Odisha Mango Kernel Deaths: Vir Vikram Yadav Shifted Out Of Food Supplies Dept In IAS Reshuffle

Bhubaneswar: Amid embarrassment over mango kernel gruel deaths in Kandhamal, the Odisha government has removed Vir Vikram Yadav from additional charge of the Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare department.

Sanjay Kumar Singh, Principal Secretary in Rural Development Department with additional charge of the Information & Public Relations Department, will also manage responsibilities in the Food Supplies & Consumer Welfare Department. Consequently, Vir Vikram Yadav’s appointment in this role will terminate once Singh takes over, the official notification said.

Yadav had been in charge of the food supplies department for over seven years.

However, the government’s decision to handover its additional charge to Singh, who already holds two important departments, has also been criticised.  “The Kandhamal tragedy was the fallout of delay in PDS rice distribution by four months. Singh who is already in charge of two crucial departments will not be able to do justice. To check such incidents, the government has to assign responsibilities to officials,” Congress leader Panchanan Kanungo told the media.

The Saturday reshuffle in the IAS cadre also saw appointment of Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) Deoranjan Kumr Singh as Chairman of the Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC), while continuing as ACS in the Revenue & Disaster Management Department and Special Relief Commissioner (SRC). Appointment of Vishal Kumar Dev as OFDC Chairman will end when Singh takes over.

Dev, who is Principal Secretary to the IT Department with additional charge as Chairman of the Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC), has been assigned an additional role as Principal Secretary of the Energy Department. This appointment replaces Hemant Sharma in the Energy Department.

Bhaskar Jyoti Sarma, Principal Secretary in Sports & Youth Services Department, will now also serve as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL).

Girish S N, a 2002-batch IAS officer, is newly appointed as Commissioner-cum-Secretary to the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department.

Similarly, Guha Poonam Tapas Kumar of 2008-batch, previously Special Secretary in the Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water Department and CEO of ORMAS, is now Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Handloom, Textiles & Handicrafts Department. She is allowed to remain in additional charge of Commissioner-cum-Secretary to Government, Excise Department. Her appointment ends the previous roles of Arabinda Kumar Padhee and Sushil Kumar Lohani in these departments.