MEA gets a new joint secretary to handle Sanskrit; more about officers with knowledge of Sanskrit

Rig Veda: A collection of hymns written in Sanskrit

IN A first-of-its kind experiment, a new post of joint secretary for Sanskrit language has been created in the ministry of external affairs (MEA). And the announcement was made by none other than external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj herself while addressing over 600 Sanskrit experts in a conference in Bangkok on Sunday. The minister said, the Sanskrit language is “modern and universal” and…
knowledge in Sanskrit would go a long way in finding solutions to the contemporary global problems.
But the question is how many IAS or IFS officers have any basic expertise on Sanskrit? As soon as the BoI tweeted this news on Sunday morning, a reader said, “@babublogger @arvindpadhee #sanskrit Arvind sir is the best man for that job. But perhaps that is for IFS officer…”, indicating that 1996 batch Odisha cadre IAS Arvind Padhee has a good understanding of the language and can handle the post. Padhee is secretary, Odisha tourism, and is a union joint secretary-empanelled officer.
BoI had mentioned in earlier posts that Kapil Dev Tripathi, 1980 batch Assam cadre IAS and current union petroleum secretary, has a good command over Sanskrit language. Brought up in Allahabad, he learnt Sanskrit at his childhood. One of his brothers is a Sanskrit scholar.
Among the joint secretary-level IAS officers of 1985 batch, who were recently empanelled as additional secretaries, two officers -- Ms Surina Rajan of Haryana cadre and Ms Kalpana Mittal Baruah of Punjab cadre — know Sanskrit language, according to the data available with DoPT.
In fact, Sanskrit is a pre-classical form of the language and many of the Indian languages have actually derived from it. The oldest known text in Sanskrit is the Rigveda which is a collection of hymns composed during the 2nd millenium BC.
Do you know any officer with a command over Sanskrit? If yes, don't pose. Just write about the officer in the comment box below.