PK Mishra appointed PM's new Principal Secretary

Former IAS officer P K Mishra was on Wednesday appointed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Principal Secretary while former Cabinet Secretary P K Sinha was chosen as Principal Advisor to the Prime Minister, which is a new post.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) chaired by the Prime Minister cleared the appointments and the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued the orders.

Mishra (71), currently the Additional Principal Secretary of the Prime Minister, succeeds Nripendra Misra who quit on August 30.

The former Gujarat cadre IAS officer of 1972 batch, who also has a doctorate in economics, is known close to Modi and has been part of the Prime Minister's Office since May 2014. Both Misra and Mishra were re-appointed in May this year after Modi's re-election and accorded Cabinet rank.

When Modi was Gujarat Chief Minister, Mishra was his Principal Secretary.

Sinha (64), a 1977 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, was appointed Officer on Special Duty in the Prime Minister's Office on August 30 on his last day as Cabinet Secretary. He was succeeded by former Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba as Cabinet Secretary.

Both the appointments will be co-terminus with the term of the Prime Minister or until further orders, whichever is earlier, the order said.

On August 30, the government also brought in fresh faces to the Prime Minister's Office, including Karnataka cadre IAS officer Arvind Shrivastava as a Joint Secretary.

Shrivastava, a 1994-batch officer, is presently a Joint Secretary in Department of Economic Affairs. His central deputation ends in May 2023 only.

Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar's Private Secretary Hardik Satishchandra Shah, a 2010-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, has also been shifted to the PMO as Deputy Secretary.

IFS officers Abhishek Shukla and Pratik Mathur have also been appointed as Deputy Secretary while IA&AS officer Saurabh Shukla will be a Director in PMO.