Raipur: The Chhattisgarh government initiated a significant administrative reshuffle on Tuesday, affecting the portfolios of nine Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and three Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers.

As per the new order issued by the General Administration Department of the Chhattisgarh government, Rajat Kumar, an IAS officer from the 2005 batch, who recently returned from central deputation, has been appointed as the Secretary of Commerce and Industry. Kumar had previously served in the Raman Singh government. Additionally, Richa Sharma, an IAS officer from the 1994 batch, who was serving as Additional Chief Secretary for Forests, will now also handle the Food, Civil Supplies, and Consumer Rights departments in her role as Additional Chief Secretary.

P. Dayanand, an IAS officer from the 2006 batch and the current Chief Minister’s Secretary, is relieved as Secretary of Commerce, Industry (Railway Projects), and the Aviation Department.

Ankit Anand, the Secretary of Commerce and Industry, has been reassigned to head the Planning, Economy, and Statistics Department, while also taking on additional responsibilities as Secretary of Housing, Environment, and Pollution Control. Basavraju S, the Chief Minister's Secretary, will now also oversee the Aviation Department.

IAS officer Bheem Singh has been appointed as Secretary of the Panchayat and Rural Development Department. Other IAS officers affected by this reshuffle include Rajesh Singh Rana, Sarveshwar Narendra Bhure, Jitendra Kumar Shukla, and Prabhat Malik. The reshuffle also impacts IFS officers Arun Prasad P, Vishwesh Kumar, and Vivek Acharay. /BI