The Government on Saturday notified key appointments for President-elect Ram Nath Kovind. IAS officer Sanjay Kothari, chairman of the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), has been appointed as Secretary, senior journalist and The Pioneer columnist Ashok Malik as Press Secretary and Gujarat’s resident commissioner in Delhi Bharat lal as Joint Secretary. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) issued an order in this regard.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, approved these appointments for an initial period of two years, it said.
A 1978-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, Kothari retired in June last year as DoPT secretary. He was in November 2016 appointed as the chief of the Government’s head-hunting agency, the PESB. Kothari has served in various positions both at the Centre and State cadre.
Malik, at present, is Distinguished Fellow at the policy think-tank Observer Research Foundation (ORF) heading its Neighbourhood Regional Studies Initiative.
His work focuses on Indian domestic politics and foreign/trade policy, and their increasing interplay. Also, on the broader process of globalisation and how it is influencing policy choices in not just the economy but in social sector spheres such as health, education and urbanisation.
A journalist for 20 years, Malik is a columnist for several leading Indian and international publications, including this newspaper.
He has co-authored and authored books, including ‘India: Spirit of Enterprise’. It encapsulates the story of the growth of India’s leading private sector industries since 1991, and its role in the Indian economy, as per his profile on the ORF’s website.
For his part, lal is a 1988-batch officer of the Indian Forest Service and at present is the Resident Commissioner of the Gujarat Government in Delhi.