Rajiv Mehrishi appointed Home Secretary

New Delhi: Senior IAS officer Rajiv Mehrishi was on Monday appointed the new Home Secretary, said Prime Minister's Office.

Incumbent Home Secretary LC Goyal has sought voluntary retirement scheme which has been approved by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Prime Minister has approved the appointment of Mehrishi, a 1978-batch Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, for a period of two years with effect from Monday, an official release said.

Mehrishi was serving as Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Finance and was supposed to retire on Monday.

The Prime Minister has also approved the request of Goyal, a 1979-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer, of voluntary retirement from government service due to personal reasons with immediate effect, the release said.

Goyal was appointed to the post on February 5 by the Modi government after the then Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami was sacked after he allegedly tried to prevent CBI from arresting former Union Minister Matang Sinh in connection with Saradha chit fund scam case.

The post of Union Home Secretary has a fixed tenure of two years.

In January, the then Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh was eased out of her office six months before the completion of her two-year fixed tenure.

(With additional information from PTI)