The Appointments Committtee of the Cabinet has approved the appoitment of Rajiv Kumar as the new Secretary of the Ministry of Finance on Tuesday. Kumar, a 1984 batch IAS officer from the Jharkhand cadre, was working as the Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS) at Ministry of Finance.
Kumar will succeed Subhash Chandra Garg as the Finance Secretary. Garg, who also held the office of Economic Affairs Secretary, was transferred to the Power Ministry in the latest bureaucratic reshuffle on July 24. He has applied for voluntary retirement since his appointment as the Power Secretary. Atanu Chakraborty has been appointed as the new Economic Affairs Secretary in his stead.
The Finance Secretary holds the top bureaucratic position among the five department of the Finance Ministry – economic affairs, revenue, expenditure, financial services and department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM).
Kumar, the 59-year old 1984-batch Jharkhand cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, assumed the office of financial services secretary in September, 2017. Since his appointment, he had spearheaded the government’s larger plan of merging banks to increase their capabilities and reduce their number.
During his tenure, Bank of Baroda merged with Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank to create the third-largest bank in the country. Recapitalisation of public sector banks with Rs 2.11 lakh crore was brought under him.
He has played a key role in driving the Modi government’s ambitious schemes for financial inclusion, such as Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra loan scheme, the 59 minutes loan scheme for the MSME sector, among others, a move towards that aimed at greater access to credit and job creation.
[“source=businesstoday”]
