In a move aimed at sharpening administrative efficiency and capacity building, the Odisha government has announced key changes in the postings of two senior IAS officers.
The orders, issued recently, reflect a deliberate effort to align experienced bureaucrats with critical state priorities — from grooming the next generation of administrators to strengthening labour welfare mechanisms.
Chithra Arumugam, a 1995-batch IAS officer who was serving as Additional Chief Secretary to the Government in the Labour & ESI Department (with additional charge of Additional Chief Secretary, Science & Technology, and Director General, Training Coordination at Gopabandhu Academy of Administration), has been given a more focused mandate. Her new role designates her as Director General, Training Coordination, Gopabandhu Academy of Administration, while she retains the additional charge of Additional Chief Secretary to the Government, Science & Technology Department.
Taking charge of the important Labour & ESI Department is Dodda Venkata Swamy, a 2001-batch IAS officer returning from central deputation. He has been posted as Principal Secretary to the Government, Labour & ESI Department. His return brings seasoned central-level experience to one of the state’s key welfare-oriented departments dealing with labour rights, employment generation, and employee welfare schemes.
