Aditya Prasad Padhi named Odisha chief secretary

BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha government on Monday appointed Aditya Prasad Padhi as its new chief secretary, replacing GC Pati who retired.

A 1983-batch IAS officer, Padhi was previously additional chief secretary to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

His appointment brings about a series of other changes in Patnaik's administration.

Development Commissioner UN Behera will take Padhi’s place in the CM’s office, while R Balakrishnan, additional chief secretary-finance, will become the new development commissioner. Vishal Dev has been named special secretary-finance.

Padhi, 55, who has been handling the CM's office since 2010, is said to be one of the very few who enjoy the chief minister's absolute confidence. The soft-spoken bureaucrat, a graduate of the Indian Institute of Science, also holds an MBA from Yale.