Covid 19 update: Empowered panels reshuffled after bureaucratic rejig

Senior government officials, familiar with the matter, said many members of the groups will be replaced with new faces as a result of the reshuffle.

The recent bureaucratic reshuffle in which about 30 senior officials were either shifted or promoted, has resulted in a mini-rejig in the 11 empowered groups formed to give policy inputs to the Prime Minister’s Office on Covid-19.

An official added that while the panels are tasked with several aspects of the pandemic, they will continue to function even after the lockdown is eased till the virus subsides. (Reuters file photo)

Senior government officials, familiar with the matter, said many members of the groups will be replaced with new faces as a result of the reshuffle. “When the groups were formed, specific bureaucrats were assigned tasks under various heads. But now, secretaries who have replaced them will take over their responsibilities from there,” said a secretary-level official on condition of anonymity.

Pawan Agarwal, the former consumers affairs secretary, was a member of the panel on economic and welfare measures. He, however, has been shifted as special secretary logistics. Similarly, former rural development secretary Rajesh Bhushan, now OSD in health ministry, has been replaced by the new rural development secretary Nagendra Nath Sinh, who will be a new member in the economy panel.

An official added that while the panels are tasked with several aspects of the pandemic, they will continue to function even after the lockdown is eased till the virus subsides.