Bhubaneswar: Former IAS Manoj Kumar Parida was on Friday sworn in as Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) of Odisha.
Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati also administered the oath of office to three Information Commissioners – Pranabindu Acharya, a retired IPS officer, Kalpana Pattnaik, an advocate of Orissa High Court, and Pabitra Mandal, a retired IAS officer.
Parida, a retired IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre, succeeded J K Tripathy, a retired IPS officer and former director general of police (DGP) of Tamil Nadu, who demitted office on October 4, 2024. He had earlier served as the insurance ombudsman in Bhubaneswar for nearly three years.
His appointment is expected to strengthen the State Information Commission, established on March 2, 2006, operating under the Right to Information Act, 2005, and headquartered in Bhubaneswar. It now has six members, including the CIC and five information commissioners.