Arindam Dakua Removed As Private Secy To Odisha CM; New Postings For 5 IAS Officers

Bhubaneswar: In a minor bureaucratic reshuffle, Odisha government on Thursday appointed Private Secretary to Odisha Chief Minister, Arindam Dakua, as Director, Municipal Administration, & Ex-officio Additional Secretary, Housing and Urban Development Department.

He was appointed as Private Secretary to the CM in July last year while serving as Cuttack Collector.

The 2011-batch officer will replace Debasis Singh, an OAS officer, who has been transferred and posted as Special Secretary, H & UD Department.

Four other IAS officers have also been assigned new responsibilities.

According to the notification of General Administration Department, Principal Secretary to Governor, NBS Rajput, has been given additional charge of Principal Secretary, Public Enterprise Department.

Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Public Enterprise Department, Temjenwapag Ao, has been appointed Special Secretary, Planning and Convergence Department.

Similarly, IPICOL Managing Director Bhupendra Singh Poonia has been assigned additional charge of Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Skill Development and Technical Education Department. The 2008-batch office is also serving as Special Secretary, Industries Department, and Managing Director of Idco.

The additional appointment of Rajput as Principal Secretary, Skill Development and Technical Education Department will stand terminated once Poonia takes over, the notification further stated.

Director, Agriculture and Food Production, Prem Chaudhary has been appointed Director, Textiles and Handlooms. He also holds additional charge as Managing Director, Odisha Agro Industries Corporation Limited, it added.

Another official notification informed about appointment of two OAS officers to new posts. Additional Secretary, Steel & Mines Department, Anuj Kumar Das Pattanaik has been transferred and posted as Additional Secretary, Women & Child Development Department.

It further stated that the November 29, 2024, appointment of Gauttam Choudhury, Ex-Comptroller, Governor’s Household, as Additional Secretary to Government, W & C D Department, has been cancelled and he instead been posted as Additional Secretary, Steel & Mines Department.