August 14, 2012. The petroleum ministry has reshuffled its nominees on boards of state-run companies including ONGC, where the joint secretary for exploration, A Giridhar, has replaced a senior bureaucrat, Additional Secretary Sudhir Bhargava in the coveted board position. The oil ministry said the board-level positions for oil ministry officials were realigned as per their work allocations in the ministry. As ONGC is the most valued government enterprise, two senior bureaucrats, one from the oil ministry and the other from the finance ministry represent the government in its board. Bimal Julka, additional secretary & financial adviser in the Department of Economic Affairs, is the other government nominee on its board. The appointment of a joint secretary (JS) in its board, as non-executive government nominee is not unusual.