After 2 decades, Odisha gets a chief secretary from outside the state – IAS officer Manoj Ahuja

The new BJP government in Odisha on Friday appointed 1990-batch cadre officer Manoj Ahuja as the new chief secretary after the retirement of incumbent Pradeep Kumar Jena on June 30. He has also been appointed as secretary of the general administration department. Haryana native Ahuja, who was on central deputation since 2017, has been repatriated to the parent cadre, Odisha, on the request of the state government. Ahuja will be the first person from outside Odisha to serve as the top administrator of the state in two decades. Ahuja, who has vast administrative experience, was last posted as the Union agriculture secretary. He had earlier served in key positions like special director of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Admin (LBSNAA) and chairman, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). During his service with the state government, Ahuja had served as secretary of key departments like cooperation, steel and mines, sports and youth affairs and food supplies and consumer welfare and commissioner, commercial tax. Ahuja’s repatriation from the Centre and appointment as chief secretary assumes significance with most of the ministers in the new BJP government lacking experience of handling portfolios. Ahuja’s role will not just be crucial in terms of successful implementation of BJP’s election promises but he will also play a key role in helping pick senior IAS officers in various department and district collectors in the Mohan Majhi government. As the chief minister is yet to pick his team, the appointments are expected after Ahuja’s joining as chief secretary. Sources said the Odisha government — on the advice of BJP central leadership — had written to the Centre for Ahuja’s repatriation. “The new government is yet to start functioning in a full-fledged manner. It’s still not clear whether all the schemes run by the previous BJD government will be continued or not. Ahuja’s advice on these matter’s will be important,” a senior bureaucrat said. According to his profile on NABARD, Ahuja holds a B.E. (mechanical) degree from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology, Patiala; MBA from Punjab University, Chandigarh, and Masters in Public Administration (International Development) from Harvard University, USA. The new chief secretary is scheduled to retire from service in December this year.