Dept of financial services secy Rajiv Kumar appointed as finance secy

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet on Tuesday approved the appointment of department of financial services (DFS) secretary Rajiv Kumar as the new finance secretary.

A finance secretary is the senior-most bureaucrat among the finance ministry’s five departments—economic affairs, revenue, expenditure, financial services and department of investment and public asset management (DIPAM).

Kumar succeeded 1983-batch IAS officer Subhash Chandra Garg as the finance secretary. Garg, who was also the economic affairs secretary, was transferred to the power ministry as the secretary in a major bureaucratic reshuffle on July 24.

The 59-year old 1984-batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, took over as the financial services secretary in September, 2017. Kumar, spearheaded the government larger plan of few and bigger banks with Bank of Baroda’s merger with Dena Bank and Vijaya Bank to make it the third largest bank in the country. Recapitalisation of public sector banks with ₹2.11 lakh crore was brought under him.

He has played a key role in driving the Narendra Modi’s plan of financial inclusion, with flagship schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Mudra loan scheme, the 59 minutes loan scheme for the MSME sector, Scheme, among others, a move towards that aimed at greater access to credit and job creation.