Madhusudan Prasad new Urban Development Secretary

NEW DELHI: Madhusudan Prasad and Nandita Chatterjee today took over as the secretaries of the Urban Development and Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation departments, respectively.

While Prasad was Commerce Special Secretary, Chatterjee was serving as Member Secretary of the National Commission of Women before being given the new responsibilities.

Both the appointments come at a crucial period as both the ministries is in the process of finalising cabinet note for approval of the ambitious Smart City project and the Real Estate Bill 2015.

The outgoing HUPA Secretary Anita Agnihotri and former Urban Development Secretary Shankar Aggarwal were shifted from the twin ministries headed by M Venkaiah Naidu on Saturday.

While Agnihotri has been transferred to the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, Aggarwal is the new Labour and Employment Secretary. Naidu bid farewell to Aggarwal and Agnihotri on January 31, 2015.