Garg to take over charge as power secretary, but applies for VR

In a major bureaucratic reshuffle on Wednesday night, Garg was shifted to the power ministry – a low profile ministry as compared to finance.

Garg was in charge of the Department of Economic Affairs and was designated as the finance secretary as he was the senior most among the other four secretaries. He had also played a key role in preparation of Union Budget this year.

Taking to micro blogging site of Twitter, he said he has handed over the charge of Economic Affairs on Thursday and it was the last post from this handle.

“Handed over charge of Economic Affairs today. Learnt so much in the Finance Ministry and Economic Affairs Dept. Will take charge in Power Ministry tomorrow. Have also applied for Voluntary Retirement from the IAS with effect from 31st October. Last tweet from this handle,” he tweeted.

On Wednesday, Garg was moved to the power ministry, replacing Ajay Kumar Bhalla who was made OSD in the ministry of home affairs.

Atanu Chakraborty, the department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM) secretary, was given the charge of Economic Affairs department.

Garg would have superannuated in October, 2020 but he has sought VRS a year earlier.

Garg is a 1983-batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre. Earlier, he also served as an Executive director in the World Bank. He was appointed DEA secretary in June, 2017. In December 2018, he became the finance secretary after the retirement of Hasmukh Adhia.

Image: FinMinIndia Twitter