New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) Senior bureaucrat Hara Prasad Nayak has been appointed joint secretary of the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) as part of a bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the central government on Monday.

Nayak is a 1995-batch officer of Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS).

He has been appointed joint secretary and financial advisor, NATGRID, under the Ministry of Home Affairs for a tenure of five years, an order issued by the personnel ministry said.

NATGRID is a federal intelligence gathering organisation created to enhance India's counter-terrorism capabilities.

Aswani Srivastava, a 1998-batch Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer, has been appointed joint secretary in the Department of Food and Public Distribution, it said.

Amit Katoch has been appointed additional central provident fund commissioner (HQrs) in the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) under the Ministry of Labour and Employment, and Pankaj Hazarika additional secretary (JS-level) in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC).

Palka Sahni, a 2004-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the Bihar cadre, will be joint secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals, and Sandhya Bhullar, a 2003-batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre, joint secretary in the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade.

Senior IAS officer Vinay Kumar has been appointed joint secretary in the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Brijendra Swaroop executive director (projects) in the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) under the Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, and Raj Kumar Mishra director of the National Water Informatics Centre (NWIC).

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved premature repatriation of senior IAS officer Brijesh Pandey, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region, to his cadre state Tripura.

Shantanu, a 1997-batch IAS officer of the Tripura cadre, will be the new joint secretary in the ministry in place of Pandey. PTI AKV ANB