Ram Sewak Sharma gets additional charge as telecom secretary

KOLKATA: Ram Sewak Sharma, who is secretary, Department of Electronics & IT (DeiTY), has been given additional charge of telecom secretary from July 1, his office confirmed Tuesday.

He steps into the shoes of M F Farooqui, who retired June 30. Farooqui had assumed the reins of the telecom department as its seniormost officer in April 2013.

Sharma, a 1978 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS officer, could not be reached for comment. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet ( ACC) has cleared his appointment for three months.

Universal Services Obligation Fund Administrator N Ravi Shankar and Shankar Aggarwal, additional secretary in the defence ministry, were also reportedly in the race for the top job in the DoT.

Sharma takes charge of DoT at a time when the telecom industry expects the BJP-led government to expedite steps to ring in favourable merger and acquisition rules, pave the way for spectrum trading and sharing. He also takes charge when the industry expects clarity on availability and auction of airwaves, including 3G spectrum.

Sharma will also be slated to take decisions related to rational penalties and give a fillip to local manufacturing of telecom gear.