Bhubneshwar: The Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare is set to get a new secretary as the Centre on Tuesday repatriated the present secretary, Manoj Ahuja, to his parent cadre.
An order to this effect was issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
“The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the repatriation of Manoj Ahuja, IAS (OR:90), Secretary, Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare to his parent cadre on the request of the Government of Odisha,” read the DoPT order.
Manoj Ahuja, a 1990-batch Odisha cadre IAS officer, was appointed as OSD, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, in February 2022. He took over as Secretary, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on March 31, 2022.
According to sources, Ahuja is likely to be named as the next Chief Secretary of Odisha.
Ahuja’s repatriation, on the request of the newly formed BJP government in Odisha, is the first major bureaucratic shift in the Agriculture Ministry since new Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan assumed his office earlier this month.
