Surinder Kumar Arora, who has been working as Additional Secretary in the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, assumed charge as Secretary, I&B, from Tuesday.
The post of I&B Secretary fell vacant following the retirement of Navin Chawla on Sunday. He has now been appointed Election Commissioner.
A 1971 batch IAS officer from the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Arora has previously held the position of Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor to the Ministry of Commerce. He has also been Principal Financial Secretary to the AP government from June 1999-June 2003. He has been with the I&B Ministry since October last.