Odisha-Cadre IAS Officer Saurabh Garg Appointed MoSPI Secy With 1-Year Contract Extension

New Delhi: The Centre has appointed 1991-batch Odisha cadre IAS officer Saurabh Garg as Secretary, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), along with a one-year term beyond his superannuation in July this year.

“Garg will hold the new post till his superannuation on July 31, 2024 and on contract basis for a period of one year thereafter or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” the order issued by the Ministry of Personnel on May 30 said.

This came just a month after he was assigned additional charge of the ministry.

Garg, who currently holds the charge of Secretary, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, will also discharge the function of Secretary, National Statistical Commission.

The order further said that 1991-batch AGMUT cadre Amit Yadav will replace him as Secretary of Department of Social Justice & Empowerment.

The shuffling of bureaucrats comes just three days after the government on May 27 announced that Yadav will take charge as Officer on Special Duty, Department of Social Justice & Empowerment, till Garg’s superannuation in July and then take over as secretary.

The MoSPI undertakes several crucial surveys, including the Annual Survey of Industries, Consumption Expenditure Survey Periodic Labour Force Survey along with compiling GDP and retail inflation data for the country.

Garg had earlier served as Chief Executive Officer, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Principal Secretary for Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment in Odisha, where he worked on digitalizing agriculture and developing a direct income transfer scheme for farmers — KALIA or Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation. He also spearheaded the formation of the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF); worked on improving the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policies; prepared the initial framework for digital payments; revamped the gold sector policies and led the negotiations for the Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Finance.

He has been a member of Expert Committees/Working Groups set up by the Ministry of Finance, Niti Aayog, RBI and SEBI on ‘Social Stock Exchanges’; ‘Integration of Commodities Spot and Derivatives Markets’; ‘Promotion of Digital Payments’; and ‘Framework regarding Virtual/Crypto Currencies’. He has also worked in the areas of developing urban and industrial infrastructure.