Major Bureaucratic Reshuffle held in U’khand

Ashish Chauhan
By Arun Pratap SinghGarhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 24 Apr: Bringing an end to the long wait, the Uttarakhand Government on Saturday carried out a major reshuffle in the administrative set-up, transferring a large number of IAS officers while also assigning new responsibilities to PCS and Secretariat Service officers. The transfer list reflects several significant changes, including appointments at the level of Garhwal Commissioner and District Magistrate of Dehradun. Most significant changes include appointment of Anand Swarup as new Garhwal Commissioner and Ashish Chauhan as new District Magistrate of Dehradun in place of Savin Bansal, who has completed his tenure on a highly glorious note. Sources in the government indicate that more transfers of IAS and PCS officers are in the offing in the coming days.
Savin Bansal
Vinay Shankar Pandey has been relieved from the charge as Commissioner, Garhwal Division. Considered close to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Pandey, however, has emerged more powerful in the new arrangement as he has been entrusted with additional responsibilities including Health, Medical Education and Civil Aviation along with four new assignments. The Sports and Youth Welfare Department, considered important in the government’s agenda, has been handed over to Deepti Singh as Director. In another significant development from Dehradun’s perspective is that Alok Kumar Pandey has been appointed Municipal Commissioner of Dehradun in place of Namami Bansal. Namami Bansal also had an eventful tenure as the municipal commissioner and had focussed on improving sanitation in the city, and led strong action against encroachment on government and municipal land in Dehradun.
Dr BVRC Purushottam has been entrusted with the charge as Secretary, Higher Education, while all his earlier responsibilities will continue with him including his charge as Chief Electoral Officer of Uttarakhand. He continues to hold Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Dairy Development departments. The Higher Education Department was earlier with Dr Ranjit Sinha.
Anand Swarup
Sachin Kurve, who was handling Health and Civil Aviation departments, has been relieved by the state government for Central deputation. Kurve will be joining as Chairman of the Chennai Port Trust.
Dehradun District Magistrate Savin Bansal, who had received Super Time Scale promotion nearly 17 months ago, has been shifted after serving around 21 months as Collector of the capital city. He continuously remained in the headlines during his tenure for his hard work, strict actions against erring officials including some senior revenue officials and for his pro-people approach. He has for the time been given charge as Secretary, Planning, but is expected soon to proceed on Central Deputation. Ashish Chauhan, regarded as a sharp and composed bureaucrat, who earlier held the charge of Sports and Youth Welfare along with CEO-UCADA will not only be DM, Dehradun, but also CEO – Smart City Project.
Former DM of Dehradun, Sonika, who is also serving as Kumbh Mela In-charge and Vice-Chairperson of HRDA, has been relieved of the responsibilities of Tax Commissioner and Stamps, which have now been assigned to Prateek Jain, but will continue to hold charge as Mela Officer. As the Kumbh Mela is set to be held early next year, she can now focus more on Kumbh Mela works. Prateek Jain was earlier holding the relatively less significant charge as Managing Director, GMVN.
Anand Swaroop, who was handling Food and Civil Supplies along with several other departments, has now been relieved of all departmental charges and appointed Commissioner, Garhwal Division. NHM Mission Director Manoj Goyal will now remain only Additional Secretary, Technical Education and Higher Education. Apoorva Pandey, who was serving as Additional Secretary, Drinking Water and Swajal, has been appointed District Magistrate of Bageshwar in place of Akanksha Konde, who has been called back to the Secretariat. Sanjay Kumar has been given the additional responsibility of Director, Social Welfare, along with Skill Development and Training. Both assignments are based in Haldwani.
Additional Secretary Tourism Abhishek Ruhela has been given additional charge as Chief Executive Officer, PMGSY, a responsibility earlier held by Alok Pandey. Saurabh Gaharwar, who is serving as Managing Director of SIIDCUL and handling other departments, has now also been appointed Additional Secretary, Disaster Management and Rehabilitation, along with Director, UDRP. Namami Bansal has been shifted as Additional Secretary, School Education. Sandeep Tiwari has been relieved of the comparatively lighter responsibility of Director, Social Welfare, and been appointed Mission Director, NHM, along with being Managing Director, GMVN.
Deepti Singh, who has been appointed Director, Sports and Youth Welfare, earlier held charge as Director General, School Education and Employees Insurance Scheme. She has now been relieved of both assignments. Praveen Kumar, who was serving as Additional Municipal Commissioner and Additional Secretary, Urban Development, has been relieved of the municipal responsibility.
Among PCS officers, Jitendra Kumar has been elevated from SDM to ADM (Executive), Haridwar, replacing Fincha Ram, who has been posted as ADM, Pauri. Ila Giri has been relieved of the important charge as Secretary, RERA, and appointed Director, Dairy Development, and Director, Women Dairy. Sundarlal Semwal has been appointed Additional Secretary, Secretariat Administration, and relieved of the responsibility as Director, Horticulture. Deputy Collector Yogesh Mehra has been transferred from Dehradun to Haridwar.
In the Secretariat Service, Additional Secretary Sunil Singh has been posted to the Home Department, while Mahavir Singh Chauhan has been appointed Additional Secretary, PWD. Girdhari Singh Rawat has been entrusted with the responsibility of Additional Secretary, Information Technology.
The reshuffle also includes the appointment of Anil Garbyal as General Manager, Transport Corporation, Yogesh Mehra as Deputy Collector, Haridwar, and Pramod Kumar as Deputy Collector, Champawat.