Chhattisgarh reshuffles 22 IAS, one IFS, changes six district collectors

The Vishnu Deo Sai government in Chhattisgarh carried out a major administrative reshuffle on August 18, transferring 22 IAS officers and one IFS officer. Collectors in six districts, Kanker, Kawardha, Gariaband, Mungeli, Sakti and Mohla-Manpur, were replaced. IFS officer Vivek Acharya was relieved as Managing Director of the Chhattisgarh Tourism Board and sent back to the Forest Department, with IAS officer Saumil Ranjan Chaubey given additional charge of the board.

India Today reports that the changes in Kawardha come amid discussions of an alleged rift between the district Collector and Superintendent of Police. Times Now reports that after the reshuffle, women IAS officers now serve as collectors in 12 of the state's 33 districts, naming all 12. The new collectors include Kundan Kumar (Kanker), Tulika Prajapati (Kawardha), Amrit Vikas Topno (Mungeli), Ranveer Sharma (Gariaband), Jayashree Jain (Sakti) and Tanuja Salam (Mohla-Manpur).

The reshuffle reassigns several senior officials to the state secretariat and departments. Nilesh Kshirsagar, earlier Kanker Collector, was appointed Director of Urban Administration and Development. Kawardha Collector Gopal Verma was moved to the Mantralaya as Joint Secretary in the Forest and Climate Change Department.