Wider shake-up in Bhupender Yadav’s office as fourth aide removed

New Delhi: A fourth official attached to Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav’s office was also removed on July 3, widening the unusual staff shake-up that had earlier appeared to involve his Private Secretary and two Additional Private Secretaries . According to a separate office order issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, the appointment of Siddharth Yadav as Assistant Private Secretary to the minister was terminated with immediate effect. Also read: NewsDrum Informals: Bhupender Yadav’s top staff axed over Alwar projects? The order said the decision was taken in pursuance of a Department of Personnel and Training office memorandum dated July 3, 2026, and with the approval of the competent authority. It also said Siddharth Yadav was relieved of his duties immediately. The order was signed by Under Secretary Vibhuti Panjiyar and marked to the Prime Minister’s Office, Cabinet Secretariat, Department of Personnel and Training and other government offices. The latest order means that four members of Bhupender Yadav’s immediate personal staff were moved out on the same day. Earlier, Amar Singh, IRS (IT:2010), who was serving as Private Secretary to Yadav, was repatriated to his parent cadre in the Department of Revenue on “administrative grounds” and relieved with immediate effect. Two Additional Private Secretaries were also removed. Shailesh Kumar Singh, a Central Secretariat Service officer, was prematurely repatriated to his parent cadre in the Department of Personnel and Training with the provision of an “extended cooling off” period. Ayush Saran’s appointment as Additional Private Secretary was terminated with immediate effect. The fourth order adds to the questions around the scale of the action. Transfers, repatriations and changes in ministerial staff are not unusual. But the removal of the Private Secretary, two Additional Private Secretaries and an Assistant Private Secretary together suggests a wider clean-out of the minister’s office arrangement rather than routine turnover. The government has not publicly explained why the four officials were removed on the same day. The orders use standard administrative language and do not refer to any allegation, inquiry or disciplinary finding against the officers. Personal staff attached to a Union minister usually handle appointments, coordination, file movement, policy follow-up and liaison between the minister’s office and the wider government system. That makes a simultaneous change at multiple levels of the minister’s office significant.