New Delhi: Senior bureaucrat Ajay Kumar Bhalla (IAS), who is currently serving as Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), has been given a tenure extension on his current position till August 22, 2021. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister has approved the extension in his services on Saturday. According to an order from the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) his services have been extended as Home Secretary beyond the date of his superannuation i.e. November 30, 2020, up-to August 22, 2021, or until further orders, whichever is earlier.
Bhalla is a 1984-batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer and serving as Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) since August 23, 2019. In addition to this, he is also holding additional charge as Secretary of the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) since September 30.
Bhalla holds a Masters in Botany (M Sc) from the University of Delhi. He has also done MBA from the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia and M Phil in social sciences from the Punjab University. Bhalla, a senior bureaucrat, has handled various important positions in the union government. Prior to joining as Secretary of MHA, he was serving as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the same Ministry. His previous assignments include Secretary of the Ministry of Power from July 2017 to July 2019, Director General of Foreign Trade, Additional Secretary of Department of Commerce, Joint Secretary of Ministry of Coal and as Director (Ports) in the Department of Shipping among others.
The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is mainly responsible for the maintenance of internal security and domestic policy. The Home Ministry is headed by Amit Shah. The Home Ministry is also the cadre controlling authority for the Indian Police Service (IPS), DANIPS and DANICS. Police-I Division of the ministry is the cadre controlling authority in respect of the Indian Police Service; whereas, the UT Division is the administrative division for DANIPS.
(PSU Watch– India's Business News centre that places the spotlight on PSUs, Bureaucracy, Defence and Public Policy is now on Telegram. Join PSU Watch Channel in your Telegram and stay updated)