Sanjay Kothari appointed as secretary to Ram Nath Kovind, Ashok Malik as press secretary

New Delhi: Sanjay Kothari, Chairman of Public Enterprises Selection Board, has been appointed as secretary to President-elect Ram Nath Kovind.Senior journalist Ashok Malik has been named Press Secretary to Kovind, said an order issued on Saturday by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).[caption id="attachment_3838711" align="alignleft" width="380"]

File image of President-elect Ram Nath Kovind. Reuters[/caption]Senior Gujarat-cadre forest service officer Bharat Lal will be Joint Secretary to Kovind, the statement said.The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has cleared these appointments for an initial period of two years, it said.Kothari, a 1978-batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, retired in June 2016 as DoPT secretary.He was in November 2016 appointed as the chief of the government's head-hunter the PESB.Malik is currently Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation — a policy think tank.Lal, a 1988-batch officer of Indian Forest Service, is at present Resident Commissioner of Gujarat government in New Delhi.