Vivek Aggarwal Gets Additional Charge of Tourism Secretary Till July 19

Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, has been assigned additional charge of the post of Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, from July 3 to July 19, 2026, during the leave period of IAS officer Bhuvnesh Kurna.

The Tourism Secretary oversees national tourism promotion, infrastructure schemes and coordination with state tourism departments, and a temporary additional-charge arrangement ensures the ministry has a Secretary-rank officer available to clear files and approvals while the substantive incumbent is away.

Aggarwal is a 1994-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre who currently heads the Ministry of Culture, giving him oversight of heritage conservation, museums and cultural institutions even as he temporarily takes on the tourism portfolio.

Running both ministries in parallel for a two-and-a-half-week stretch is a routine administrative arrangement rather than a permanent merger of the two departments, with Kurna expected to resume full charge of Tourism on his return.

The overlap between culture and tourism administration is not unusual at the policy level, since heritage sites and monuments often sit at the intersection of both ministries' mandates.

Aggarwal's additional charge will require him to sign off on any time-sensitive tourism ministry approvals that arise during the three-week window, alongside his substantive culture ministry responsibilities.

The arrangement runs from July 3 to July 19, 2026, after which Bhuvnesh Kurna is expected to resume charge.