(THE NEWSMAN OF INDIA.COM)
Bhubaneswar, April 11: The Odisha government on Thursday implemented a major reshuffle in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre, with several key bureaucrats being promoted, reassigned, or allowed to continue in their present roles. The reshuffle, announced through a notification by the General Administration & Public Grievance (GA&PG) Department, is aimed at streamlining governance and improving administrative efficiency across departments.

As part of the reshuffle, several Special Secretaries were promoted to the post of Joint Secretary in their respective departments. Aradhana Das has been appointed Joint Secretary in the Home Department, while Dharam Hansdah takes over as Joint Secretary in the Forest, Environment and Climate Change (MoFE&CC) Department. Rina Mohapatra was promoted to Joint Secretary in the Fisheries & Animal Resources (F&AR) Department, and Lily Kumari Kullu has assumed the role of Joint Secretary in the Revenue & Disaster Management (R&DM) Department. Similarly, Narahari Sethy was appointed Joint Secretary in the Water Resources Department.

Madhumita Rath was named Joint Secretary in the Handloom, Textiles & Handicrafts (HT&H) Department and will continue to hold additional charge as Managing Director of Utkalika. Debasis Singh has taken over as Joint Secretary in the Housing & Urban Development (H&UD) Department, while Pratap Chandra Hota was appointed to the same position in the Parliamentary Affairs Department. The Energy Department now has Nibedita Mishra as Joint Secretary, and Rega Geetarani Patnaik has been appointed to a similar post in the Rural Development Department. Archana Das Pattanaik and Sudam Charan Mandal were named Joint Secretaries in the Excise Department and Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare (FS&CW) Department, respectively. Additionally, Nivedita Prusty and Swayam Prava Mohanty have been appointed Joint Secretaries in the Home and Women & Child Development (W&CD) Departments. Girish Chandra Singh will now serve as Joint Secretary in the School & Mass Education (S&ME) Department.

In addition to these promotions, several officers were allowed to continue in their current positions, with their posts officially recognized as equivalent in rank and responsibility to the IAS cadre post of Joint Secretary. Niyati Pattnaik will continue as Director of Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SS&EPD), while Dr. Maheswar Swain remains Director of Panchayati Raj. Srikanta Tarai will continue as President of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Cuttack, and Birendra Korkora as Director of Secondary Education. Laxman Kumar Mallick continues as Director of Scheduled Caste Welfare, and Upama Kalo remains Additional Commissioner of Settlement and Consolidation, Sambalpur-II.

Further, Kabindra Kumar Sahoo and Madhusudan Dash will continue as Collectors and District Magistrates of Deogarh and Nuapada, respectively. Pradeep Kumar Nayak remains Additional Commissioner of the Additional Revisional Court in Bhubaneswar, while Premjit Nayak continues as Director of AYUSH, Odisha. Jugaleswari Dash will continue as Director of OBC, Bhubaneswar, and Subrat Kumar Panda as Collector and District Magistrate of Boudh.

This large-scale reshuffle is expected to bring fresh momentum into Odisha’s administrative machinery, with the government aiming to enhance service delivery and ensure more effective implementation of development schemes across the state.