Major reshuffle in Orisssa

Bhubaneswar, Apr 6 (UNI) A day after 16 Superintendent of Police were transferred, 15 IAS officers, including nine District Collectors, were shunted out today from their present postings in yet another major bureaucratic reshuffle in Orissa.

Dr Arabanidha Padhi, who was posted as Collector in Jajpur after the January second, 2006 police firing in Kalinga Nagar claiming lives of 13 tribals, was appointed as Director, Agriculture&Food Production place in of Ranjana Chopra, who proceeded on Central deputation.

The government yesterday shifted Jajpur Superintendent of Police Asit Kumar Panigrahi and posted him as Superintendent of Police in charge of Puri district.

Sanjay Kumar Singh, presently holding the chair of District Magistrate of Ganjam would be the new District Collector of Jajpur in place of Dr Padhi.

Incidentally, Kalinga Nagar, the steel hub of the state, is still described as a trouble spot for the state government where the tribals under the banner of Bisthapan Birodhi Manch are determined not to give land for industry purposes.

Besides, the Collectors of Cuttack, Nuapada, Jharsugura, Sundargarh, Ganjam, Angul, Kalahandi, Mayurbhanj and Koraput were also transferred.

Assembly Secretary Balakrishna Sahoo was appointed as Koraput Collector in place of Subha Sarma, who is on leave, while Director of Estate Kishore Chandra Barik replaced Mr Sahoo as the new secretary of the Assembly.

The post of Secretary, in the Assembly, was declared equivalent, in status and responsibility, to the post of Additional Secretary to Government provided in the IAS cadre of the State Cuttack Collector Deoranjan Kumar Singh was posted as State Project Director, OPEPA and Director, Elementary Education and Ex-officio Additional Secretary to Government, School&Mass Education Department in addition to his own duties.

Nuapada Collector Pramod Chandra Patnaik was shifted to Kalahandi to replace N B S Rajput who was appointed as Joint Secretary to Government in General Administration(Administrative Reforms) Department.

The state government also promoted nine senior IAS officers to the Super time scale.

UNI