STATE TIMES NEWS
NEW DELHI: Senior IAS officer Govind Mohan was on Wednesday appointed the next Union Home Secretary, succeeding Ajay Kumar Bhalla, according to an official order.
Mohan, presently serving as Secretary, Ministry of Culture, will join as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Home Affairs.
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Govind Mohan, IAS (Sikkim: 1989), Secretary, Ministry of Culture as Officer on Special Duty in the Ministry of Home Affairs with immediate effect.
“The officer will take over as Home Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs vice Shri Ajay Kumar Bhalla, IAS (Assam-Meghalaya: 1984) on completion of his tenure on 22.08.2024,” the order stated.
Mohan, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, had served as joint secretary and additional secretary in the Union Home Ministry before being appointed as secretary in the Ministry of Culture in October 2021.
The officer, who did B.Tech from Banaras Hindu University and PG Diploma from IIM, Ahmedabad, has also served in the Sikkim government in various capacities.
After taking over as the Union Home Secretary, the immediate challenge for Mohan would be holding assembly elections peacefully in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to a Supreme Court directive, Jammu and Kashmir elections have to be conducted by September 30.
Incumbent Home Secretary Bhalla had held a meeting with the Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday to discuss the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir and force mobilisation.
Bhalla was appointed the Union Home Secretary in August 2019. He has had the longest tenure in the crucial post considered next to the country’s top bureaucrat — the cabinet secretary.
