Sudhansh Pant Appointed as the New Union Health Secretary

Sudhansh Pant, a senior IAS officer, has been named the new Health Secretary as part of the Centre's top-level bureaucratic reshuffle on Tuesday. Pant, a Rajasthan cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 1991 batch, is currently the Secretary in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping, and Waterways. He has been assigned to the Department of Health and Family Welfare as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD).

The officer will succeed Rajesh Bhushan as Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, upon his retirement on July 31, 2023, according to an order issued by the Personnel Ministry. "The officer will join as Officer on Special Duty, Ministry of Civil Aviation in the rank and pay of Secretary to the Government of India on 01.08.2023 and will take over as Secretary, Ministry of Civil Aviation vice Shri Rajiv Bansal, lAS (NL:88) upon his superannuation on 31.08.2023," according to the order.

In the wake of Tuesday's reshuffle, 15 senior bureaucrats were appointed to various central government departments. S Gopalakrishnan, Special Secretary in the Department of Health and Family Welfare, has been appointed to the National Productivity Council as Director General. Sundeep Kumar Nayak, who will retire on July 31, will be replaced by him.