Senior IAS officer Rajiv Mehrishi has been appointed Union Home Secretary in place of LC Goyal, who sought voluntary retirement after seven months in the Home office. Prime Minister Modi approved the new appointment.
Mehrishi will remain Home Secretary for next two years, starting Monday. He was serving as Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance, and was supposed to retire on Monday.
The Prime Minister has also approved the request of Goyal, a 1979-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, of voluntary retirement from government service due to personal reasons with immediate effect, according to a media release.
Goyal was appointed to the post on February 5 by the Modi government after the then Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami was sacked after he allegedly tried to prevent CBI from arresting former Union Minister Matang Singh in connection with the Saradha chit fund scam.
For personal reasons, I didn’t want to continue. It was my own decision. Any other reason being mentioned is factually incorrect.
— LC Goyal, Outgoing Home Secretary
In January, the then Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh was eased out of her office six months before the completion of her two-year fixed tenure.
About New Home Secretary Rajiv Mehrishi
- Born on August 8, 1955, he holds a Master’s Degree in history and a degree in management from the UK
- He is a 1978-batch Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer of the Rajasthan cadre
- Mehrishi is an alumnus of St Xaviers School in Jaipur and got his college degree from Delhi’s St Stephen’s
- Mehrishi is said to be the brains behind labour reforms in Rajasthan
- He has been a vocal critic of various schemes launched during the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government
- Rajiv Mehrishi took over as Finance Secretary in October 2014
- Prior to that he was the chief secretary of Rajasthan
(With inputs from PTI)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)