Vivek Kumar Dewangen To Take Over As Secretary, National Commission For Scheduled Castes

The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Vivek Kumar Dewangen as Secretary of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, a post carrying the rank and pay of Additional Secretary to the Government of India.

The National Commission for Scheduled Castes, functioning under the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, is a constitutional body responsible for investigating and monitoring safeguards provided to Scheduled Castes under the Constitution, examining complaints of rights violations and presenting reports to the President on the working of these safeguards. The Secretary's post handles the Commission's day-to-day administrative and investigative machinery, supporting the Chairperson and Members in their statutory functions.

Dewangen is a 1993-batch IAS officer of the Manipur cadre, bringing three decades of administrative experience to a post that requires coordination across state governments, police departments and welfare ministries when the Commission examines complaints involving atrocities or denial of statutory benefits to Scheduled Caste communities.

His appointment has been approved from the date he assumes charge of the post and will run until his superannuation, giving him a tenure defined by his retirement date rather than a fixed term, a structure occasionally used for Secretary-level appointments to bodies where continuity through an officer's remaining service years is considered useful.

The Commission's Secretary post has taken on greater administrative weight in recent years as the volume of complaints and suo motu cases relating to Scheduled Caste rights violations reported to the Commission has grown, requiring closer coordination with state-level SC/ST welfare departments and police machinery.

Manipur-cadre officers moving into central deputation roles such as this one typically bring administrative experience shaped by the state's distinct social and security context, experience that can inform how the Commission approaches complaints involving communities in the North-East alongside its broader national mandate.

Dewangen will take over the Secretary's post once he formally assumes charge, continuing in the role in the rank and pay of Additional Secretary until his retirement from service.