Dehradun: In a major administrative reshuffle, the Uttarakhand government on September 4th transferred 45 government officials, including 39 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and six Provincial Civil Service (PCS) officers.

Ramesh Kumar Sudhanshu, an IAS officer from the 1997 batch, has been relieved of his position as Principal Secretary of the Revenue Department. However, he will continue to serve as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and Principal Secretary to the Department of Forest, Environment Protection and Climate Change.

Lalrinliana Fanai, also from the 1997 IAS batch, has been replaced by Ranjit Kumar Sinha, who has taken charge as Principal Secretary for Minority Welfare, as well as Chairman of the Minority Welfare and Waqf Development Corporation.

Fanai has been appointed Principal Secretary for the Excise Department and the Department of Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Affairs. He has also been given additional responsibility as Chairman of the State Transport Department.

Eight other secretary-level officers have also been transferred. These include the Chief Minister's Secretary, R. Meenakshi Sundaram, who has been replaced by Deepak Rawat.

Ravinath Raman has been appointed Higher Education Secretary, replacing Shailesh Bagauli. R. Meenakshi Sundaram has been replaced by Pankaj Kumar Pandey, who will now serve as the new Labour Secretary and Chairman of the Uttarakhand Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.

The reshuffle also includes the transfer of one Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer and five PCS officers. /BI