Govind Mohan.
Credit: X/@secycultureGOI
New Delhi: Senior IAS officer Govind Mohan was on Wednesday appointed the next Home Secretary, succeeding Ajay Kumar Bhalla, who had the longest tenure of five years in the post.
Mohan, a 1989-batch Sikkim cadre officer who is presently Culture Secretary, will take over from Bhalla after his retirement as Home Secretary on August 22. He will be moving to the MHA as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) before he takes over the new post.
An electrical engineer, Mohan hails from Uttar Pradesh and had served in various central ministries like Home and Finance as well as in Cabinet Secretariat in various capacities before being moved to the Ministry of Culture as its Secretary. He also had a stint in Washington/
The immediate task for Mohan would be to oversee security preparations for holding Assembly elections peacefully in Jammu and Kashmir. Bhalla, who was appointed Home Secretary in August 2019 and got extensions, on Wednesday held a meeting with the Election Commission (EC) to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and force mobilisation.
In a separate appointment, the government also appointed acting Enforcement Directorate (ED) chief Rahul Navin as the full-time director of the federal anti-money laundering agency.
Another order showed that NSG Director General Nalin Prabhat's tenure was curtailed and his cadre was changed from Andhra Pradesh to AGMUT cadre initially for a period of three years from the date of joining the cadre. Speculation is rife that he may get a prominent assignment in Jammu and Kashmir.
Earlier this month, the government also chose to appoint Finance Secretary TV Somanathan as the Cabinet Secretary succeeding Rajiv Gauba. It is to be seen whether the government will give post-retirement assignments to Gauba and Bhalla.