77 IAS officers transferred in Gujarat

In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the Gujarat government on Saturday transferred 77 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers including a principal secretary and several district collectors.

A notification issued by the General Administration Department said that principal secretary of the Education Department (Higher and Technical Education) Anju Sharma was appointed as principal secretary, Labour and Employment. Vice chairman and MD of the Gujarat State Road Transportation Corporation (GSRTC) S J Haider replaced Sharma, it added.

Secretary of Labour and Employment Department Harshad Patel replaced Haider as the new managing director of the GSRTC. Jamnagar Collector Ravi Shankar was transferred and appointed as chief administrator of the Statue of Unity at Narmada, relieving D A Shah who had an additional charge of the post.

Shankar will also hold an additional charge as joint MD, Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nigam Limited (SSNNL), the GAD notification stated. Rajkot, Surat and Vadodara were among the districts which got new Collectors, while new municipal commissioners were appointed for Rajkot, Gandhinagar, Jamnagar and Junagadh. Ahmedabad District Development Officer (DDO) Arun Mahesh Babu was appointed as Rajkot Collector, relieving Ramya Mohan who was posted as mission director, National Health Mission. Mahisagar Collector R B Barad was appointed as Vadodara Collector in place of Kiran Jhaveri who had an additional charge of the post.

Amreli Collector Aayush Sanjeev Oak was appointed as Surat Collector, replacing Dhaval Patel. Patel is now the new municipal commissioner in Gandhinagar; he will also hold an additional charge as CEO of the Gandhinagar Urban Development Authority (GUDA). Panchmahal Collector Amit Arora was appointed as Rajkot municipal commissioner, while Dahod Collector Vijaykumar Kharadi will be the new civic chief of Jamnagar.

Rajkot municipal commissioner Udit Agraval was transferred as Mehsana district Collector. Navsari Collector Ardra Agrawal was appointed as Commissioner of Relief and will hold an additional charge as CEO of the Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority (GSDMA). Resident Additional Collector R M Tanna was appointed as Junagadh municipal commissioner and Surendranagar Collector Kankipati Rajesh was appointed as joint secretary, Home Department. Devbhoomi Dwarka, Gir Somnath, Mehsana, Anand, Panchmahal, Aravalli, Jamnagar, Valsad, Kutch, Tapi, Surendranagar, Amreli and Chhota Udepur districts got new Collectors.

New DDOs were appointed in the districts of Anand, Kheda, Aravalli, Patal, Vadodara, Jamnagar and Navsari, while Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Rajkot, Gandhinagar and Bhavnagar got new regional commissioners of municipalities in the reshuffle.