Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet, has re-appointed Dr Pramod Kumar Mishra as the Principal Secretary

Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet, has re-appointed Dr Pramod Kumar Mishra as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister. The retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Dr P.K. Mishra, has been appointed for his second consecutive term.The Appointment Committee of the Cabinet is the highest appointing body of the Union Cabinet. It approves top-level appointments in the Union Government. At present, it consists of the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister, Amit Shah.

Term and Privileges of Principal Secretary

• According to the Department of Personnel and Training, the government of India, Dr P.K. Mishra’s appointment comes into effect on 10 June 2024. He will continue in office until the term of the incumbent Prime Minister or until further order.
• The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister is a political post in India. He enjoys office at the pleasure of the Prime Minister, which means he can be dismissed by the Prime Minister at any time. If the Prime Minister resigns, then the Principal Secretary also has to resign.
• Dr P.K. Mishra has been given the rank of cabinet minister in the Modi government.

Dr P.K.Mishra’s 2nd Term as Principal Secretary

• Dr Parmod Kumar Mishra is a 1971 batch IAS(retd.) officer of the Odisha cadre who retired in 2008. He has a close relationship with PM Modi and served as principal secretary to the then Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.
• He was appointed as the Principal Secretary to the prime minister for the first time in 2019 and was re-appointed for the second time in 2024.

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister

• The post of Cabinet Secretary is the highest civil servant post in the Indian government. India has a parliamentary form of government, and the cabinet is considered to be the most important and powerful decision-making body.
• However, over time, the prime minister has become increasingly powerful in the union government, and so has the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
• The PMO comes under the Prime Minister, and it helps the Prime Minister perform various administrative duties.
• The PMO is an extra-constitutional body that was set up as the Prime Minister’s Secretariat after independence in 1947.
• It was renamed the Prime Minister’s Office in 1977.
• The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister heads the PMO.
• 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.

Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister