Deepti Gaur Mukerjee named Higher Education Secretary after NEET row

The Centre has appointed Deepti Gaur Mukerjee as Higher Education Secretary in a late-night reshuffle. The move comes amid the NEET paper leak controversy and wider changes across key ministries.

In Short

• Mukerjee replaces Vineet Joshi, who moved to Panchayati Raj ministry
• Her appointment partially modifies the Centre's July 23 bureaucratic order
• Naresh Pal Gangwar was earlier slated for the higher education post

Senior bureaucrat Deepti Gaur Mukerjee has been appointed as the new Higher Education Secretary as part of a top-level bureaucratic reshuffle carried out by the Centre on Monday. She succeeds Vineet Joshi, who was appointed Secretary in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj last month.

The Personnel Ministry said late on Monday night that the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet had approved Mukerjee's appointment in a partial modification of its July 23 order. The appointment comes in the wake of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) paper leak controversy.

Mukerjee, a 1993 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, is currently serving as the Corporate Affairs Secretary. In the earlier order, Naresh Pal Gangwar, Secretary in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, had also been named Higher Education Secretary in place of Joshi.

Following the latest changes, Youth Affairs Secretary Pallavi Jain Govil will be the new Corporate Affairs Secretary in place of Mukerjee. Sunil Paliwal, Chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India, has been appointed Youth Affairs Secretary in place of Govil, while Sushil Kumar Lohani, Officer on Special Duty in the Cabinet Secretariat, will succeed Paliwal as Chairman of the Inland Waterways Authority of India.

In another change, V L Kantha Rao, Secretary in the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, has been appointed Officer on Special Duty in the Department of Official Language in the Ministry of Home Affairs. He will take over as Secretary in the Department of Official Language after the retirement of incumbent Ansuli Arya at the end of next month. Senior bureaucrat Archana Varma, a 1995 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre and currently Mission Director of the National Water Mission, will replace Rao as Secretary in the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation.

The reshuffle includes Mukerjee's move to the Higher Education Department, changes in the Corporate Affairs and Youth Affairs ministries, a new chairman for the Inland Waterways Authority of India, and fresh appointments in the departments of Official Language and Water Resources.

- Ends