Senior IAS officers reshuffled

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Thursday effected a bureaucratic reshuffle, changing the portfolios of four senior IAS officers, a notification said. Bishnupada Sethi, an officer of the 1995 batch who serves as the Chairman of the Odisha Forest Development Corporation alongside an additional charge as Chief Administrator of the KBK (Koraput, Balangir, Kalahandi) region, has been appointed as an Officer on Special Duty in the General Administration and Public Grievance Department.

A CBI case is pending against Sethi over alleged corruption. The case originates from the December 8, 2024 arrest of a group general manager of a public sector undertaking (PSU), who was allegedly caught accepting Rs 10 lakh as a bribe from a Bhubaneswar-based real estate firm. During interrogation, Sethi’s name reportedly surfaced, prompting the CBI to conduct a search at his residence on February 18, 2025.

Girish S N, a 2002-batch officer working as the Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department, will head the Health and Family Welfare Department.Health and Family Welfare Secretary Aswathy S (2003 batch), has been posted as the Special Secretary in the Finance Department, while retaining her additional charge as the Chief Executive Officer of the State Institute for Transformative Initiatives, Odisha (SITI-Odisha).

Roopa Mishra (2004 batch), who returned from Central deputation, has been appointed as the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department in place of Girish.

Mishra was working as Director of Special Projects in the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department and also handled drinking water initiatives as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Jal Shakti.

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