- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has reappointed Dr Pramod Kumar Mishra as Principal Secretary to PM. Retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Dr Pramod Kumar Mishra has been appointed for the second consecutive term.
- The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet is the highest appointment body of the Union Cabinet. It approves top-level appointments in the central government. Currently, it comprises the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
- Dr Pramod Kumar Mishra is a 1971 batch IAS (retired) officer of Odisha cadre, who retired in 2008. He has a close relationship with PM Modi and has also served as Principal Secretary to the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
- He was appointed as Principal Secretary to PM for the first time in 2019 and has been reappointed for the second time in 2024.
- He was appointed as Principal Secretary to PM for the first time in 2019 and has been reappointed for the second time in 2024.
Position of Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister
- In India, the position of Cabinet Secretary is the highest civil servant position in the central government. India has a parliamentary form of government and the cabinet is considered the most important and powerful decision-making body. However, over time, the position of the Prime Minister has become the most powerful and so has the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
- The PMO comes under the Prime Minister, and it helps the Prime Minister to perform various administrative duties. The PMO is a non-constitutional body that was established after independence in 1947 as the Prime Minister’s Secretariat.
- It was renamed as the Prime Minister’s Office in 1977.
- The PMO is headed by the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.
- The first Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister was P.N. Haksar who was appointed by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in 1973.
- Dr. PK Mishra is the 13th Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister.