Centre Appoints IAS Govind Mohan As New Home Secretary

New Delhi: The Union government has appointed 1989 batch IAS officer Govind Mohan as the new Home Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) with immediate effect. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of IAS Govind Mohan, who is presently handling the charge of the Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and as Officer on Special Duty in the MHA. According to the notification issued by the ministry, Mohan will take charge as the home secretary as the tenure of the present home secretary, 1984 batch IAS officer, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, is slated to end on August 22.

Ajay Kumar Bhalla, a 1984-batch IAS officer of the Assam-Meghalaya cadre, was appointed as Home Secretary in August 2019 and remained on the post for almost half a decade. He will now be replaced by Govind Mohan, a 1989-Sikkim cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, who is the secretary in the Ministry of Culture.

Mohan, who holds an electrical engineering degree from BHU-IIT Varanasi, has served as Union Culture Secretary since October 2021 and had two stints in the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in the past.

Govind Mohan’s appointment assumes more significance in the face of Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir among others over the coming days. Just a notch below the Cabinet Secretary, the Home Secretary’s key responsibility is advising the Union Home Minister on administrative and policy matters.

Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Mohan has been on Central Deputation since August, 2017 and has served as a Joint Secretary in the MHA from May to September 2018 and as Additional Secretary from September 2018 to September 2021.

According to sources aware of developments in this regard, Mohan’s appointment had paved the way for a significant reshuffle at the Secretary-level in the Government of India.