Assam IAS Officer Varnali Deka appointed Joint Secretary to National Health Authority

Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS officer Varnali Deka has been appointed Joint Secretary to the National Health Authority (NHA) under the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, as part of a major bureaucratic reshuffle involving 27 officers approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).

Deka, a 2009-batch IAS officer, will serve in the post for a combined tenure of five years, up to August 28, 2030, or until further orders, whichever is earlier, according to an official order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training on October 10.

The reshuffle includes appointments across several key ministries and government institutions, including the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Department of Health and Family Welfare, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs and the Election Commission of India.

Among the other appointments, Brijesh Panday, a 2004-batch IAS officer of the Tripura cadre, has been appointed Joint Secretary in the Department of Capital Development, while Nikhil Varma, an IRS (Income Tax) officer of the 2005 batch, has been appointed Additional Director General of Foreign Trade in Delhi.

Tanvi Sundriyal, a 2010-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Inderjeet Singh, a 2010-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, has been appointed Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Culture.

Prakash Rajpurohit, a 2010-batch Rajasthan-cadre IAS officer, has been appointed Deputy Election Commissioner in the Election Commission of India. Tamboli Ayyaj Fakirbhai, a 2009-batch IAS officer of the Chhattisgarh cadre, has been appointed Executive Director at the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

In the health sector, Mohammed Y Safirulla K and Ritu Sharma have been appointed Joint Secretaries in the Department of Health and Family Welfare. More Ashish Madhaorao has been appointed Additional Chief Executive Officer at the Joint Secretary level in the National Health Authority, alongside Deka’s appointment.

Vivek Khare, a 1996-batch Indian Telecom Service officer, has been appointed Joint Secretary in the National Testing Agency, while Ravi Shanakar, Chittaranjan Dash, P Manoj Kumar and Abhishek Bhagotia have been appointed Joint Secretaries in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Other appointments include Navin Agarwal as Joint Secretary in the Department of Legal Affairs; M Ramachandrudu as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Minority Affairs; Sonia Pant as Adviser at the Joint Secretary level in NITI Aayog; and Nitin Kumar as Additional Secretary at the Joint Secretary level in the Central Vigilance Commission.

C Murugan has been appointed Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, while Rajneesh Kumar Tomar has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of National Highways Logistics Management Limited. Nishtha Tiwari has been appointed CEO of the Development and Welfare Board for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities.

The list also includes Manisha Trighatia as Joint Secretary in the Department of Urban Development, Avinash Jain in the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Pawan Kumar in the National River Conservation Directorate, and Anita Shah Akella as Joint Secretary in the National Commission for Women.

The appointments, carrying pay at Level 14 of the Pay Matrix, cover a range of administrative responsibilities across the central government. Deka’s appointment to the National Health Authority is the key Assam-Meghalaya cadre posting in the latest round of senior-level appointments.