New Delhi: Giridhar Aramane, a 1988-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre, has assumed the office of Defence Secretary. Before taking the charge, Aramane laid a wreath at the National War Memorial here and paid homage to the fallen heroes. He saluted the brave-hearts who sacrificed their lives while protecting the nation.

“We draw inspiration from these brave-hearts and promise to work towards fulfilling their dream of making India a safe and prosperous country,” Aramane said during his visit to the National War Memorial.

In his 32 years of experience in IAS, Aramane has held various important portfolios in the Central government as well as Andhra Pradesh government. Prior to his current assignment, Aramane was Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

Earlier, he was Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat. Apart from Cabinet Secretariat, Aramane looked after the Exploration Division in the Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas and was Executive Director in-charge of inspections in Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.

In the Andhra Pradesh government, Aramane had served as Principal Secretary in Urban Development Department; Managing Director of AP State Finance Corporation and Secretary (Finance Department). He also held the post of Collector & DM of Chittoor and Khammam districts.

Aramane did B Tech in Civil Engineering from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Hyderabad and M Tech from IIT, Madras. He has an MA in Economics from Kakatiya University, Warangal. /BI/