Bhaskar Parichha
In what could be characterized as a drastic and quick reshuffle at the senior bureaucratic level, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik picked up senior IAS officer Asit Kumar Tripathy as the new Chief Secretary replacing the outgoing AP Padhi who has been appointed as the State Election Commissioner. Tripathy has assumed office on Monday.
The reshuffle also resulted in the moving in and moving out of Krishan Kumar, Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra, and Suresh Chandra Mohapatra. Yet another change that took place was in R Balakrishnan who will now also function as the Chief Advisor to the CMO, apart from his role of Chief Advisor (Special Initiatives) to the government. Only days before these top-level changes, there was reorganization among secretaries. All this points out to an immense restructuring at the higher echelons of bureaucracy and with a purpose.
After coming to power for the fifth time, Naveen wants to change the face of his administration and good governance is what is uppermost in his mind. Naveen’s new style of functioning alongside the 5Ts agenda sends a big message that power and authority won’t be the same again. The 5Ts have now become the guiding force of the Naveen government and accordingly, everything has been put in place including appointing Karitekeyan Pandian as the officer in charge of the new schema. Even the chief minister declaring in his Independence speech that he would personally make phone calls to people to know about the delivery system is proof of the imminent makeover of the administration.
That said, the appointment of the 1986 batch IAS officer Tripathy as the next chief secretary is expected to augment the process of change in a more meaningful way. After being appointed Tripathy said, “It is a big responsibility and a privilege for an IAS officer. Chief Minister has already cleared out the priorities that schemes in the social justice sector should be implemented at the right time with transparency, full integrity and as per the principles of 5T. The second most important thing is the growth sector of the State. I will work to ensure growth in per capita of the State, infrastructure and most of all employment.”
Tripathy has long years of experience having had a distinguished career in the administration for over thirty years. During the three decades of service, he has served both the State Government and the Union Government on various capacities and with distinction. A go-getter and with a knack for finding a solution to administration-related problems rather than sweeping them under the carpet, Tripathy’s capabilities are sure to be brought into play.
During his longest tenure as Principal Secretary and ACS Home, he has been successful in streamlining the promotional aspects of State Secretariat Service and has been instrumental in promoting more than 1,500 officers. His expertise and experience as Development Commissioner and Chief Administrator of the KBK too will help the government in extenuating the ills of these outlying districts.