The Central government on Saturday extended union home secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla’s term till August 22, 2021, according to a notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
Bhalla would have superannuated next month.
An 1984-batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, Bhalla took charge as the union home secretary on August 22, 2019, succeeding Rajiv Gauba, who is currently the cabinet secretary.
Bhalla currently also holds the additional charge of secretary of DoPT.
During his tenure, the union ministry of home affairs (MHA) has taken several key decisions in the last one year including, amending the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Act-which empowers the agency to probe terror cases abroad as well; bringing in the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) which was passed by the parliament in December 2019.
The decision to abrogate article 370 from the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) and its bifurcation into two union territories - J&K and Ladakh- has been implemented by the MHA under his close supervision.