The Gujarat government on Thursday issued a series of promotion orders covering senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers across multiple batches, marking one of the most extensive elevation exercises in recent months.
In separate notifications released by the General Administration Department (GAD), IAS officers from the 1996, 2001, 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2022 batches were promoted to higher ranks, ranging from additional chief secretary (ACS) to senior time scale.
The promotions span key administrative levels, including principal secretary rank, super time scale, selection grade and junior administrative grade.
Five senior IAS officers from the 1996 batch were elevated to the coveted ACS rank. Rajiv Topno has been appointed additional chief secretary in the health and family welfare department, while Mona Khandhar will take charge as ACS in the food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department. T Natarajan has been promoted as ACS in the finance department, Mamta Verma in the industries and mines department, and Mukesh Kumar in the higher and technical education department.
From the 2001 batch, Arti Kanwar and Vijay Nehra were promoted to the rank of principal secretary. Kanwar will continue in her current role as chief commissioner of state tax, while Nehra will remain on central deputation, serving as joint secretary in the Union health and family welfare department.
Seven IAS officers of the 2010 batch were promoted to the super time scale and will continue to hold their existing assignments. These officers are Anand Patel, Sujeet Kumar, Narender Kumar Meena, B H Talati, K L Bachani, Tushar Bhatt and Hardik Shah.
The GAD notification also cleared the promotion of 13 officers from the 2013 batch to the selection grade. Those elevated include Sruti Charan, Manish Kumar, Kshipra Agre, Arun Mahesh Babu, Harshit Gosavi, Yogesh Nirgude, Amit Prakash Yadav, K S Vasava, R R Damor, R M Damor, N V Upadhyay, P B Pandya and Prajesh Kumar Rama.
Meanwhile, 11 IAS officers from the 2017 batch were promoted to the junior administrative grade. The list features Manish Gurwani, Swapnil Khare, Gaurav Dinesh Ramesh, Mirant Parikh, Ganga Singh, Surabhi Gautam, Prashant Jilova, Milind Barna, Vikalp Bhardwaj, A B Pandor and B B Chaudhary.
Ten officers from the 2022 batch were elevated to the senior time scale. These include Mehak Jain, Pratibha Dahiya, Vidyasagar, Vandana Meena, Hiren Barot, Rajesh Mourya, Swapnil Sisle, Omkar Shinde, Amol Awate and Prateek Jain.
Alongside the IAS promotions, the state government also announced the elevation of 14 IPS officers across senior ranks. As per a home department notification, three senior IPS officers were promoted to the director general of police (DGP) grade. Narashima Kumar, commissioner of police, Vadodara City; Dr Prafulla Kumar Roushan, additional DGP (armed units), Rajkot; and Dr S Pandian Rajkumar, additional DGP (law and order), Gandhinagar, were elevated to the DGP rank. To facilitate these promotions, their existing cadre or ex-cadre posts were upgraded to ex-cadre DGP-level positions.
The government also granted a proforma promotion to Dr Vipul Aggarwal, a 2001-batch IPS officer currently on central deputation as principal commissioner with the Delhi Development Authority. He was elevated to the additional director general of police (ADGP) grade under provisions of the IPS (Pay) Rules, 2016.
Among the 2008-batch IPS officers, Neeraj Kumar Badgujar, who serves as additional commissioner of police, sector-1, Ahmedabad City, was promoted to the inspector general of police (IGP) rank and appointed joint commissioner of police, sector-1, following the upgradation of the post to cadre status. Three other officers of the same batch—Sarah Rizvi, Shobha Bhutada and Pradip Shejul—were granted proforma promotions to the IGP rank while serving on inter-cadre or central deputation.
The notification further approved the promotion of six IPS officers from the 2012 batch to the deputy inspector general of police (DIG) grade. These include Saurabh Singh, currently on central deputation with the Cabinet Secretariat (RAW); Sudhir Desai, superintendent of police (intelligence), Gandhinagar; Balram Meena, ADC to the Governor of Gujarat; Dr Karanraj Vaghela, DCP (economic wing), Surat City; S V Parmar, commandant of SRPF group-15, Mehsana; and A M Muniya, commandant of SRPF group-5, Godhra.
The large-scale promotions are expected to strengthen administrative and policing leadership across Gujarat at multiple levels.
Also Read: Three IAS Transfers In Gujarat: Yogesh Nirgude Is New Bhavnagar Municipal Commissioner https://www.vibesofindia.com/three-ias-transfers-in-gujarat-yogesh-nirgude-is-new-bhavnagar-municipal-commissioner/
