By IANS,
New Delhi : M. Madhavan Nambiar, special secretary in the ministry of information and technology, has been appointed secretary in the civil aviation ministry replacing Ashok Chawla, who has been moved to the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA) as secretary, the government said Monday.
Both Nambiar and Chawla are expected to take over their new assignments Sep 17.
Nambiar, a 1974 batch IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre, will have to grapple with not only the slowdown in the aviation industry but also the financial health of the loss-making national carrier, Air India.
Chawla, a 1973 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, was the additional secretary in the DEA till around 18 months ago, before being appointed the civil aviation secretary.
The DEA secretary is a key member of the team responsible for preparing the Union budget and is designated as the finance secretary.
There are four secretaries in the finance ministry, heading the departments of economic affairs, revenue, financial services and expenditure.
Of them, financial services secretary Arun Ramanathan and revenue secretary P.V. Bhide were also considered for the finance secretary’s post.
The DEA’s top post was lying vacant since D. Subbarao took over as the governor of the Reserve Bank of India Sep 5.