Who is Punya Salila Srivastava? The Newly Appointed Additional Secretary In PMO

Who is Punya Salila Srivastava? The 1993-batch IAS officer of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, Punya Shaila Srivastava has been appointed as the new Additional Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Punya Salila Srivastava will be in the post for the next two years on a lateral shift basis. Currently, she is holding the post of Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, where she has been part of many press briefings during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The lateral shift means senior officers pulling short-term stints. A few years back, the government had opened a portal to recruit for senior positions at the Centre and in the opening two weeks, it had 2,500 registrations. The objective according to the government was to bring "talented and motivated" Indians to join the government at the joint secretary level.

Srivastava was given the new post by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) and her share of responsibility has also changed now. She will be handling the balance tenure of her Central deputation till  November 2, 2023, or until further notice, whichever is earlier. The order was put forth by the Ministry of Personnel.

Before cracking civil services, Srivastava was a student of Physics and did her Bachelors in Science (Honours) and Masters in Science from St. Stephens College, University of Delhi.

While she was in services, she also completed her Masters in Public Management from the University of Maryland in the United States of America. Post which, she held various positions and titles in the Government of India.

Srivastava has held the positions of Deputy Commissioner, Sub-divisional Magistrate, Managing Director, Commissioner-cum-Secretary in Delhi, Goa, Daman, Diu, and Dadra Nager and Nagar Haveli. Adding another feather to the cap was her position as Secretary for Education, Higher Education, Training and Technical Education.

She has not just achieved a massive list of positions, in 2001 she received the President' silver medal for excellence in Census Operations. In 2014 she got a Commendation certificate from Lieutenant Governor, Andaman and Nicobar Islands for outstanding leadership qualities.

Apart from these achievements, she has also published two papers in scholarly journals and presented another two in international conferences. She has chaired numerous committees and submitted five major reports based on which Government takes action.

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