In a much-awaited administrative move, the State Government’s General Administration (GAD) on Tuesday issued formal orders aimed at restructuring the Chief Minister Office (CMO), hours after Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai along with other party MLAs were administered oath at Chhattisgarh Assembly. Five top bureaucrats including four IAS officers, who once dotted the rank and file of Chhattisgarh CMO, have been removed with immediate effect, while a solitary appointment of P Dayanand, a 2006-batch IAS officer, has been made in the CMO. Dayanand has been appointed as new Secretary to the Chief Minister in the fresh orders issued by the GAD Secretary Kamalpreet Singh, from Mantralaya, Mahanadi Bhawan, Nava Raipur, on late Tuesday evening The order also reads entrustment of additional responsibility of Department of Medical Education (DME) to P Dayanand, a charge he had been holding since previous, prior to fresh shuffle. However, except for removing the official responsibilities of CMO, all the five senior IAS officers will continue to discharge their duties entrusted to them with their respective departments.

 

The order specifically read that Subrat Sahoo, a 1992-batch IAS officer, posted as Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) to Chief Minister, with multiple additional responsibilities as ACS Electronics and Information Technology (IT); Commerce & Industries Department (Railway Line Projects); Panchayat and Rural Development; Public Works Department (PWD); Chairman of Chhattisgarh Environment Protection Board (CEBP) and Development; be removed from the charge of ACS to Chief Minister only. Apropos read the order for 2003-batch IAS officer Pardesi Siddhartha Komal, appointed as Secretary to Chief Minister, with dual charge of Secretary of Civil Aviation and Public Relations, who was removed from the charge of Secretary to Chief Minister only. Similarly, the GAD order categorically stated that another Secretary to Chief Minister, Ankit Anand, a 2006-batch IAS officer, with additional responsibilities of Secretary Finance and Energy Department as well as Chairman of Pension Grievances Committee and Chairman Chhattisgarh State Power Company, be removed from the charge of Secretary to Chief Minister only, while other departments he will continue to hold till further orders.

 

Likewise, the order also saw Solai Bharathi Das, a 2006-batch IAS officer, Secretary to Chief Minister, only being removed from the charge of CMO and directed to continue with his other responsibilities as Secretary, School Education and Public Health Engineering (PHE) departments. Finally, D D Singh, one more officer posted as Secretary to the Chief Minister, was also removed from the CMO only and asked to continue with his previously entrusted additional responsibility of Secretary, Tribal Development Department and Secretary GAD, now as regular charge.