Overview
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet approved Deepti Gaur Mukerjee’s move to the Department of Higher Education in a Personnel Ministry order issued late Monday night, and she officially took charge this Wednesday.
- Mukerjee, a 1993-batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer with prior roles as Corporate Affairs Secretary and CEO of the National Health Authority, brings policy and administrative experience and degrees from JNU and LSE.
- The late-night order partially modified a July 23 reshuffle and left Naresh Pal Gangwar’s earlier elevation to Higher Education Secretary in abeyance after his 17-day appointment drew public scrutiny over alleged family horticulture subsidies.
- The new secretary inherits a reform-heavy agenda that includes implementing recommendations from the Nilekani taskforce, overseeing CBI-linked actions and fast-track prosecution changes tied to the NEET paper-leak, and supervising the NTA and UGC interfaces.
- The personnel changes reflect political and public pressure over examination integrity and raise fresh questions about appointment vetting and transparency in top-level transfers that officials have not fully explained.