The Chhattisgarh government has carried out a major administrative reshuffle, transferring 22 IAS officers and one IFS officer and changing the collectors of six districts. The orders issued on August 18 have also brought changes in the Urban Administration and Development Department, while several officers have been moved between field and secretariat assignments. One of the notable changes is the return of IFS officer Vivek Acharya to the Forest Department after he was removed from his responsibility at the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board.

The biggest change has been made in the Urban Administration and Development Department. IAS officer Sonmani Bora, a 1999-batch officer, has been appointed Principal Secretary of the department. He will also hold additional charge of the Science and Technology Department. Bora was earlier serving as Principal Secretary in the Tribal Development Department. The Urban Administration Department handles several important areas linked to cities, urban local bodies and development programmes, making the new posting a significant one.

R Sangeeta, a 2005-batch IAS officer who was serving as Secretary of the Urban Administration and Development Department, has been moved out of the department and posted as Secretary, Ministry. The changes have also affected district-level administration. Gariyaband Collector Bhagwan Singh Uikey has been appointed Joint Secretary in the General Administration Department, while Kabirdham Collector Gopal Verma has been given charge as Joint Secretary in the Forest and Climate Change Department.

Ranbir Sharma, a 2012-batch IAS officer, has been shifted from the post of Director, Social Welfare and appointed Collector of Gariyaband. The posting brings him back into field administration at the district level. Meanwhile, Kanker Collector Nileshkumar Mahadev Kshirsagar has been appointed Director of the Urban Administration and Development Department.

The post previously held by Kshirsagar has also seen a change. Rimijiyus Ekka, who was serving as Director of Urban Administration, has been appointed Special Secretary in the Public Health Engineering Department. He will also hold additional charge as Mission Director of the Jal Jeevan Mission.

Another change that has drawn attention is that of IFS officer Vivek Acharya. Acharya, a 2006-batch officer, was serving as Managing Director of the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board. His services have now been returned to his parent Forest Department with immediate effect. The move comes around three months after his earlier transfer from the Culture Department to the Tourism Board.

Acharya had served as Director of the Culture Department since 2020 and had spent several years handling responsibilities linked to culture and tourism. His posting was changed twice within a period of around three months, and he is now out of both the Culture and Tourism departments. The latest order has brought him back to his original department.

The wider reshuffle includes changes involving senior officers as well as district administration. With six collectors being replaced, the government has made a number of field-level changes at a time when district administrations are handling monsoon-related issues, development programmes and implementation of government schemes.

The new appointments will take effect according to the terms of the government order. The reshuffle is expected to bring changes in the functioning of several departments and districts as the transferred officers take charge of their respective assignments.