New Delhi: The government on Thursday appointed IAS Officer Pulak Chatterj as principal secretary to the prime minister. Chatterjee, known to be close to the Gandhi family, will replace the high-profile T K A Nair, who has been Manmohan Singh's principal secretary for more than seven years now.

But Nair, a retired IAS officer, will stay in the PMO as adviser to the PM and continue in the rank of minister of state.

The change of guard comes at a time when there is a growing feeling in Congress that PMO is not sensitive to the party's concerns. Chatterjee, who was part of the PMO in UPA-I, is expected to provide that link. His appointment was first reported by TOI. At the same time, the PM has managed to retain Nair, who had earlier served as principal secretary to I K Gujral.