The Odisha government on 5 November 2026 reshuffled four senior Indian Administrative Service officers, naming Girish S.N. as Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Health and Family Welfare Department in a General Administration and Public Grievance Department order issued by order of the Governor.
The notifications also move Bishnupada Sethi to the General Administration and Public Grievance Department as Officer on Special Duty, shift Aswathy S. to Finance as Special Secretary, and bring Roopa Mishra back from central deputation as Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department. The changes sit alongside other recent Odisha IAS transfers that reassigned Collectors and Secretariat posts.
Girish S.N. takes Health charge
Girish S.N., a 2002-batch IAS officer, has been appointed Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Government in the Health and Family Welfare Department. He was previously Commissioner-cum-Secretary in the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department, a role he has held since an earlier Odisha posting that made him Secretary, P.R. and D.W..
The Health assignment puts him at the head of the state’s principal health department at a time when digital service delivery and public health administration remain central to Odisha’s governance agenda.
Aswathy S. moves to Finance; Roopa Mishra returns
Aswathy S., a 2003-batch IAS officer who was serving as Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Health and Family Welfare with additional charge as Chief Executive Officer of the State Institute for Transformative Initiatives, Odisha (SITI-Odisha), has been appointed Special Secretary to Government in the Finance Department. She will continue as CEO of SITI-Odisha.
Roopa Mishra, a 2004-batch IAS officer, has been appointed Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Government in the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department on return from central deputation, filling the vacancy created by Girish S.N.’s move to Health.
Bishnupada Sethi posted as OSD in GA and PG
Bishnupada Sethi, a 1995-batch IAS officer and the senior-most among the four, has been appointed Officer on Special Duty in the General Administration and Public Grievance Department. He was serving as Chairman of the Odisha Forest Development Corporation with additional charge as Chief Administrator of the KBK region.
The order mirrors the pattern of earlier 2026 rounds, including an August reshuffle of seven IAS officers and a February realignment of senior cadres, that periodically rotate department heads across the Secretariat.
Why the order matters
Health, Finance, Panchayati Raj and General Administration are core citizen-facing and coordination portfolios. Placing a full-time Commissioner-cum-Secretary in Health, pairing Finance with continued SITI-Odisha leadership, and restoring a returned officer to Panchayati Raj keeps those departments under named senior charge rather than interim arrangements.
A parallel IPS move was reported earlier this week when Odisha shifted Jail DG Sushant Nath to the Home Department as OSD, underlining a broader November reset across civil and police cadres.
Featured image: Girish S.N., IAS, appointed Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Odisha. Photo: Sambad English (5 November 2026).