11 Central Secretariat Service Officers Included in Director Grade Select List

As many as 11 officers of the Central Secretariat Service have been included in the Senior Selection Grade (Director) Select List. The promoted officers are Manoj Kumar Rai (Defence), Vinita Talwar (Telecommunication), Bhuvaneswari Hariharan (Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation), Arun Kumar (Coal), Manish Kumar Lal (on deputation), Rajendra Singh Bora (Culture), Parveen Jargar (Personnel and Training), V Sridhar (Defence), T G K Jagannadham (Commerce), Shailesh Gautam (UPSC) and Ambuj Sharma (Civil Aviation).

The Director grade marks a key promotion stage in the Central Secretariat Service, the cadre that staffs the administrative backbone of central government ministries, with Director-rank officers typically heading divisions and reporting to Joint Secretaries.

The Department of Personnel and Training conducts these promotion exercises in consultation with individual ministries to ensure vacancy positions at the Director grade are filled without unnecessary delay once the select list is finalised.

The 11 officers named span ministries as varied as Defence, Telecommunications, Water Resources, Coal, Culture, Commerce and Civil Aviation, along with the UPSC secretariat itself, reflecting the CSS's role as a cross-cutting administrative cadre rather than one tied to a single ministry.

Two officers — Rai and Sridhar — are listed under the Defence ministry, while Manish Kumar Lal's inclusion while on deputation indicates that the select list also covers officers currently posted outside their parent cadre.

Once the select list is finalised, each ministry is expected to formally place the promoted officers in available Director-grade vacancies within their respective departments.

The select list takes effect as per the order issued by the Department of Personnel and Training.