Senior IAS officer Deepti Gaur Mukerjee has been appointed as the new Secretary of the Department of Higher Education under the Ministry of Education by the Centre.
The appointment is a part of a major bureaucratic reshuffle approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), according to the government order cited by PTI.
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Who is Deepti Gaur Mukerjee?
Deepti Gaur Mukerjee is a 1993 batch IAS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre. Publicly available IAS records list her date of birth as February 3, 1969, and her domicile state as Uttar Pradesh.
Her reported educational qualifications include a Master's degree in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and an MSc in Public Management and Governance from the London School of Economics.
Mukerjee entered the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) through direct recruitment following the UPSC Civil Services Examination.
Current and Previous Roles
Before her latest appointment, Mukerjee was serving as the Secretary in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA). She took charge as the Corporate Affairs Secretary in August 2024.
Before becoming the MCA Secretary, Mukerjee served in the National Health Authority (NHA). ICSI records note that she had served as the NHA's CEO before taking charge at the Ministry of Corporate Affairs.
Mukerjee's Experience in the Education Sector
Mukerjee is not new to education administration. During her Madhya Pradesh cadre tenure, she served in senior positions linked to the School Education Department and State Education Mission.
A 2017 Ministry of Education document records her participation as a Madhya Pradesh education secretary in discussions concerning the implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, including initiatives such as Mil Banche and Kahani Utsav aimed at improving children's reading and learning engagement.
Mukerjee's Appointment in the Department of Higher Education
The appointment comes at a time when the education sector is facing heightened scrutiny over examination systems, including the NEET paper leak controversy.
Her appointment also follows an earlier government decision to appoint Naresh Pal Gangwar, a Rajasthan cadre IAS officer, as higher education secretary, with that appointment subsequently put in abeyance, The Times of India reported.
Mukerjee's previous experience spans across education, health administration, corporate affairs and state-level governance, giving her broad administrative background as she takes charge of the higher education portfolio.
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