The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the appointment of Lokhande Prashant Sitaram, a 2001-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre, as Additional Secretary in the Department of Home, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

According to an order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) on July 2, Lokhande will also continue to hold the additional charge of the post of Chairperson, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Ministry of Education.

The appointment order states that the ACC has approved the appointment of "Shri Lokhande Prashant Sitaram, IAS (AGMUT:2001), Chairperson, Central Board of Secondary Education, Ministry of Education, as Additional Secretary, Department of Home, Ministry of Home Affairs, with the additional charge of the post of Chairperson, Central Board of Secondary Education, Ministry of Education."

The order further said that Lokhande will hold the additional charge of CBSE Chairperson "until appointment of a regular incumbent to the post or until further orders, whichever is earlier.

"As per an official notification on June 2, Lokhande Prashant Sitaram has been appointed as Chairperson of the Central Board of Secondary Education in the Ministry of Education.

His appointment was made in place of Rahul Singh who has been transferred to Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Earlier, in another appointment, Rahul Singh has been named Additional Secretary in the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.

Meanwhile, an official office memorandum stated that Varun Bhardwaj (IInfOS) has been appointed as the new Secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), New Delhi, succeeding Himanshu Gupta, IAS, who has been sent back to his parent cadre on premature repatriation.

"The appointment of Varun Bhardwaj, Director, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education to the post of Secretary (Director level), Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi under Department of School Education & Literacy on deputation basis under Central Staffing Scheme on lateral shift basis vice Himanshu Gupta, for a period upto 19.09.2027 (i.e. combined tenure of 05 years in Central Staffing Scheme)," an office memorandum read.

The ACC has approved the proposal of the Department of School Education & Literacy for the premature repatriation of the outgoing CBSE Secretary, Himanshu Gupta.

"The proposal of the Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Education, for the premature repatriation of Himanshu Gupta, Secretary, Central Board of Secondary Education, under the Department of School Education & Literacy. Ministry of Education to parent cadre (Ministry of Home Affairs) on administrative grounds with the condition of 'extended cooling off," the memorandum read. 

(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)