Senior IAS officer R.S. Gopalan, currently serving as Odisha’s Chief Electoral Officer, has applied for voluntary retirement from service, citing health and personal reasons.
Gopalan, a 2001-batch Indian Administrative Service officer, has also been holding the additional charge of Secretary in the Excise Department. His regular superannuation is due in June 2028, meaning the VRS application comes roughly one-and-a-half years before the end of his tenure.
He has served as Chief Electoral Officer for about two years. In recent weeks, Gopalan oversaw the completion of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Odisha. The final electoral roll, published on September 21, 2026, listed approximately 3.16 crore electors after the deletion of more than 20 lakh names and the addition of others through the claims and objections process.
Gopalan’s tenure as CEO has focused on improving the accuracy and inclusivity of electoral rolls in the state.
