Capt Amarinder Singh with former PM Manmohan Singh, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Himachal CM Virbhadra Singh in Chandigarh on Thursday.

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, March 16In a first major shake-up in Punjab, soon after taking over as Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh on Thursday transferred 12 top officers.Karan Avtar Singh, additional Chief Secretary, has been appointed Chief Secretary.Meanwhile, Sarvesh Kaushal has been appointed the Director General of Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Public Administration.Himmat Singh, who is the seniormost IAS officer of Punjab cadre, and a long-time faithful of Amarinder, has been given the charge of Horticulture Department.Anurag Aggarwal has been appointed Financial Commissioner of Taxation and Vivek Pratap Singh Excise and Taxation Commissioner.

Satish Chandra, though relieved of the Taxation charge, will continue to serve as Additional Chief Secretary, Finance, as the Budget exercise is going on and the government might not change him at this juncture.

SK Sandhu, who was Principal Secretary to former chief minister Parkash Singh Badal, will now go to the Social Security Department.Tejvir Singh will be the new PS to the Chief Minister.Raji P Srivastava has been shifted to MGSIPA.Krishan Kumar, Secretary, Expenditure, has been given the additional charge of Secretary, Personnel.