The Former Finance Secretary of India, Mr. T V Somanathan, has recently taken up the charge as the new Cabinet Secretary of India. Mr. Somanathan, a 1987-batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS officer, replaced the longest-serving Cabinet Secretary — Mr. Rajib Gauba (1982-batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer), who lately completed an unprecedented five-year term in the coveted office.
The Cabinet Secretary is the top-most executive official in the Government of India and the senior-most civil servant in the country — ranking eleventh in the Indian order of precedence!
The Impressive CV Of IAS T V Somanathan:
Apart from being a seasoned IAS Officer, Mr. Somanathan is a qualified chartered accountant, cost accountant and company secretary, who earlier served as Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) besides being the Secretary in the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). He was also posted as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (2010-11) and has a gamut of experience in serving the Indian bureaucracy in several positions.
Officer Somanathan has published over 80 papers and articles on economics in journals and newspapers, finance and public policy, and is the author of two books as well as chapters in several others. He has also worked as Director at the World Bank, Washington D.C on deputation from the IAS.
Worked In The World Bank:
Apart from serving in crucial designation under the government of India, Mr Somanathan made his name known internationally through his involvement in the World Bank. In 1996 he joined the World Bank (in Washington) through the Young Professionals Program, as a Financial Economist in the East Asia & Pacific Regional Vice Presidency.
Four years down the line he became one of the Bank’s youngest Sector Managers when he was appointed Manager of the Budget Policy Group. In 2011 his services were sought by the World Bank, and he served as Director from 2011 to 2015.
Winning Laurels As The Finance Secretary of India:
He was appointed Expenditure Secretary in December 2019, and being the senior most IAS officer in the Finance Ministry became the Finance Secretary in April 2021.
Unlike many countries in the West, which turned the fiscal tap on with huge cash handouts during the COVID-19 pandemic, Somanathan loosened the purse strings only for the most needed. His fiscal prudence ensured the government could spend on public expenditure, which has helped India keep its growth momentum at 7 per cent plus for the last three years.
Somanathan has quietly pushed policy changes that ensured the elimination of hidden subsidies and efficiency in expenditure management that helped restore credibility in budget estimates. He cleaned up the government’s finances. He has also designed a number of PLI (Production-Linked Incentive) schemes and also had a major role to play in the PM Garib Kalyan and Atmanirbhar Bharat announcements in 2020.
He also played a major role in the 2022 Union budget, which ended the practice of borrowing money outside the budget. This was an effort to make the balance sheets of the central government more transparent.
He is also the chairman of the committee that reviews the pension system for government employees. Somanathan was responsible for spearheading several policies when the centre’s revenues were hit due to the pandemic, especially during 2020 and 2021, including enforcing expenditure curbs on various ministries and departments across the central government. He is also considered to have played a key role in implementing flagship schemes such as ‘PM Gareeb Kalyan’ and ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, which were announced during the first wave of COVID-19.
It is expected that senior IAS officer, Mr. Tuhin Kanta Pandey (1987-batch IAS officer) could be the next Finance Secretary of India.
