Patna: The Bihar government has ordered the transfer of several senior IAS officers in its first major administrative reshuffle since Samrat Choudhary assumed office as chief minister.
A notification issued by the general administration department on Sunday said four officers had been reassigned, in a move seen as an attempt to streamline governance and strengthen the administrative apparatus.
IAS Reshuffle Notification- pdf
Among the key changes, Robert L Chongthu, a 1997-batch officer and principal secretary to the governor, has been appointed principal secretary of the minority welfare department. He will be succeeded at Raj Bhavan by Gopal Meena, a 2007-batch officer, who previously served as secretary in the revenue and land reforms department. Meena has also been given additional charge as commissioner of inquiry in the general administration department.
Md Sohail, also from the 2007 batch, has been transferred from the minority welfare department and appointed secretary of the general administration department in Patna. He will continue to hold additional charge as commissioner of inquiry.
In another change, Shailendra Kumar, a 2013-batch officer and former special secretary in the agriculture department, has been appointed district magistrate of Lakhisarai.
Officials have been directed to assume their new roles immediately. The reshuffle is being interpreted as an early signal of the new administration’s intent to accelerate decision-making and push forward development initiatives through changes at the bureaucratic level.
