IAS Bishnupada Sethi Shunted; likely to appear before CBI tomorrow

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has removed senior IAS officer Bishnupada Sethi from all his departments. He has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in the General Administration and Public Grievance Department as the Principal Secretary. This comes amid an investigation into an alleged tender-fixing case.

Sethi, a 1995-batch IAS officer, was serving as Principal Secretary to the Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Department. He also held additional charges of Principal Secretary to the Odia Language, Literature & Culture Department and the ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department.

Sanjeeb Kumar Mishra, a 1997-batch IAS officer, has been appointed as the Principal Secretary to the ST & SC Development, Minorities & Backward Classes Welfare Department. Mishra will also hold additional charges of Principal Secretary to the Social Security & Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities Department and the Odia Language, Literature & Culture Department.

Manoj Kumar Sahoo, IAS (RR-2006), has joined the State Government on Inter-Cadre Deputation. He has been appointed as Special Secretary to the Chief Minister.

The reshuffle follows a CBI directive to Bishnupada Sethi to appear before its Bhubaneswar office by 12 PM on Wednesday. The summons is related to the ongoing tender-fixing case.

Sources suggest that the CBI is probing irregularities in certain tender processes. Sethi’s role in these processes is under examination.

Bishnupada SethiIASSanjeeb Kumar Mishra