The year 1983 has been proven to be very lucky, going by the top bureaucratic changes that took place in Odisha on Saturday.Ending all anxieties and speculations, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gave his stamp of approval to the top level promotions and postings. And the 1983 batch of IAS officers grabbed most of the glory.
Four mandarins of this batch walked away with elevation from the rank of Principal Secretary to that of Chief Secretary. They are Aditya Prasad Padhi, Injeti Srinivas, Upendra Nath Behera and Taradatt.
This is a record of sorts in the State’s administrative history. A 1979-batch officer, Jugal Kishore Mohapatra, who was appointed as the Chief Secretary, had been given promotion a few months back to the apex scale.
That four officers, who are five years junior to him, would join his rank is rather unthinkable, feel Babudom watchers. It has never happened in the past, they pointed out.
The Chief Secretary rank has been continued mostly to two succeeding batches; however, this time the 1983 batch not only got the apex scale but also walked away with prized posts. Padhi retained the crucial post of the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) as the Special Secretary to the Chief Minister. Srinivas became the Development Commissioner with additional charge of Housing & Urban Development.
Behera got Finance along with existing Home. Taradatt retained Revenue and Disaster Management and was additionally given the post of Chief Administrator of KBK, a cadre post of the Chief Secretary rank.