Ajit Doval has been reappointed as the National Security Advisor and PK Mishra as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister with effect from June 10, the government said today.
In statements announcing the appointments, the government said they will be “co-terminus with the term of the Prime Minister or until further orders, whichever is earlier”. This means that the officials will be in their posts until Narendra Modi is the Prime Minister, or until further orders.
Both Mr Doval and Mr Mishra will be assigned the rank of a cabinet minister in the table of precedence during their term in office, the statements said.
The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has also approved the reappointment of Amit Khare and Tarun Kapoor as advisors to the PM, in the Prime Minister’s Office, for two years with effect from June 10. They are being appointed “in the rank and scale of Secretary to Government of India”.
The appointments reflect the trust the Prime Minister has in these officers, especially Mr Doval and Mr Mishra, who have been in their very important posts for many years now.
Mr Doval, a former director of the Intelligence Bureau, is one of the Prime Minister’s most trusted aides and has been the National Security Advisor since 2014. The 1968-batch IPS official, who belonged to the Kerala cadre, was the first policeman to be decorated with the Kirti Chakra, the second-highest peacetime gallantry award behind Ashok Chakra.
As the man in charge of the national security establishment, which includes all anti-terror and intelligence outfits, he is among the most powerful officers in the country.
PK Mishra took over as the principal secretary to the Prime Minister in 2019, replacing Nripendra Misra.
A Gujarat cadre IAS officer from the 1972 batch, Mr Mishra was serving as the Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister before that. He holds a PhD in Economics/Development Studies from the University of Sussex in England.
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