Jugal Mohapatra new chief secretary

Development commissioner and finance secretary Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, has been appointed as the next Chief Secretary of Odisha following the retirement of Bijay Patnaik.

An IAS officer of 1979 batch, Mohapatra will succeed Bijay Kumar Patnaik on his superannuation on June 30. He will be the 40th Chief Secretary of the State and will take charge from Patnaik on July 1.

On Saturday, the state government notified Mohapatra’s elevation. Mohapatra, a 1979 batch IAS officer, was development commissioner. Chief minister Naveen Patnaik picked Mohapatra, who between 2000 and 2004 served as his principal secretary, ahead of four others – Gokul Pati, Pradipta Saha (both 1978 batch), Hrushikesh Panda and Nilanjan Sanyal (both 1979 batch) – who are senior to him. Pati, Panda and Sanyal are on central deputation, while Saha was posted as a member of the board of revenue. Mohapatra is slated to retire from government services in February, 2016.

“I am grateful to the state government for giving me an opportunity to serve the state and its people,” Mohapatra told reporters. The government appointed Patnaik as chairman, Odisha Staff Selection Commission.

After the appointment of Mohapatra as the Chief Secretary, a minor reshuffle has been effected at the top echelon of the bureaucracy.

The government promoted four IAS officers, Aditya Prasad Padhi, Injeti Srinivas, U N Behera and Taradatt (all 1983 batch), to chief secretary rank, but denied promotion to 1982-batch officer Prafulla Chandra Mishra, who faces corruption cases. While Padhi would function as additional chief secretary to the chief minister, Srinivas was posted as development commissioner with additional charge of secretary, housing and urban development.

However, on the last working day, the outgoing chief secretary Patnaik went through his work in routine manner. He came to office at 10.45am despite ill health and remained in the office till 1.30pm and left for lunch.