Union Power Secretary Pradeep Kumar Sinha was appointed as the new Cabinet Secretary on Friday.
Sinha, a 1977-batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, will succeed Ajit Seth who held the position for four years. For now, he has been asked to take over as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in Cabinet Secretariat, an official release said, and he will formally take over the new charge on 13 June.
Sinha's appointment was approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who also heads the Cabinet Secretariat. He has been serving as power secretary since July 2013 and has served as shipping secretary earlier, apart from holding several other important positions at the Centre and in UP, according to the Press Information Bureau release.
Seth, who is also a UP cadre IAS officer of 1974-batch, had taken over as Cabinet Secretary on 14 June 2011 with a two-year fixed tenure. It was extended by a year by the then UPA government and the NDA regime consequently gave him two extensions of six months each.
As the Cabinet Secretary, Sinha will also be the ex-officio chairman of the Civil Services Board. The secretariat assists in decision-making of the government by ensuring inter-ministerial coordination.
