Who is Nidhi Tiwari, who has been appointed as the personal secretary of PM Modi

Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer Nidhi Tiwari has been appointed as the Private Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) of the Government of India issued an order in this regard on March 29 and said that the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Nidhi. DoPT has said that this order will come into effect with immediate effect.

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Nidhi was till now serving as Deputy Secretary in the Prime Minister's Office. Her appointment has been made on a co-terminus basis. Co-terminus means a tenure which is till the end of the Prime Minister's term or till further orders.

While holding this post, Nidhi Tiwari will now handle the day-to-day administrative work of PM Modi, such as managing the schedule, policy and administrative coordination, communication, etc.

Who is Nidhi Tiwari?

Nidhi Tiwari, IFS officer of the 2014 batch, had secured the 96th rank in the Civil Services Examination 2013.

Before her new appointment, Nidhi has been serving in the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) for the last two and a half years.

Before becoming a private secretary, she was working as a deputy secretary in the PMO. In this position, she was handling important departments related to foreign and security matters.

Earlier, Nidhi Tiwari joined the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in November 2022 as Under Secretary.

She also served as Assistant Commissioner (Commercial Tax) in Varanasi before clearing the 2013 civil services exam.

Nidhi Tiwari's husband, Sushil Jaiswal, is a doctor by profession and runs his own hospital in Varanasi.

Expressing happiness about Nidhi, Dr. Sushil Jaiswal says, “Different responsibilities are given in the service, but this is a big responsibility. Nidhi is very hardworking, and she is also interested in the job.”

Prior to her tenure in the PMO, Nidhi was posted in the Ministry of External Affairs. Here she was part of the disarmament and international security affairs team.

His expertise in international relations proved invaluable after he moved to the PMO, where he contributed in the 'Foreign Affairs and Security' vertical under National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval.

Preparing for civil services exam after resigning from job

Nidhi Tiwari, who hails from Lucknow, completed her early education and graduation from here.

She did her graduation in BSc (Biology) and went to Banaras Hindu University (BHU) for post-graduation. In the year 2006, she completed her studies in Biochemistry from BHU and got a gold medal.

After this, Nidhi was selected as a scientist in Bhabha Atomic Research Center. In the year 2008, she resigned from here and started preparing for the civil service examination.

Dr. Sushil Jaiswal says, “After resigning from the job of scientist, she was selected twice (in 2008 and 2009) in PCS (UP Civil Services Examination). In 2008, she became Basic Shiksha Adhikari and in 2009 PCS, she was selected for the post of Assistant Commissioner (Sales Tax).”

Before the 2013 civil services exam, Nidhi Tiwari had also cleared the 2012 civil services exam. But then her name was on the waiting list.

Meanwhile, she continued her job as Assistant Commissioner (Sales Tax) in Varanasi, and then in 2014, she got selected in the Civil Services Examination 2013 with the 96th rank.

Who else is in Team Modi?

Dr. Pramod Kumar (PK) Mishra is working as the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister in the Prime Minister's Office. PK Mishra is a retired IAS officer of the 1972 batch of the Gujarat cadre. He has also worked as the Principal Secretary to PM Modi between 2001 and 2004 when PM Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

The second name in the list is Ajit Doval, who is posted as National Security Advisor to the PM. Doval is the longest-serving NSA. He has been in this position since 2014. Doval joined the Kerala Cadre as an IPS in 1968 and was the Director of Intelligence Bureau in 2004-05.

The next name is Shaktikanta Das, who has been given the responsibility of Principal Secretary-2 in February 2025. Odisha-born Shaktikanta Das is a 1980 batch IAS officer. Das is considered one of the favorite officers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and he was the RBI Governor for six years.

Apart from these, Vivek Kumar (IFS 2004) and Hardik Satishchandra Shah are working as private secretaries in the PMO. Shah is a 2010 batch Gujarat cadre officer.

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