New Delhi, Jul 23 (PTI): The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Thursday issued orders on transfers and promotions of 17 senior bureaucrats.

In a major reshuffle of top bureaucracy, the Centre has appointed senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers Naresh Pal Gangwar and T K Anil Kumar as secretaries in the Department of Higher Education and the Department of School Education and Literacy respectively in the education ministry, a government order said.

A 1994-batch Rajasthan-cadre IAS officer, Gangwar will replace 1992-batch officer Vineet Joshi, who has now been appointed as the secretary in the panchayati raj ministry. Joshi will take charge on the retirement of incumbent Vivek Bhardwaj on July 31.

Gangwar will also take up his position after Joshi demits his current office, according to the order.

Additional Secretary Sushil Kumar Lohani, a 1996-batch IAS officer in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj, has been posted as the officer on special duty in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in the rank and pay of a secretary to the Government of India.

The officer will take charge after Gangwar takes up his new position, the order said.

Kumar, a 1995-batch officer who was serving as the additional secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development, has been promoted as the secretary in the Department of School Education and Literacy in the education ministry.

Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Katikithala Srinivas has been transferred as the secretary in the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region.

Mines Secretary Piyush Goyal has been posted as the secretary general in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in the rank and pay of a secretary to the Government of India, the order said.

Keshav Chandra, a 1996-batch IAS officer serving in his parent AGMUT cadre, will take over as the new mines secretary, it added.

Archana Varma, a 1996-batch IAS officer who is at present the mission director in the National Water Mission, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti, has been promoted as the secretary in the department, with the post also temporarily upgraded to the secretary level, the order said.

She will later take over as the secretary in the Department of Official Language in the home ministry, when incumbent Ansuli Arya retires on September 30.

"D Thara, IAS (GJ:96), Additional Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, as Secretary, Department of Capital Development, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, by operating a vacant Secretary level post," the order said.

B Rajender, a 1996-batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the director in the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Department of Personnel and Training, in the rank and pay of a secretary to the Government of India by temporarily upgrading the post to the secretary level.

He will take over after the retirement of incumbent Sriram Taranikanti, upon his superannuation on July 31.

IAS officer Chandra Bhushan Kumar, who is serving in his parent AGMUT cadre, has been appointed as the secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Employment to replace Vandana Gurnani, who is retiring on July 31.

"Satendra Singh, IAS (JH:96), Additional Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, as Secretary, Department of Urban Development, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs," the order said.

Suchindra Misra, a 1992-batch IDAS officer serving as the special secretary in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, has been appointed as the secretary in the National Commission for Minorities in the Ministry of Minority Affairs.

The ACC has also approved in-situ upgradation of four officers -- Registrar General of India and Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Chairman Santosh Kumar Yada, Advisor, NITI Ayog, Rajeev Singh Thakur, and Director General (Training), Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Dilip Kumar -- to the level of a special secretary in the rank and pay of a secretary to the Government of India as a measure personal to them by temporarily upgrading the posts held by them, the order said. PTI ABS RC

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