Odisha Govt Okays IAS Officer Aparajita Sarangi’s VRS Plan

Bhubaneswar:  The Odisha government on Wednesday gave the go ahead to senior IAS officer Aparajita Sarangi for voluntary retirement from service (VRS). She is likely to join the BJP soon.

“Sarangi is free from vigilance angle and no departmental proceedings are pending or contemplated against her……you are, therefore, requested to consider the representation of Sarangi and furnish necessary orders regarding acceptance of her voluntary retirement from government service to this department at the earliest,” said special secretary, general administration, Rabindra Nath Sahu, in a letter to the Union ministry of personnel, public grievances and training.

On September 15, Sarangi served three months’ notice in tune with service rules to the chief secretary for voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and requested that her case be recommended to the central government for necessary approval.

Official sources said Sarangi, a 1994 batch Odisha cadre officer, getting VRS now seems to be a foregone conclusion as the Centre in all likelihood will give the clearance without any hassle.

While Sarangi has neither confirmed nor denied her intention to join politics, sources said she had made up her mind to take the political plunge and might even contest the elections in 2019.

She was serving as joint secretary (MGNREGA), ministry of rural development, but her five-year tenure on central deputation ended in August. Though a native of Bihar, 49-year-old Sarangi is married to her batchmate Santosh Sarangi.