Who is Prakash Rajpurohit, the new deputy election commissioner?

The Centre has appointed senior bureaucrat Prakash Rajpurohit as deputy election commissioner as part of a major bureaucratic reshuffle announced on Saturday. A 2010-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, Rajpurohit replaces Sanjay Kumar, according to an order issued by the Personnel Ministry.

Rajpurohit's tenure in the post will continue until April 8, 2030. Before this appointment, he was serving as joint secretary in the Department of Defence Production.

His earlier assignments include serving as director in the Department of Economic Affairs, where he handled international investment treaties. He has also held administrative positions in Rajasthan, including Collector of Ajmer and Commissioner of Commercial Taxes.

Vivek Khare appointed joint secretary at NTA

In another key appointment, Vivek Khare, a 1996-batch Indian Telecom Service officer, has been named joint secretary at the National Testing Agency (NTA). His overall tenure will run until December 2, 2029.

Khare's appointment takes the number of joint secretaries appointed to the NTA since May 16 to four. The other officers are Anshuman Sharma, Anuja Bapat and Ruchita Vij.

The appointments form part of the NTA's restructuring following recommendations made by the Radhakrishnan committee in October 2024. The committee called for strengthening the agency's permanent workforce to improve accountability. The government subsequently created 16 new posts.

27 appointments cleared by appointment panel

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has cleared 27 appointments of IAS, IRS and other officers to joint secretary-level and equivalent positions. The orders cover several institutions, including the Election Commission, National Health Authority, NTA, NITI Aayog, Central Vigilance Commission and National Commission for Women.

Among the officers assigned to the Ministry of Home Affairs are Ravi Shankar, a 2007-batch IAS officer of the Gujarat cadre; Chittaranjan Dash, an IRS officer of the 1999 batch; P. Manoj Kumar, an Indian Statistical Service officer of the 1998 batch; and Abhishek Bhagotia, a 2007-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Other key bureaucratic postings

The reshuffle also includes appointments across several ministries and departments.

Tanvi Sundriyal, a 2010-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre, has been appointed joint secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Inderjeet Singh, a 2010-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, will serve in the Ministry of Culture.

Navin Agarwal, an Indian Railway Personnel Service officer of the 1997 batch, has been posted to the Department of Legal Affairs, while Sonia Pant, an Indian Economic Service officer of the 2001 batch, has been appointed Adviser at NITI Aayog.