New Delhi : The Union Cabinet on Thursday appointed Apurva Chandra as secretary, ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B).

Chandra was previously holding the charge of secretary, ministry of labour & employment. The appointment was cleared by the appointment committee of the Cabinet.

Chandra belongs to the 1988 batch of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) of the Maharashtra cadre. He has spent more than seven years in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas and four years as principal secretary ( industries) in the Maharashtra government. In 2017, he joined as the special director general (acquisition) in the ministry of defence with the mandate of strengthening the Indian Armed Forces by expediting the acquisition process.

Last year in October, he took over the charge of secretary, ministry of labour and employment. He was also elected as the chairperson of the Governing Body of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) for the period October 2020- June 2021, a position of international repute.