Odisha: Senior IAS Officer Bishnupada Sethi Relocated in Significant Restructuring
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Bhubaneswar, Dec 17 (NationPress) Following allegations concerning his participation in a high-profile bribery scandal, senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi has been dismissed from his role as Principal Secretary to the Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Department, along with additional responsibilities for the Odia Language, Literature & Culture Department and the ST&SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department.
According to an official announcement, the state government appointed the 1995-batch IAS officer Sethi as the Officer of Special Duty (OSD) in the General Administration & Public Grievance department on Tuesday.
The state government has also classified the position of OSD in the GA & PG department as equivalent in status and duties to that of the Principal Secretary role provided within the IAS Cadre of the State.
Meanwhile, in a separate development, 1997 Odisha-cadre IAS officer Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra has been appointed as principal secretary to the ST&SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department upon his repatriation from Central Deputation.
Mishra will also hold the additional charge of principal secretary for the Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and the Odia Language, Literature & Culture departments.
Sethi's name emerged in the high-profile bribery investigation after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) summoned the senior bureaucrat for questioning. Although Sethi has not yet appeared before the agency, his drivers have already been interrogated regarding the bribery matter.
The CBI apprehended Chanchal Mukherjee, the Group General Manager (GGM) of Bridge and Roof Co. (India) Limited, a Central Government PSU under the Ministry of Heavy Industries, along with Santosh Moharana, the director of a private firm, and middleman Devadutta Mohapatra near a 5-star hotel in the Jaydev Vihar area of Bhubaneswar on December 7.
During the operation, investigators also seized a bribe amount of Rs 10 lakhs from an expensive vehicle at the scene of the raid.
