28 IAS Officers Empanelled For Additional Secretary-Level Posts At Centre; Full List Here

The Centre has empanelled 28 IAS officers for Additional Secretary and equivalent posts, strengthening senior administrative leadership in key ministries as the government prepares to fill top bureaucratic positions.

Post Published By: Manoj Tibrewal Aakash

Updated : 28 February 2026, 7:10 PM IST

With this approval, the officers become eligible to hold senior administrative positions at the Centre

New Delhi: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the empanelment of 28 officers from the Indian Administrative Service for appointment to Additional Secretary and equivalent posts in the Government of India, Dynamite News reported.

The decision, announced in an official information note dated February 28, 2026, clears the officers to hold key administrative positions at the Centre. The empanelment process is a crucial step that enables senior IAS officers to be considered for leadership roles in various ministries and departments.

41 Senior IAS Officers Empanelled for Secretary-Level Posts; Major Bureaucratic Reshuffle Likely

Officers From Multiple Cadres Selected

The empanelled officers belong to several state cadres, reflecting a broad administrative representation across the country. Officers from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Odisha, Punjab, Telangana, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh and other cadres have been included in the list.

28 IAS empanelled for Additional Secretary level post in Govt of India pic.twitter.com/11xZvJm020

— Dynamite News (@DynamiteNews_) February 28, 2026

Among those cleared for empanelment are officers from the 1993, 1996, 1999, 2000 and 2001 batches. The majority belong to the 2001 batch, which is now reaching the senior-most levels of the civil services hierarchy.

Some officers have been empanelled for positions at the Additional Secretary level or its equivalent, while others have been cleared specifically for posts equivalent to Additional Secretary.

IAS officers empanelled list

Here are the 28 IAS officers empanelled for Additional Secretary / AS equivalent posts:

1. Dheeraj Sahu (UP cadre, 1996 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
2. Debasish Prusty (Rajasthan cadre, 2000 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
3. Lokhande Prashant Sitaram (AGMUT cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
4. Mandeep K. Bhandari (AGMUT cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
5. Sridhar Chiruvolu (Bihar cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
6. Arti Kanwar (Gujarat cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
7. Vijay Nehra (Gujarat cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
8. R. Selvam (Himachal Pradesh cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
9. Pankaj Yadav (Haryana cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
10. Darpan Jain (Karnataka cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
11. Nipun Vinayak (Maharashtra cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
12. Prajakta L. Verma (Maharashtra cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
13. Shrikar Keshav Pardeshi (Maharashtra cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
14. Vijayalakshmi Prasanna Bidari (Maharashtra cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
15. Nidhi Mani Tripathi (Manipur cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
16. Dodda Venkata Swamy (Odisha cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
17. Priyank Bharti (Punjab cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
18. Neetu Kumari Prasad (Telangana cadre, 2001 batch) – AS/AS Equivalent
19. Anoop Kumar Agrawal (West Bengal cadre, 1993 batch) – AS Equivalent
20. Sarita Chauhan Chand (AGMUT cadre, 1999 batch) – AS Equivalent
21. Bhaskar Jyoti Sharma (Odisha cadre, 1999 batch) – AS Equivalent
22. Shubha Sarma (Odisha cadre, 1999 batch) – AS Equivalent
23. Kumar Rahul (Punjab cadre, 2000 batch) – AS Equivalent
24. Sorab Babu (Uttar Pradesh cadre, 2000 batch) – AS Equivalent
25. Ankita Mishra Bundela (AGMUT cadre, 2001 batch) – AS Equivalent
26. Jujjavarapu Balaji (Assam-Meghalaya cadre, 2001 batch) – AS Equivalent
27. Siddharth Jain (Andhra Pradesh cadre, 2001 batch) – AS Equivalent
28. Santhanagopalan R. (Odisha cadre, 2001 batch) – AS Equivalent