In a significant bureaucratic shake-up, the General Administration & Public Grievance Department of the Government of Odisha has issued two important notifications on 3 August 2026, transferring and posting several senior officers across key positions in the state administration.
The most notable appointment comes for Rabindranath Kanhar, OAS (SAG). Currently serving as Special Land Acquisition Officer (LAO) of the Cheligada Irrigation Project in Gajapati, he has been transferred and posted as Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Rayagada.
Exercising powers under Sub-Section-2 of Section-14 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, the State Government has formally appointed him as Additional District Magistrate of Rayagada district. He has been centrally relieved from his present post with effect from the afternoon of 4 August 2026 and directed to join his new assignment immediately without availing any joining time.
Alongside this key district-level posting, the government has also ordered a series of transfers involving senior officers in various departments:
- Debadutta Suranjita Jena, OAS (SS), currently Special Secretary in the Commerce & Transport (Transport) Department, has been transferred and posted as Special Secretary to Government, Energy Department.
- Rashmi Ranjan Nayak, OAS (SAG), Additional Secretary in the Water Resources Department, moves as Additional Secretary to Government, Commerce & Transport Department, with additional charge as Director, Civil Aviation.
- Ramesh Chandra Panda, OAS (SAG), Additional Secretary in the Energy Department, has been posted as Secretary, State Information Commission, Bhubaneswar.
- Nirupama Swain, OAS (SAG), former Registrar of Madhusudan Law University, Cuttack (now joined in GA & PG Department), is posted as Additional Secretary, Board of Revenue, Odisha, Cuttack.
- Sabita Mallick, OAS (SAG), Senior Administrative Officer under the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Bhubaneswar, has been transferred as Additional Secretary to Government, Water Resources Department.
- Anamika Adhikari, OAS (S), Registrar of Utkal University of Culture, Bhubaneswar, moves as Joint Secretary to Government, Agriculture & Farmers’ Empowerment Department.
- Debashis Patra, OAS Gr.A (SB), Deputy Secretary in the Revenue & Disaster Management Department, has been posted as Senior Administrative Officer, PCCF, Bhubaneswar.
The Controlling Authorities have been directed to relieve the transferred officers within seven days of the issue of the notification. Failing this, the officers will be deemed to have been centrally relieved with effect from the afternoon of 10 August 2026.
