Chief Secretary among 16 senior officials transferred in Tripura

In a major administrative reshuffle a day after the Lok Sabha election results were announced, the BJP government in Tripura has transferred the Chief Secretary, 11 IAS officers, two IPS officers and two Tripura Civil Service officers, officials said on Saturday.

"While campaigning for the elections, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb had openly expressed his anger about the functioning of some senior officials. The administrative reshuffle might be in line with the Chief Minister's discontent," said a senior official refusing to disclose his identity.

"In a major decision, the government has transferred Chief Secretary Lalit Kumar Gupta, an upright 1987 batch IAS officer, and posted him as Director General (DG) of SIPARD (State Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development). Principal Secretary Manoj Kumar would hold the interim charge of Chief Secretary," the official added.

 

"Though the posts of Chief Secretary and DG, SIPARD are equivalent, but it's kind of a demotion of Lalit Kumar Gupta," he added.

The official said that the Election Commission (EC) had transferred some IPS and IAS officers during the elections. "Some of those officers were either reinstated or posted elsewhere in Friday night reshuffle," he said.

In the administrative shake-up, senior IPS officer Rajiv Singh has been reinstated as Additional Director General of Police (Law Order), while Inspector General of Police (Crime) Puneet Rastogi has been relieved from the charge of IGP (Law and Order).

Four District Magistrates and Collectors, a Sub-Divisional Magistrate, several other senior officers were also transferred.

Mahatme Sandeep Namdeo, whom the EC removed as Returning Officer of Tripura West parliamentary constituency, has been reinstated as District Magistrate and Collector of West Tripura District

"During the elections, the EC had appointed Vikas Singh and Saradindu Choudhury as the District Magistrate and Collector-cum-Returning Officer of West Tripura and Dhalai district respectively. The two IAS officers have been transferred as Additional Secretary - Rural Development Department and Director of Youth Affairs and Sports Department respectively," the official added.

--IANS

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