The Union government on Friday appointed 13 Joint Secretaries to various Ministries. Among those who figure on the list is a Karnataka- cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Ritvik Pandey, who has been appointed Joint Secretary in the Department of Revenue.
He replaces Uday Singh Kumawat, who has been shunted out from the crucial position after a controversy over a visit to France. Mr. Kumawat is a 1993-batch IAS officer of the Bihar cadre. A senior parliamentarian had tweeted about Mr. Kumawat, triggering a controversy.
Mr. Pandey is an old hand in the Ministry of Finance, having served as Director (Budget) in the Ministry at the Centre, and as Commercial Tax Commissioner in his parent cadre, Karnataka. It may be noted that he is the son-in-law of Nripendra Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi