Ajay Kumar Bhalla is a senior IAS officer who was appointed as the Home Secretary of India on August 22, 2019. Previously, he served in various capacities including Joint Secretary (Ports) in the Ministry of Shipping, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Coal, Secretary in the Power Ministry, and Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Ministry of Home Affairs. He received four one-year extensions in 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Wiki/Biography
Ajay Kumar Bhalla was born on Saturday, November 26, 1960, in Bihar (age 62 years 2022). His zodiac sign is Sagittarius. He holds a master’s degree. in Botany from the University of Delhi, an MBA from the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, and a Master of Social Sciences from Punjab University, Chandigarh.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′ 5″
Hair color: gray
Eye color: black
family
Parents and siblings
His father was also a government employee. Little is known about his mother and siblings.
wife and children
His wife Jyoti Grover Bhalla is a teacher in Delhi Public School. They have a son, Girik Bhalla, and a daughter, Akriti Bhalla, who is a project manager at McKinsey & Company.
Signature/Autograph
Profession
Ajay Kumar Bhalla is a 1984-batch IAS officer from Meghalaya, Assam. He started serving as an IAS officer on August 21, 1984 and thereafter he handled various assignments in Assam and Meghalaya cadres. From May 2002 to March 2005, Bala served as Director, Shipping (Ports), responsible for port operations and human resource development at all major ports in the country. Subsequently, he served as Joint Secretary (Ports), Ministry of Shipping (April 2005 to May 2007). The position requires him to oversee port development, port operations and human resource development matters related to major ports. Bhalla started serving as joint secretary of the Ministry of Coal on July 1, 2010. From January 8, 2015 to April 12, 2015, he served as Additional Secretary, Ministry of Coal. During this period he was responsible for the allocation and allocation of coal blocks. On April 13, 2015, he was appointed as Additional Secretary, Ministry of Commerce. On August 4, 2015, he also began to serve as the designated agency of the General Administration of Anti-dumping. On October 20, 2016, he was appointed as Director of the Bureau of Foreign Trade and concurrently served as Director of IIFT (from November 29, 2016 to June 30, 2017). Bala served as secretary of the Ministry of Power from June 30, 2017 to July 25, 2019. In 2019, he was appointed Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the Home Ministry after the Modi government reshuffled more than a dozen secretaries.
In August 2019, Bala succeeded Rajiv Gauba as India’s Home Secretary. During his tenure, Barra spearheaded the government’s initiative to establish the Coordination Center for Drugs (NCORD). He was also instrumental in moving forward the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill 2022. The legislation authorizes law enforcement agencies to collect, retain, and evaluate various indicators of individuals who have been convicted or detained, including physical and biological data such as retinal and iris scans. In addition, Bala coordinated operations against Khalistani supporters and criminal gangs in multiple regions and played a key role in the 2022 operation to dismantle the Popular Front of India (PFI).
Barra led the ministry through a series of crises as home secretary, a tenure that effectively began with a grueling trial. Just two weeks before his appointment, the central government abrogated Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, revoked J&K’s special status and bifurcated it into two union territories, leading to unrest in the region. Bala was tasked with gathering his resources, including the armed forces and central agencies, to ensure that no violent uprising broke out in the valley. Not only did he control the situation at the time, but under his watch, incidents of terror violence and law and order in Kashmir declined significantly in the following years. At the end of 2019, he once again put out the fire in the country caused by the enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). As the communal riots triggered by the CAA come to an end, Bhalla finds himself spearheading the fight against Covid-19, serving as the primary nodal authority in handling the lockdown and setting the agenda for states to combat the disease. In August 2020, farmers staged protests in Delhi that turned violent, and in early 2021 the Home Ministry was once again in trouble when a group of protesters strayed from a procession and stormed the Red Fort. He also managed the establishment of the Ram Mandir Trust, which was responsible for the illustrious efforts in building the Ram temple.
Though the officer was set to retire in November 2020, his tenure was extended till August 22, 2021 through an order on October 17, 2020, after completion of his fixed two-year tenure. He subsequently received two one-year extensions until August 22, 2023. In 2023, Union Home Minister Ajay K Bhalla was again granted one-year extension of term till August 22, 2024. Relaxation of FR of All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958 56(d) and Rule 16(1A). At the time, the government was dealing with multiple internal security issues such as unrest in Manipur and the rise of pro-Khalistan elements.
dispute
Revised preliminary version of CBI coal scam report
A bureaucrat during the UPA tenure, Bhalla courted controversy in March 2013 at a meeting organized by then Union Law Minister Ashwani Kumar. CBI Director Ranjit Sinha and Attorney General GE Vahanvati were present at the meeting. During the meeting, the preliminary version of the CBI report on the coal fraud case was revised. The report was initially intended for review by the Supreme Court but was later channeled through Ashwani Kumar, who had to step down due to the controversy it sparked. At the time, Bhalla was joint secretary in the coal ministry and played a role in the group of officials who implemented the changes. The Supreme Court later commented that these actions significantly changed the nature of the report.
Salary, accommodation and allowances
As per 7th Pay Commission Scale 17, Ajay Kumar Bhalla is entitled to receive Rs. As the Home Secretary of India, the monthly base salary is US$225,000. In addition to this, the Home Secretary is eligible for a diplomatic passport. The official residence of the Union Home Minister, Type VIII Bungalow No. 3, New Moti Bagh, New Delhi.
Facts/Trivia
- After completing his fourth one-year extension, Barra will become the second federal home secretary to serve for five years or more. The last time a home secretary served such a long term was nearly 52 years ago, when Lallan Prasad Singh ended his term in January 1971 after more than six years in office.
- During Bala’s tenure as home secretary, the Home Office experienced multiple collapses. More than four years after the CAA was enacted, the department has yet to formulate its rules. There is a lot of political fanfare on the National Population Register, but the program is never updated. Initially, the census scheduled for 2021 was postponed due to Covid-19. However, even if the pandemic is long over, there is no sign of it till the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education