Gujarat IAS officer named PM Modi’s top aide

Hardik Satishchandra Shah, a Gujarat cadre IAS officer, is serving as deputy secretary in the PMO and was personally picked by the PM for his new role, according to people familiar with the development.

Hardik Satishchandra Shah, a 2010 batch IAS officer, has been appointed private secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Shah’s appointment was cleared by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Thursday, an order by the department of personnel and training said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (Reuters)

Shah, a Gujarat cadre IAS officer, is serving as deputy secretary in the PMO and was personally picked by the PM for his new role, according to people familiar with the development.

Shah will take over from Rajeev Topno. Topno, a 1996 batch IAS officer, was appointed as senior advisor to the World Bank Executive Director in June. He is expected to proceed to Washington for his new assignment after August 15. Until then Topno and Shah will work together, for a smooth handover.

Topno, also a Gujarat cadre officer, had spent 11 years in the Prime Minister’s Office, first as a deputy secretary in 2009 when Manmohan Singh had just started his second term. PM Modi continued with him, appointing him to his personal staff.

Hardik Satishchandra Shah’s first assignment at the Centre was in 2017 when he joined as private secretary to environment minister Anil Madhav Dave. He continued in the environment minister’s personal office after Prakash Javadekar came in before finally moving to the PMO in 2019.