Five senior IAS officers in race, three GoI favourites for CS post in Odisha

A seasoned only Odia officer is likely to assume the role of the new Chief Secretary of Administration in Odisha. While a couple of Secretaries in GoI may be the choice of PM Narendra Modi. Rajesh Verma who is Secretary to the President is unlikely to move. Two 1990 batch IAS officers  who are considered as performers as Secretary Manoj Ahuja and Sanjeev Chopra  may not return to the state since they are not Odiyas. Tuhin Kata Pandey who is Disinvestment Secretary  may not want to return the state. If the GoI asks him to take over as Chief Secretary he will have no choice, the five senior IAS officers in the state who are said to be in race include Anu Garg, who is serving as the Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary in the state administration, while Satyabrata Sahu, Deoranjan Kumar Singh, Surendra Kumar, and G. Mathi Vathanan are functioning as Additional Chief Secretaries. The new Chief Secretary will succeed P K  Jena, an IAS officer from the 1989 batch, who is currently serving an extended term of six months post-retirement. His tenure is concluding in June end. In addition, there will be a reshuffling of secretaries across nearly all departments. Amongst all Satyabrata Sahu is the only Odiya IAS officers fits in Odisha asmita.