13.9.19

PMO gets new principal secy & principal adviser


The new Prime Minister’s Office hierarchy was formalised with P K Mishra, additional principal secretary to PM, appointed principal secretary in place of Nripendra Misra, who recently resigned from the post. Along with Mishra, former cabinet secretary P K Sinha was appointed principal adviser to PM.

The changes were expected since Misra’s resignation was made available and it was stated that he will continue for two weeks pending formalisation of arrangements. Misra’s resignation had come as a surprise as he had been recently re-appointed along with an elevation to minister of state rank.

Sinha’s designation is at variance to expectations that he will replace P K Mishra as additional principal secretary. Mishra has been overseeing senior appointments and is expected to continue to do so. Sinha could look after some of the policy briefs given his familiarity with Modi government’s initiatives as cabinet secretary.

P K Mishra has worked with Prime Minister Modi when he was the chief minister of Gujarat. He has varied work experience in performance management relating to agriculture, disaster management, power sector, infrastructure financing and regulatory issues.

“He has an outstanding career profile comprising research, publications, policy formulations and project management,” said a backgrounder.

P K Mishra has been agriculture secretary and worked in the area of disaster management. He was actively involved in initiatives like national agriculture development programme and the national food security mission along with “innovative and transformative” changes in human resource management, particularly appointments to senior positions.

He has worked with Institute of Development Studies, UK, negotiation and execution of ADB and World Bank projects and the International Crop Research Institute for Semi-Arid Tropics. In the previous Modi government, he paid particular attention to disaster response and preparedness. He is a PhD in economic-development studies from the University of Sussex, where he also did an MA. He also has an MA from the Delhi School of Economics.

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