Gandhinagar: The Gujarat government on Thursday announced a major reshuffle and promotion exercise in the state administration, granting promotions to senior IAS and IPS officers across multiple batches.
The decision, taken on the very first day of 2026, was formalised through an official notification issued by the General Administration Department (GAD).
As per the notification, five senior IAS officers of the 1996 batch have been promoted from the rank of Principal Secretary to Additional Chief Secretary (ACS).
Rajiv Topno has been appointed ACS in the Health and Family Welfare Department, Mona K. Khandhar in the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department, Dr T. Natarajan in the Finance Department, Mamta Verma in the Industries and Mines Department, and Mukesh Kumar in the Higher and Technical Education Department. In another key decision, the state government approved the selection grade for 13 IAS officers of the 2013 batch, with the benefit coming into effect immediately.
Officers currently serving as Chief Executive Officer of WASMO, Collectors of Bhavnagar, Navsari, Dahod, Kheda-Nadiad and Gir Somnath, as well as the Municipal Commissioner of Vadodara, have been granted the selection grade.
Several Joint Secretaries and senior secretariat officers have also been redesignated as Additional Secretaries following the approval.
The GAD has also promoted seven IAS officers of the 2010 batch to the Super Time Scale. Among those promoted are Kutch-Bhuj Collector Anand Patel, Ahmedabad Collector Sujit Kumar, Bhavnagar Municipal Commissioner Dr Narendra Kumar Meena, Technical Education Commissioner B.H. Talati, Information Department Commissioner K.L. Bachchani, Patan Collector Tushar Y. Bhatt, and Prime Minister’s Office Private Secretary Dr Hardik Shah.
Promotions were also announced in the police cadre. Seven IPS officers of the 2013 batch have been elevated to Selection Grade (Level 13), carrying a pay matrix of Rs 2.15 lakh.
Officers from Ahmedabad City SOG and Economic Wing, CID Crime, Western Railway Cell, State Monitoring Cell, Vadodara Central Jail, and an officer on central deputation, Manish Singh, are among those promoted.
In addition, 14 IPS officers have received further promotions. IPS officer Narasimha Komar has been promoted, while Dr Vipul Agarwal has been elevated to the rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) and Dr Rajkumar Pandian to the rank of Director General of Police (DGP).
Several officers of the 2012 batch have been promoted to the rank of Deputy Inspector General (DIG), with some officers upgraded, assigned new responsibilities, and inter-cadre deputation officers also granted promotions as per rules.
The large-scale promotion exercise is seen as a move to strengthen administrative leadership and streamline governance across key departments in Gujarat at the start of the new year.
(IANS)
