New faces at Jal Shakti Ministry: Mahajan takes over as Secretary, DW&S; G Asok Kumar is new NMCG DG
The Union Jal Shakti Ministry has seen some changes at the highest level in the new year, with Punjab-cadre IAS officer Vini Mahajan assuming the charge as Secretary, Drinking Water and Sanitation Department while Additional Secretary, G Asok Kumar has taken over as the new Director General for the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG).
Mahajan, a 1987-batch officer, has relieved Pankaj Kumar, Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation, who was also in charge of the DW&S department.
Prior to joining the Jal Shakti Ministry, Mahajan was serving as Chief Secretary, Punjab since June 26, 2020. Earlier, she served as Additional Chief Secretary of the Departments of Housing & Urban Development, Punjab. An MBA from Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta, Mahajan holds a BA (Honours) in Economics from Lady Shri Ram College (LSR) at Delhi University.
Mahajan has held several top-level positions in Punjab including as ACS/ Principal Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare and Principal Secretary, Department of Medical Education and Research, and Principal Secretary – Finance.
She has served at the Centre earlier too as Joint Secretary to the Prime Minister from 2007-2012 and earlier during 2004-05 as Director in the Department of Economic Affairs in the Union Finance Ministry.
Mahajan has received numerous academic awards, including the National Talent Search Scholarship. She was a Hubert Humphrey fellow based at American University in Washington DC in 2000 –2001, said an official statement.
The new NMCG Director General Kumar is a 1991-batch IAS of the Telangana cadre. In the past, he has held several important positions such as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Director in the Power Ministry. Kumar has also served as the Executive Director – Projects in National Mission for Clean Ganga.
Kumar has worked extensively in the water sector. Before joining NMCG, he served as the Mission Director for National Water Mission where his inspiring work in “Jal Shakthi Abhiyan: Catch the Rain” campaign led to the sanction of over 9.5 lakh water conservation and rainwater harvesting structures all over India. This resulted in him receiving the popular moniker – the Rain Man of India.
Kumar has also spearheaded several innovative initiatives such as the monthly ‘Water Talks’ and ‘Water Tech Talks’, preparation of water budgets for all states, water audit of various industrial sector units and irrigation projects to improve water use efficiency. Additionally, as the District Collector in 2002, he supported the construction of over 0.14 million household toilets in 1000 schools in Nizamabad district and was responsible for providing drinking water supply to over 3 million people in Hyderabad in 2008, according to an official statement.
Kumar is also the recipient of several awards such as the SKOCH Award for Public Services 2021, Jal-Mitra award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh and the first Telangana Excellence Award by the Government of Telangana for outstanding work done in Public Administration.
