Former Telecoms Minister JS Deepak has been appointed Group Director for Policy and International Strategy by Bharti Airtel. The 1982 IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre was Telecoms Secretary from June 2016 to March 2017 when he was abruptly transferred to the Department of Commerce. In March 2017, he attended Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in his capacity as Telecom Secretary when his transfer orders were made public.
Barely a week before Deepak was transferred from the telecoms department, the Telecoms Commission, the DoT’s highest decision-making body, under his chairmanship, had written to India’s telecoms regulator, then chaired by RS Sharma, that the regulator’s decision would limit Reliance’s promotional offering Continuing Jio beyond the stipulated period of 90 days and then allowing a subsequent promotional offer caused a loss to the treasury of Rs 685 crore.
After nearly three months as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) at the Department of Commerce Deepak has been appointed Permanent Ambassador of India to the World Trade Organization in Geneva. Bureaucrats can join companies after a mandatory one-year cooling off period or after specific government approval allowing them to join a company after they retire or leave their government position. Deepak was retired in 2018 but his tenure at the WTO ended in May 2020.
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