Arvind Mayaram as tourism secretary, and instead brought in a veteran in tourism sector Lalit K Panwar, as India’s new tourism secretary, according to an order dated October 29. Panwar, 1979 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS, has been working as secretary in the ministry of minority affairs. Now, Mayaram has been appointed as…
secretary in the ministry of minority affairs. Mayaram, a 1978 batch IAS of Rajasthan cadre, was appointed as tourism secretary only a fortnight ago (by an order dated October 15). Meanwhile, in the wake of the delay in Rajasthan chief secretary and Mayaram’s batch-mate Rajiv Mehrishi’s taking over as secretary in department of economic affairs under finance ministry, the government in a separate order has given additional charge of the post of DEA secretary to expenditure secretary Ratan P Watal, for one month or until further order.
Panwar, who is armed with a PhD degree in tourism, has been known in the art, culture and tourism sector. Between 2010 and 2013, he was vice chairman and MD of India Tourism Development Corporation before getting appointed as minority affairs secretary. Earlier, in 1990s, Panwar was Rajasthan government’s secretary in-charge of tourism, art and culture.
Early in his career as an IAS, Panwar was city magistrate of Bikaner, and then additional collector in Bharatpur district. Between 1985 and 1988, he was collector of Jaisalmer.
Panwar is an MSc in zoology. He will retire in July 2015.