Bhubaneswar: Senior IAS officer Manoj Ahuja may get a six-month service extension and continue to serve as Chief Secretary of Odisha after December 31 when he is due to retire.
The 1990-batch IAS officer is the first Chief Secretary of the BJP government in Odisha. Ahuja, who was on central deputation since 2017, was repatriated to the parent cadre, Odisha, on the request of the state government for the purpose. He succeeded Pradeep Kumar Jena, who was serving an extended term till June 30.
Sources in the government said the powers that be had assured the technocrat-turned-bureaucrat of a longer stint beyond his age of superannuation if he moved from New Delhi to Bhubaneswar to serve as the top bureaucrat of the state.
During this period, he has not been embroiled in any controversy and the government is expected to continue with Ahuja as he has been playing a crucial role in aligning the state government schemes and programmes with those of the Centre. “Giving him an extension should not be an issue as there are several precedents including those of Suresh Mahapatra and Pradeep Kumar Jena in recent years,” a well-placed official source said.
Notably, the Haryana native was the first person from outside Odisha to serve as the top administrator of the state after a gap of nearly 39 years. The last non-odia chief secretary of Odisha was Gian Chand, who held the position from April 1983 to December 1985.
