In a strategic move, the Odisha government has undertaken a major reshuffle in its bureaucracy, announcing the transfer of 41 IAS officers in a recent notification issued by the General Administration & Pension and Grievances Department on January 23.
The reshuffling includes the transfer of 17 district Collectors, as revealed by the notification. Officials state that this move is in anticipation of the upcoming Lok Sabha polls and Assembly elections, which are traditionally held concurrently in the State.
In a notable change, Ranjan Kumar Das, the chief administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA), has been appointed as the new Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Central Division). Additionally, he will assume the additional charge of Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Southern Division).
Meanwhile, Temjenwapang Ao, the outgoing Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Southern Division), has been designated as the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Public Enterprises Department.
The reshuffle also saw the appointment of ten IAS officers from the 2018 and 2019 batches as district Collectors for the first time, while those from the 2020 and 2021 batches were assigned roles as ADMs and sub-Collectors.
Key changes in district Collectors include the reassignment of Puri’s Collector Samarth Verma, who will now serve as the Additional Chief Administrator of the SJTA. The State Election Commission Secretary, Bijay Kumar Das, is set to take over as Puri’s new Collector.
Further changes include the appointment of Khurda Collector K. Sudarshan Chakravarthy as the Director of Minor Minerals, and Bolangir’s district Collector Chanchal Rana being named as the new Collector of Khurda.
Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) Commissioner Nikhil Pavan Kalyan will now serve as the Director of Rural Development, with Angul Collector Siddharth Shankar Swain stepping in to replace him as CMC Commissioner.
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The reshuffle also involves the transfer of Koraput Collector Abadaal Akthar to Angul, while Keerthi Vasan, CDO-cum-EO of Ganjam Zilla Parishad, has been appointed as the new Koraput Collector, as per the official notification.