Senior IAS officer lC Goyal on Thursday took over as the Home Secretary, succeeding Anil Goswami who was forced to resign on Wednesday for his alleged attempt to stall the arrest of Saradha scam accused Matang Sinh by the CBI.
Goyal, a 1979-batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre, was the Rural Development Secretary. He will have a tenure of two years from Thursday. Soon after taking over, he called on Home Minister Rajnath Singh.
“I feel humbled by this huge responsibility. I will fulfill this responsibility with utmost sincerity, commitment, diligence and with a profound sense of accountability. To be able to do so, I solicit active support and cooperation of all stakeholders.
“The Ministry of Home Affairs’ mandate is essentially to ensure effective maintenance of internal security in the country. To achieve this, necessary mechanisms, policies, and measures are in place.
“Wherever required and appropriate, improvements will be made within the given time-lines. This will be done in close association and coordination with the State Governments and Union Territories,” Goyal said.
After he was asked to resign, Goswami, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Jammu & Kashmri cadre, made a request for voluntary retirement with immediate effect by waiving the notice period which was ccepted by the Government.
Vandana gets addl charge of RD Secy
New Delhi: Senior IAS officer Vandana Kumari Jena was on Thursday given additional charge of Rural Development Secretary after lC Goyal was appointed as new Home Secretary. Jena, a 1979-batch IAS officer of Odisha cadre, is currently Secretary in Department of land Resources. She will hold the charge for three months, a DoPT order said.