Bhopal, February 14 In a major administrative overhaul, the Madhya Pradesh government transferred 11 IAS officers in a late-night order on Saturday, with the opposition Congress alleging the move aims to shield "corrupt" officials in the excise department.
According to the order issued by the General Administration Department around 1.55 am, additional chief secretary Ashok Barnwal has been given charge of the health department, replacing Sandeep Yadav, who has been posted as principal secretary of the forests.
Yadav has also been given the additional charge of principal secretary of the NRI department.
Senior IAS officer Manish Singh has been made the commissioner of the public relations department once again and will continue to hold additional charge as transport secretary.
Public relations commissioner Deepak Saxena, who has been in the post for four months, was appointed the excise commissioner, replacing Abhijit Agrawal, who has been made managing director of the State Cooperative Marketing Federation.
Agrawal's transfer comes ahead of the implementation of the new excise policy.
Among other officials, Ajay Gupta has been transferred from the post of director of farmer welfare and agriculture development and appointed managing director of the East Region Power Distribution Company, Jabalpur.
Umashankar Bhargava has returned from Raj Bhavan after eight months to hold the post of director of farmer welfare and agriculture development.
Bhind district panchayat CEO Sunil Dubey has been appointed deputy secretary to the governor, while higher education department deputy secretary Sanghmitra Gautam has been posted as the CEO of the Alirajpur district panchayat, the order stated.
Agar Malwa district panchayat CEO Nanda Bhalave Kushre has been appointed additional project director in the Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan, while school education department deputy secretary Kamal Solanki has been posted as CEO of the Raisen district panchayat.
Reacting to the reshuffle, the Madhya Pradesh Congress alleged that corrupt elements were protected in the excise department, and it also referred to alleged irregularities in Indore and deaths due to toxic liquor in Jabalpur.
"Transferred, but what about accountability?" the party said in a post on X.
"Abhijit Agrawal provided shelter to corrupt elements in the excise department; Rs 75 crore fake challans in Indore, over 15 deaths due to toxic liquor in Jabalpur — no action taken! Som Distilleries is just the beginning!" it wrote.