Ajay Kumar appointed new Defence Secretary

The Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved appointment of Ajay Kumar as Secretary, Union Ministry of Defence. He is currently serving as Secretary, Department of Defence Production, Union Ministry of Defence.

Key Highlights

Ajay Kumar, Secretary, Defence Production, has been shifted as Defence Secretary but without 2 years’ tenure.

He will take over charge from incumbent Sanjay Mitra, a 1982 batch West Bengal-cadre IAS officer upon completion of his term. Sanjay Mitra has served as Defence Secretary for more than 2 years and on completion of his 2-year tenure in June 2019, he was given 3 months’ extension.

It seems that Union government has done away with 2-year tenure for Defence Secretary post. Along with posts of Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary, External Affairs Secretary, the Defence Secretary post was also a 2-year tenure one.

About Ajay Kumar

He is a 1985 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer belonging to Kerala cadre.

He was born on 2 October 1962 in Uttar Pradesh and is a Bachelor of Technology graduate in electrical engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur.

He is 39th Defence Production Secretary of India.

Other ACC Appointments

Subash Chandra: He is 1986 batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer. He will replace Ajay Kumar as the new Defence Production Secretary of India. He is currently serving as Special Secretary, Union Ministry of Defence.

Brij Kumar Agarwal: He is a 1985 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS officer. He has been appointed as new Secretary, Lokpal. His appointment as Secretary to Lokpal will be in rank and pay of Secretary to Government of India.

Month: Current Affairs - August, 2019