Prez Kovind Gets Sanjay Kothari & Ashok Malik as Sec and Press Sec

While Sanjay Kothari is an ex-IAS officer, Ashok Malik is a distinguished fellow at a policy think tank.

President-elect Ram Nath Kovind was appointed as the Bihar Governor in 2015. 

(Photo: PTI)

Sanjay Kothari, chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board, and senior journalist Ashok Malik have been appointed secretary and press secretary respectively to Ram Nath Kovind, who will take oath as the President of India on Tuesday.

The announcement came in an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Saturday.

The appointments committee of the cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has cleared these appointments for an initial period of two years.

Kothari, is a 1978-batch IAS officer from the Haryana cadre. He retired in June last year as DoPT secretary.

He was appointed chief of the government's head-hunting organisation, the Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), in November last year. The board is a high-powered body constituted by Government of India to advise on appointments to top management posts.

Ashok Malik is currently a distinguished fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, a policy think tank. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2016.

Malik has been a journalist for 20 years and is a columnist for several Indian and international publications. These include the YaleGlobal Online, Hindustan Times, and Times of India. He has also served as a consulting editor with Tehelka and Pioneer, ANI reported.

(With inputs from PTI)