NEW DELHI: The government has ordered major reshuffle at the Secretary level with senior IAS officer, Neeraj Mittal, Telecom Secretary, shifted to the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas as Secretary.

Mittal will take over from Pankaj Jain (IAS: 1990: AM), who will demit office to assume the charge of Member Secretary for the upcoming Eighth Central Pay Commission.

Amit Agrawal (IAS: 1993: CG) has been appointed as Secretary, Department of Telecommunications. Agrawal moves from the Department of Pharmaceuticals, where he was serving as Secretary.

The Department of Pharmaceuticals under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers will now be headed by Manoj Joshi (IAS: 1989: KL), who moves from his current post as Secretary, Department of Land Resources.

Union Tourism Secretary V Vidyavathi (IAS: 1991: KN) shifted to the Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities under the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, replacing Rajesh Aggarwal.

She is succeeded by Srivatsa Krishna (IAS: 1994: KN), who was awaiting a posting in his cadre.

Sunil Paliwal (IAS: 1993: TN), currently the Chairperson of the Chennai Port Trust, has been appointed as the Chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI). The post was temporarily upgraded to the Secretary level to accommodate Paliwal's appointment. 

Atish Chandra (IAS: 1994: BH), presently serving as Special Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare.

Chandra will eventually succeed Devesh Chaturvedi (IAS: 1989: UP) as the Departmental Secretary upon Chaturvedi's superannuation on February 28, 2026, officially taking charge from February 1, 2026.