Asit Tripathy Appointed Chief Secretary In Major Bureaucratic Rejig in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: In a senior level bureaucratic reshuffle, Odisha government today appointed senior IAS officer Asit Tripathy as the new Chief Secretary of the State.

A 1986-batch IAS, Tripathy, presently serving as the Development Commissioner-cum-Additional Chief Secretary and Chief Administrator KBK will take over the new post from the outgoing AP Padhi who has been appointed as the State Election Commissioner. Tripathy will assume charge of the post on August 19.

Speaking to media on his new role, Tripathy said, "It is a big responsibility and a privilege for any IAS officer. Chief Minister has already cleared out the priorities that schemes in social justice sector should be implemented at the right time with transparency, full integrity and as per the principles of 5T. The second most important thing is the growth sector of the State. I will work to ensure growth in per capita of the State, infrastructure and most of all employment."

Works Secretary Krishan Kumar has been appointed as the Chief Administrator of Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) in place of Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra with immediate effect. Kumar will take over the SJTA management as an additional charge along with his own duties.

1988-batch IAS officer Pradipta Mohapatra has been appointed Agriculture Production Commissioner while another senior IAS officer Suresh Chandra Mohapatra has been made Development Commissioner holding additional charge of Working Chairperson in SJTA.

Similarly, retired IAS and 1984-batch officer R Balakrishnan, apart from his role of Chief Advisor (Special Initiatives) to the State government, will now also function as the Chief Advisor to the Chief Minister's Office with immediate effect.