Pradeep Kumar Jena becomes Odisha's new chief secretary

Bhubaneswar: The government on Sunday appointed 1989-batch IAS officer Pradeep Kumar Jena as the new chief secretary. Jena will take over on Wednesday.

Jena, who is currently serving as development commissioner and special relief commissioner (SRC), will succeed Suresh Mohapatra, whose tenure will end on Tuesday. Mohapatra ration got two extensions of six months each after his retirement in February 2022.

The government, however, appointed Mohapatra as chairman of Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC). The outgoing chief secretary has experience of working as energy secretary earlier and he held the chairperson post in Odisha Power Generation Corporation (OPGC), Odisha Hydro Po- (OPGC), Odisha Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC) and Odisha Power Transmission Corporation Limited (OPTCL). There was speculation that Mohapatra would be picked for OERC chairmanship.

Jena, who is also serving as managing director of Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSD- MA) is known for being soft spoken and down to earth. He has been able to be government's Favorite administrator for his deft management of cyclones and Covid pandemic in his four-year stint as SRC. The government appointed additional chief secretary Anu Garg as next development commissioner while allowing her to be in charge of the current post of water resources secretary.

In 2022, when Mohapatra was set to retire, name of Jena was doing the rounds to take over the post of top administrator. But the government gave Mohapatra two successive extensions of six months each delaying Jena's elevation. As Mohapatra's second extension was nearing an end, besides Jena, name of Garg was also doing the round for the top post. Garg became the first woman development commissioner of the state.