The State Government has appointed Water Resources Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena as the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration (SJTA) replacing Suresh Mohapatra.
Jena would continue in his present assignment as Water Resources Principal Secretary, according to a notification issued by the General Administration Department on Wednesday.
Jena’s assignment as SJTA chief assumes importance ahead of the annual Rath Yatra, which is scheduled to take place on June 25onwards.
Notably, Mohapatra was blamed for the delay in “Brahma Paribartan” (soul transfer) of the deities during the Nabakalebar in 2015.
According to a notification, Ashok Kumar Meena was posted as the Secretary of the Electronics and Information Technology Department and would continue to serve as Special Secretary of the General Administration and the Finance Departments.
Similarly, Sujata Kartikeyan, who is Director of the Watershed Mission, was posted as Director of the Mission Shakti. Her batch mate T Apang Ao was appointed as the new Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) of the Southern Division.