Gandhinagar: As the leading face of State health department Additional Chief Secretary Manoj Aggarwal is down with Covid-19 infection since yesterday,  the State government has given additional charge of Aggarwal’s department to IAS Mukesh Kumar till the time Aggarwal is absent from his duty.

Additional Chief Secretary of State health department Manoj Aggarwal was recorded covid positive yesterday and had gone for rest at home till he recovers fully from covid infection. IAS officer Mukesh Kumar, Principal Secretary of Urban development and urban housing department has been given additional charge of Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Health and Family welfare department till Aggarwal rejoins his duty.

Mukesh Kumar could be seen sitting next to the Chief Secretary during the meeting with Municipal Commissioners and District Collectors via video conferencing over covid pandemic and related protocols. Mukesh Kumar was till recently the Municipal Commissioner of Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC). He was leading the affairs at AMC during the worst Covid wave last year in worst affected Ahmedabad city.

It’s worth noting that the top guiding and governing team of State health department has been affected by Covid-19 infection. Additional Chief Secretary of Health department, Manoj Aggarwal and Health Commissioner Jai Prakash Shivhare both are infected with Covid. They are down at the juncture when covid count is rising rapidly and third wave is knocking the doors. Another IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer Rajkumar Beniwal has also been infected with Covid. Principal Secretary of Finance department JP Gupta, Secretary of Tourism Hareet Shuka are also detected Covid positive. DeshGujarat