Cabinet Secretary, Home Secretary’s terms extended by one year

New Delhi, Aug 5 (IANS) The Union government has extended the service terms of Cabinet Secretary Dr T. V. Somanathan and Home Secretary Govind Mohan for a period of one year, according to separate official notifications released on Wednesday.

While the Indian Administrative Service officer Somantathan was set to retire on August 30, it was August 22 for Govind Mohan.

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has also approved the repatriation of Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Manoj Kumar Dwivedi, to his parent cadre for an extended “cooling off” period.

Somanathan, a 1987-batch IAS officer from Tamil Nadu cadre, has earlier served as Finance Secretary. He has been the Cabinet Secretary since August 30, 2024. He also served a tenure with the Prime Minister’s Office as Additional Secretary and Joint Secretary. The career bureaucrat has also worked as Director at the World Bank Group, Washington, DC, where he began under its Young Professionals Programme.

Govind Mohan is a 1989-batch IAS officer from the Sikkim cadre who has been serving as the Home Secretary since August 23, 2024.

Meanwhile, Dwivedi, an AGMUT cadre officer from the 1997-batch, was given an extension last year till November 2026 by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.

A cooling-off period is given to bureaucrats, particularly for those going into retirement, for time preventing immediate employment or associations between public service and political gains. Post-retirement commercial employment for the three all-India services, including IAS, is covered under their Death-cum-Benefits Rules.

–IANS

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