Several DANICS officers made secretaries to Delhi Ministers

New Delhi: More than half a dozen officers from the Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS) have been assigned new responsibilities to assist ministers in the newly formed Delhi government. Previously posted in various departments, these officers will now serve as secretaries to ministers in the new administration.

DANICS officer Rajiv Shukla has been appointed as the secretary to Minister Parvesh Sahib Singh, while Anoop Thakur will assume the role of secretary to Minister Ashish Sood. Prior to this, Thakur served as a Director in the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). Additionally, 2009-batch DANICS officer Vadodaria Karanjit has been designated as the secretary to Minister Ravindra Singh Indraraj. He was previously posted as Joint Commissioner in the Trade and Tax Department.

DANICS officer Vaibhav Rikhari will now serve as the secretary to Health Minister Pankaj Kumar Singh, having previously held the position of Additional District Magistrate (ADM) in North East Delhi. Mohit Mishra, formerly a Director in the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), has been appointed as the secretary to Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa. Meanwhile, Vinay Kumar Jindal, who was posted as ADM in the Revenue Department, will serve as secretary to Minister Kapil Mishra.

For all six ministers, this is the first time they will be working directly with a dedicated secretary. During the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, these officers were not directly associated with any ministers. Among them, DANICS officer Vineet Kumar is the only one to have been appointed as the secretary to Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta. Vineet Kumar had also worked with Gupta when he was the Leader of the Opposition.

In related developments, DANICS officer Lalit Mittal, who previously served as an Election Officer, will now take on the role of Deputy Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office. Similarly, Devendra Kumar Upadhyay has also been appointed as Deputy Secretary in the Chief Minister’s Office. These transfers were carried out under the orders of the Lieutenant Governor, with Deputy Secretary of the Services Department, Bhairav Dutt, issuing the formal appointment orders.

Notably, the new BJP government in Delhi, formed a month ago under Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, is preparing to present its first budget. Gupta and her six ministers have taken charge of their respective departments and are currently holding extensive meetings at the Secretariat. The budget session of the Delhi Assembly is scheduled to take place from March 24 to March 27, with Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, who also holds the Finance portfolio, set to present the budget

on March 25.