Bhubaneswar: Pradeep Kumar Jena took charge as the Chief Secretary of Odisha on Wednesday. Jena, a 1989-batch IAS officer who has been serving as Development Commissioner and Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), will succeed Suresh Mohapatra, whose tenure ended on Tuesday.
Jena has held the post of the chief administrator of the Shree Jagannath Temple Administration, and also served as Secretary in Rural Development, Water Resources, IT and Energy departments.
Anu Garg, a 1991-batch Odisha cadre IAS officer, also assumed charge as the new Development Commissioner of Odisha, in addition to retaining the post of Additional Chief Secretary, Water Resources.
Meanwhile, Suresh Mohapatra, a 1986-batch IAS officer, took charge as the chairperson of the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC). Earlier, Mohapatra served as the Secretary in the Energy Department and Chairman of OPGC, OHPC, OTPCL and Gridco.
On Tuesday, all three officers — Pradeep Jena, Suresh Mohapatra and Anu Garg — met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at his residence.