Odisha Government Assigns New Roles to Recently Promoted IAS Officers

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has assigned new responsibilities to several officers who were recently inducted into the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre by the Centre. The fresh appointments and designations were notified by the General Administration & Public Grievance (GA&PG) Department, ensuring a smooth transition and continuity in administration.

As per the notification, Aradhana Das, who was serving as the Special Secretary in the Home Department, has now been appointed as the Joint Secretary to the same department. Similarly, Dharam Hansdah, formerly Special Secretary to the Forest, Environment and Climate Change Department, has been designated as Joint Secretary in the same department.

Rina Mohapatra, who held the position of Special Secretary in the Fisheries & Animal Resources Department, has also been appointed as the Joint Secretary to the same department.

A number of officers have been allowed to continue in their present postings with their current roles being accorded the status equivalent to that of Joint Secretary to the Government. These include:

• Niyati Pattnaik, who continues as Director, Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SS&EPD).

• Maheswar Swain, retained as Director, Panchayati Raj, Odisha.

• Srikanta Tarai, continuing as President, Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Cuttack.

• Birendra Korkora, as Director, Secondary Education, Bhubaneswar.

• Laxman Kumar Mallick, as Director, Scheduled Caste Welfare.

• Upama Kalo, as Additional Commissioner, Settlement and Consolidation, Sambalpur-II.

• Kabindra Kumar Sahoo, continues as Collector & District Magistrate, Deogarh.

• Pradeep Kumar Nayak, as Additional Commissioner, Additional Revisional Court, Bhubaneswar.

• Madhusudan Dash, retained as Collector & District Magistrate, Nuapada.

• Premjit Nayak, continues as Director, AYUSH, Odisha.

These postings reflect the state government’s effort to maintain administrative consistency while recognizing the merit and contributions of officers newly elevated to the IAS rank.