PMO secretary gets 3-month extension

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday accorded a three-month extension to his secretary, R Ramanujan, an IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre of 1979 batch. 

The extension to Ramanujam was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) in public interest on contract basis for a period of three months beyond the date of his superannuation, an official release said on Thursday.

Ramanujam, a 1979-batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre, had joined as additional secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on September 1, 2011. He became secretary in the PMO on November 1 of last year. He worked in the PMO between 1997 and 2000, when Inder Kumar Gujral (Janata Dal) and Atal Bihari Vajpayee (BJP), respectively, were prime ministers.

Meanwhile, the appointment of IAS officer Rajiv Nayan Choubey as additional secretary in the PMO has been cancelled by the government. The decision came a week after the Appointment Committee of Cabinet had approved Choubeys appointment in place of Shatrughan Singh who was moved to Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP), Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

Choubey, who was appointed as ádditional secretary in the PMO, was due to become secretary in a few months, officials said. The prime minister has already picked P K Mishra as additional principal secretary, a new position in the PMO hierarchy.

Choubey, a 1981-batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, who was earlier the additional secretary in the Ministry of Power, was appointed as additional secretary in the PMO on June 12. The buzz in the official corridors was that Choubey was opposed by an industrial house because of his previous role as the Director General (Hydrocarbons).