(G.N.S) Dt. 27
New Delhi
The New Delhi establishment on Monday filled the vacancies in some key organisations and autonomous bodies namely FSSAI, NHAI, DDA and MSME.
FSSAI CEO: Over three months after Arun Singhal (IAS:1987:UP) moved as Union Secretary, Ministry of Fertilizers the Centre on Monday appointed Ganji Kamala Vardhana Rao (lAS:1990:KL) as the new CEO of Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India. Prior to this Rao worked as MD, India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd (ITDC) and held the additional charge of DG, Tourism. FSSAI functions under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare.
NHAI Chairperson: With a sense of urgency, the NDA administration finally on Monday picked Santosh Kumar Yadav (IAS:1995:UP) as the new Chairperson, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI); a post fell vacant after Mrs Alka Upadhyaya (IAS:1990:MP) was appointed Union Secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways in October 2022.
Santosh Yadav is the ninth chairman in a span of barely seven years since August 2015. Prior to this, he worked as Additional Secretary, Department of School Education & Literacy under the Ministry of Education. He had vast experience in handling capital-intensive infrastructure projects as CEO of Noida Metro which saw completion in a record time.
DDA Vice Chairperson: Subhashish Panda (lAS:1997:HP) was appointed as Vice Chairman, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs. Prior to this, he was serving in the Cadre i.e. Himachal Pradesh. During his last stint at Centre, he worked as Deputy Director Administration (DDA), AIIMS (Delhi) He also worked as He replaces Manish Kumar Gupta (IAS:1991:AGMUT) who held VC DDA since January 2022.
MSME, Development Commissioner: The ACC on Monday also cleared the appointment of Rajneesh (lAS:1997:HP) to the post of Additional Secretary & Development Commissioner (AS & DC), Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises; one of the key posts at Centre at Additional Secretary rank. Prior to this, he was serving in the Cadre i.e. Himachal Pradesh. During his previous stint at Centre, he worked as Joint Secretary in the Department of Commerce and Private Secretary to the then President of India Dr Pranab Mukherjee.
