New Delhi: The Centre on Thursday approved the appointment of Bihar cadre IAS officer Prashanth Kumar as the Private Secretary to the Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav.
The order issued by the Centre’s Department of Personnel said that the appointment “at the level of Deputy Secretary is for a period of five years with effect from the date of assumption of the charge of the post or on co-terminus basis with the Minister or till he ceases to function as Private Secretary to the Minister or until further orders, whichever occurs at the earliest”.
The Centre has asked the Bihar government to relieve the IAS officer, of the 2015 batch, of his duties immediately with instructions to take up the new assignment with the Union Minister.
The letter has been sent by the Department of Personnel to the Chief Secretary of Bihar Pratyaya Amrit.
On July 3, 2026, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change abruptly removed Union Minister Bhupender Yadav’s Private Secretary, Assistant Private Secretary, and two Additional Private Secretaries.
Bhupender Yadav’s Private Secretary Amar Singh, an IRS officer, was repatriated to his parent cadre in Department of Revenue on “administrative grounds” while the appointments of an Assistant Private Secretary and an Additional Private Secretary were terminated. The other Additional Private Secretary was “prematurely repatriated” to his parent cadre.
Shailesh Kumar Singh, the Additional Private Secretary, a Central Secretariat Service official, was prematurely repatriated to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) while the services of Ayush Saran, the other Additional Private Secretary, who was a political appointee, was terminated with immediate effect.
Siddharth Yadav’s appointment as Assistant Private Secretary in the Minister’s office was also terminated with immediate effect shortly after the other dismissals.
While the Union government did not publicly disclose detailed reasons in the official orders, sources indicated that these aides had allegedly overstepped their briefs by acquiring significant decision-making powers.
(IANS)
