Rajiv Mehrishi retires, Gauba is home secretary

New Delhi: Senior IAS officer Rajiv Gauba on Thursday took charge as the Union home secretary after superannuation of incumbent Rajiv Mehrishi.

A 1982-batch IAS officer of Jharkhand cadre, 58-year-old Gauba will have a fixed two-year tenure in the sensitive post, a home ministry official said. Mr Gauba had joined the home ministry as an officer on special duty on June 27 after his appointment as the new home secretary. He had served as the secretary in the Union urban development ministry before being given the new assignment.

Earlier, he had worked in the home ministry as additional secretary, looking after crucial Left-wing extremism division, among many other responsibilities. Mr Gauba has wide-ranging experience in senior positions at policy-making and programme implementation in both Central and state governments and in international organisations.

Born in Punjab in 1959, Mr Gauba had graduated in physics from Patna University. He had served in Jharkhand as the chief secretary for 15 months before joining the Central government last year.