Ex-IAS Amarjeet Sinha quits as Modi adviser, second high-profile PMO resignation in 6 months
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Ex-IAS Amarjeet Sinha quits as Modi adviser, second high-profile PMO resignation in 6 months

There has been no official statement from the PMO on Amarjeet Sinha’s resignation, and no clarity yet on the reasons behind the decision.

   
Retired IAS officer Amarjeet Sinha, an adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), has resigned from his position | ThePrint

Retired IAS officer Amarjeet Sinha, an adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), has resigned from his position | ThePrint

New Delhi: Retired IAS officer Amarjeet Sinha, a top adviser in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), resigned from his position Monday, with seven months still to go in his two-year tenure. He is the second high-ranking official in the PMO to quit this year after P.K. Sinha, who resigned as principal adviser to PM Narendra Modi in March, citing personal reasons.

The 1983-batch Bihar-cadre IAS officer moved to the PMO in February 2020, after retiring as rural development (RD) secretary. In the PMO, he was handling issues related to the rural, agriculture, and social sectors.

Since May 2019, when the Modi government returned to office for a second consecutive term, this is the third high-profile resignation from the PMO. The first was Nripendra Misra, who resigned as principal secretary to PM Modi in August 2019.

There has been no official statement from the PMO on Sinha’s resignation, but government sources confirmed to ThePrint that he has put in his papers. There is no clarity yet on the reasons behind his resignation.

ThePrint reached Sinha for a comment through calls and WhatsApp messages, but there was no response till the time of publishing this report.

With his resignation, the PMO now has just one adviser — Bhaskar Khulbe, a retired West Bengal-cadre IAS officer. Both Sinha and Khulbe were appointed as advisers in the PMO at the same time.


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The brain behind PM Garib Kalyan Yojana

When Sinha, with over three decades of experience in the social sector, was tasked with advising the PM on all matters related to social, welfare, rural and agriculture sectors, it did not come as a surprise.

As rural development secretary, Sinha proved his mettle by implementing some of the flagship rural schemes of the Modi government, including the PM Awas Yojana.

In his PMO role, he is believed to have been the brain behind the PM Garib Kalyan Yojana, the welfare scheme launched by the Prime Minister for migrant workers during the lockdown last year.

Sinha, meanwhile, was appointed principal adviser to the PM in September 2019. Prior to this, Sinha, a 1977-batch Uttar Pradesh-cadre IAS officer, served as Officer on Special Duty in the PMO. Before moving to the PMO, Sinha held the Cabinet secretary’s post between June 2015 and August 2019.

In the PMO, Sinha was tasked with handling six verticals — infrastructure, technology, governance, resources, finance, and economy.

A Delhi School of Economics alumnus, Sinha also served as secretary in the power and shipping ministries before becoming Cabinet secretary.

Misra appointed to Ram Mandir trust

Six months after he stepped down, Misra was appointed the head of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, tasked with constructing one of the most crucial projects of the Modi government — the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Misra’s decision to resign had raised many eyebrows as it came months after he was reappointed and given a Cabinet rank under the second Modi government. His post was earlier equivalent to that of a minister of state.

In 2019, government sources had told ThePrint that Misra was given a Cabinet rank to balance the hierarchical structure after former foreign secretary S. Jaishankar was given a Cabinet berth on his appointment as Union External Affairs Minister in May.

Misra had said at the time of his resignation that it “is now time for me to move on even as I remain devoted to public causes and national interests”.

(Edited by Paramita Ghosh)


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