ACC Empanels 28 IAS Officers for Additional Secretary and Equivalent Posts at Centre – Full List

New Delhi, February 28, 2026: The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the empanelment of 28 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers for holding posts at the Centre at the level of Additional Secretary (AS) and Additional Secretary Equivalent.

The empanelment was issued through Information Note No. 35/02/2026-EO(SM-I) dated February 28, 2026.

Officers Empanelled at Additional Secretary / AS Equivalent Level

The following officers have been recommended for empanelment at the level of Additional Secretary (AS) / AS Equivalent:

• Dheeraj Sahu (UP, 1996 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Debasish Prusty (Rajasthan, 2000 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Lokhande Prashant Sitaram (AGMUT, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Mandeep K. Bhandari (AGMUT, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Sridhar Chiruvolu (Bihar, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Arti Kanwar (Gujarat, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Vijay Nehra (Gujarat, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• R. Selvam (Himachal Pradesh, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Pankaj Yadav (Haryana, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Darpan Jain (Karnataka, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Nipun Vinayak (Maharashtra, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Prajakta L. Verma (Maharashtra, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Shrikar Keshav Pardeshi (Maharashtra, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Vijayalakshmi Prasanna Bidari (Maharashtra, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Nidhi Mani Tripathi (Manipur, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Dodda Venkata Swamy (Odisha, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Priyank Bharti (Punjab, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

• Neetu Kumari Prasad (Telangana, 2001 Batch) – AS/AS Equivalent

Officers Empanelled at Additional Secretary Equivalent Level

The following officers have been empanelled at the level of Additional Secretary Equivalent:

• Anoop Kumar Agrawal (West Bengal, 1993 Batch) – AS Equivalent

• Sarita Chauhan Chand (AGMUT, 1999 Batch) – AS Equivalent

• Bhaskar Jyoti Sharma (Odisha, 1999 Batch) – AS Equivalent

• Shubha Sarma (Odisha, 1999 Batch) – AS Equivalent

• Kumar Rahul (Punjab, 2000 Batch) – AS Equivalent

• Sorabh Babu (Uttar Pradesh, 2000 Batch) – AS Equivalent

• Ankita Mishra Bundela (AGMUT, 2001 Batch) – AS Equivalent

• Jujjavarapu Balaji (Assam-Meghalaya, 2001 Batch) – AS Equivalent

• Siddharth Jain (Andhra Pradesh, 2001 Batch) – AS Equivalent

• Santhanagopalan R. (Odisha, 2001 Batch) – AS Equivalent

What Empanelment Means

Empanelment by the ACC enables IAS officers to be considered for appointment to senior positions in the Government of India at the specified level. However, empanelment does not automatically guarantee posting; it makes officers eligible for central deputation at that rank.