New Delhi, Aug 23 (IANS): Apurva Chandra on Monday took over as the Secretary in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.

Chandra, a 1988 batch IAS from Maharashtra cadre, was serving as the Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Employment since October 1, 2020 with the mandate to implement the Labour Codes passed by the Parliament in September, 2020 expeditiously.

Under his guidance, the rules have been framed for all four Labour Codes after extensive consultations with all the stakeholders. Accordingly, the 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana' has been launched to provide employment opportunities to 78.5 lakh workers in the formal sector with a budget of Rs 23,000 crore.

He has also worked as the Director General (Acquisition) in the Ministry of Defence from December 1, 2017 with the mandate of strengthening the Indian armed forces by expediting the acquisition process.

Several major contracts like S-400 missile system, multi-role helicopters, assault rifles, naval ships, T-90 tanks etc. were signed during his tenure.

He also chaired the committee to draft the new Defence Acquisition Procedure.

A bachelor's degree holder in civil engineering and masters in structural engineering from IIT Delhi, the incumbent officer has also served as the Principal Secretary (Industries) in the Government of Maharashtra for four years from 2013 to 2017.

The first smart industrial township under the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) was operationalised at Aurangabad in Maharashtra under the leadership of Chandra.

Chandra also served for more than seven years in the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas. He has been involved in framing policies with regard to fuel supplies to industries, supply logistics, transportation, storage and distribution of fuel products.