IAS Officer Rahul Hooda Appointed Deputy Secretary in Ministry of Civil Aviation Under Central Staffing Scheme
In an important bureaucratic development coming out of New Delhi, the Central Government has officially approved the appointment of senior Indian Administrative Service officer Rahul Hooda as Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation.
According to a formal official order dispatched by the Department of Personnel and Training under the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Hooda’s appointment falls right under the framework of the Central Staffing Scheme. This key administrative movement brings an experienced state cadre officer directly into the core decision making apparatus of India’s rapidly growing civil aviation sector.
The official directive, tracked under file number 16/1/2026-EO (MM-I) and issued from Kartavya Bhawan-3 in the national capital, confirms that the Competent Authority has formally sanctioned his central deputation.
Belonging to the 2015 batch of the Haryana cadre, Hooda will be serving in this deputy secretary level position for an initial tenure of four years starting from the exact date he formally assumes charge, or until further government directives are issued down the line.
To ensure that there is a smooth and speedy administrative transition, the central government has explicitly urged the Chief Secretary of Haryana to relieve the officer from his current state duties immediately so he can report for his new post in Delhi without delay.
Taking on the role of Deputy Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, where senior administrator Samir Kumar Sinha serves as Secretary, places Hooda right at the center of critical policymaking, airport infrastructure development, airline regulatory frameworks, and national aviation strategy.
The ministry handles a wide spectrum of crucial portfolios, ranging from expanding regional air connectivity under national schemes to overseeing civil aviation safety and international transport agreements. With his solid grounding in district administration and state level governance across Haryana, Hooda is expected to bring valuable operational execution capabilities to the central ministry’s administrative hierarchy.
As with all central deputations managed under DoP&T, the official appointment order comes with strict compliance conditions regarding joining timelines. The communication highlights long standing directions issued by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet through DoP&T circular recently.
Under these mandatory regulations, any officer selected for a position under the Central Staffing Scheme must join their designated central post within three weeks from the date the formal appointment order is issued.
If an officer fails to report within this strict three week timeframe without authorized approval, the central government automatically initiates formal debarment proceedings to bar them from central postings under the scheme in the future.
The official order carries the signature of Director Annies Kanmani Joy, who issued the formal directive on behalf of the Establishment Officer’s division. Copies of the detailed order have already been dispatched across relevant administrative corridors to facilitate the transfer process.
Primary recipients include the Ministry of Civil Aviation, which will issue the formal notification of appointment as soon as Hooda assumes office, along with senior officials including the Private Secretary to the Minister of State for Personnel, the Principal Private Secretary to the Establishment Officer, and the Chief Secretary of Haryana for official routing to the officer.
For Rahul Hooda, who has held various key administrative and field assignments across Haryana since entering the civil services in 2015, this central deputation marks a key milestone in his career trajectory as he steps into mid-level central ministry administration.
Navigating the complex regulatory and operational landscape of national aviation requires tight coordination between central ministries, aviation safety authorities, private airport operators, and state governments.
As the Haryana state administration prepares his formal relief documents, Hooda is set to take over his new post at Kartavya Bhawan’s extended setup to help drive the country’s civil aviation agenda forward.
