Nidhi Tewari, IFS officer, appointed private secretary to PM Modi. Who is she?

The central government on Monday informed that Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Nidhi Tewari has been appointed as private secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Nidhi Tewari was elevated from the post of deputy secretary in the Prime Minister's Office to private secretary to the Prime Minister, an order read.

“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Ms. Nidhi Tewari, IFS (2014) currently serving as Deputy Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office as Private Secretary to the Prime Minister, in the Level 12 of the pay matrix with immediate effect, on co-terminus basis or until further orders, whichever is earlier,” said the order from the ministry of personnel dated March 29.

Also read | RSS ‘banyan tree’ of India’s culture and modernisation: Modi in Nagpur

Who is Nidhi Tewari?

Nidhi Tewari reportedly hails from Mehmurganj in Uttar Pradesh's Varanasi, which is PM Modi's parliamentary constituency since 2014.

Nidhi Tewari joined the bureaucracy as an Indian Foreign Service officer from the 2014 batch of civil servants.

According to a News18 report, Nidhi Tewari secured the 96th rank in the civil services examination conducted by the Union Public Services Commission (UPSC).

Before clearing the UPSC examination, she worked as an Assistant Commissioner (Commercial Tax) in Varanasi and prepared for the exams during employment, the report said.

Also read | 'PM announced retirement at RSS office': Sanjay Raut claims 'successor discussed in close-door meet'

Nidhi Tewari joined the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) as an Under Secretary in 2022 and has been serving has the Deputy Secretary since January 6, 2023.

At the PMO, she has worked as Deputy Secretary in the ‘Foreign and Security’ which reports to National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.

She has also served under the Disarmament and International Security Affairs Division at the ministry of external affairs.

PM Modi is assisted by two private secretaries – Vivek Kumar and Hardik Satishchandra Shah.

In February, former RBI governor Shaktikanta Das was appointed as the ‘Principal Secretary-2’ to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Shaktikanta Das, who remained RBI's governor for six years, demitted office in December last year. Sanjay Malhotra took charge as the 26th governor of the apex bank.