New Delhi: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) on Saturday (February 28, 2026) approved the empanelment of 41 senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers from various batches and state cadres for appointment as Secretary or Secretary-equivalent in the Government of India.
The empanelment enables these officers to be considered for appointment to some of the highest policymaking positions in the Central Government.
Officers Empanelled for Secretary / Secretary-Equivalent Posts
The following officers have been empanelled for appointment as Secretary or Secretary-equivalent:
• Keshav Kumar Pathak
• S Gopalakrishnan
• Surendra Kumar Bagde
• Sanjay Lohiya
• Keshav Chandra
• Rohit Kansal
• D Thara
• Bharat Harbansal Khera
• Satendra Singh
• TK Anil Kumar
• Abhishek Singh
• Sushil Kumar Lohani
• Dilip Kumar
• Jaspreet Talwar
• Rajeev Singh Thakur
• Sanjay Kumar
• MA Siddique
• Ashutosh Jindal
• Mritunjay Kumar Narayan
• Santosh Kumar Yadav
Officers Empanelled for Secretary-Equivalent Posts
The following officers have been empanelled for Secretary-equivalent positions:
• Anju Sharma
• Sanjay Gupta
• Manisha Verma
• Aniruddhe Mukerjee
• Alok Kumar II
• Dushyant Naria
• Alok Shekhar
• Leena Johri
• Chandra Bhushan Kumar
• H Rajesh Prasad
• Sajan Singh Yadav
• Archana Varma
• Shakil P Ahammed
• B Rajender
• Rawther Dawood Nazeem
• M Maheshwar Rao
• Radhika Rastogi
• Hitesh Kumar S Makwana
• R Jaya
• Bhuvnesh Kumar
• Sanjay Prasad
Significance of Empanelment
Empanelment by the ACC is a key administrative milestone in an IAS officer’s career, enabling consideration for appointment to Secretary or Secretary-equivalent ranks in various ministries and departments of the Government of India.
The latest list includes officers from batches ranging between 1990 and 1995 and represents a wide cross-section of state cadres across the country.
