Odisha Govt Announces Minor Reshuffle of Senior IAS Officers

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Saturday issued a notification for a minor reshuffle of senior IAS officers, with several key appointments and additional charges being reassigned to streamline governance across departments.

As per the notification from the General Administration & Public Grievance Department, 1993-batch IAS officer Deoranjan Kumar Singh, currently serving as Additional Chief Secretary for the Revenue & Disaster Management Department with additional roles as Special Relief Commissioner and Managing Director of Odisha State Disaster Management Authority, will now also assume the role of Chairman of the Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC). With Singh taking over this role, the additional charge held by IAS officer Vishal Kumar Dev as Chairman of OFDC will be terminated.

In another adjustment, Vishal Kumar Dev, a 1996-batch IAS officer and Principal Secretary of the Electronics & IT Department, will now also serve as Principal Secretary of the Energy Department. This change results in the termination of Hemant Sharma’s additional charge as Principal Secretary of the Energy Department.

Further changes include the appointment of 1997-batch IAS officer Sanjay Kumar Singh, who is currently Principal Secretary of the Rural Development Department with an additional role as Principal Secretary of the Information & Public Relations Department. Singh will now also take on the responsibility of Principal Secretary of the Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department, relieving Vir Vikram Yadav of this additional charge.

Additionally, 1999-batch IAS officer Bhaskar Jyoti Sarma, Principal Secretary of the Sports & Youth Services Department, has been granted the additional charge of Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL).

The reshuffle also appoints 2002-batch IAS officer Girish SN as Commissioner-cum-Secretary to the Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water Department.

In a significant change, 2008-batch IAS officer Guha Poonam Tapas Kumar, currently Special Secretary of the Panchayati Raj & Drinking Water Department with an additional role as CEO of ORMAS, has been appointed as Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Handloom, Textiles & Handicrafts Department. She will continue to hold an additional charge as Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Excise Department, ending the assignments of Dr. Arabinda Kumar Padhee and Sushil Kumar Lohani in these roles.