Sanjay Mitra has been approved by the government as the next Defense Secretary of the Country. The West Bengal cadre and 1982 batch officer will be given a fixed two years tenure as the defense secretary.
At present, Mitra is in charge of the ministry of road transportation and highways. Now, he will be appointed as the officer on special duty in the defense ministry. Sanjay Mitra will assume his position in the defense ministry after incumbent G. Mohan Kumar retires on May 24th.
58 year old, Mitra was in the batch of Indian Administrative Services in 1982. This is his first posting in the defense ministry. Mitra was appointed Road Transport and Highways secretary in December 2015. Sanjay Mitra is from Delhi and he was also chief secretary in West Bengal. He has even served a seven year stint 2004 to 2011 as a joint secretary in the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh’s office.
A new procurement policy was brought about during Kumar’s tenure in the defense ministry. The defense ministry is working on buying new light machine guns, very short range air defense systems, new assault rifles, anti-tank guided missiles, and other weapons.
Rajive Kumar, Shipping Secretary is being given the additional charge of the secretary of road transport and highways. Apart from this, five new secretaries have been appointed in central government departments.
