The general administrative department issued three notifications last night, in which for the first time, the Ahmedabad Collector and the Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner were transferred simultaneously. 

The move comes after the appointment of Pankaj Joshi as the new Chief Secretary, and indicates the resolve of the state government to make the administrative mechanism more robust. Two additional charges he held have now been handed over to other officers.

The first is Ashwani Kumar, the Principal Secretary in the Urban Development & Urban Housing Department, who will now hold additional charge of Principal Secretary, Ports & Transport. The second is T Natarajan, the Principal Secretary in the Finance Department, who has been assigned additional charge of Managing Director, Gujarat Narmada Valley Fertilisers Company Ltd., Bharuch.

In order to regulate the monitoring of PMJAY, the government has entrusted Harshad Patel with the charge of urban areas and Ratnankar Gadhvi Charan with rural areas of the National Health Mission Directorate under the health commissionerate, while Ahmedabad Municipal Commissioner M Thennarasan has been appointed Chief Secretary of Sports Youth and Cultural Activities Department.

While GIDC chairman Rahul Gupta has been transferred to the Department of Climate Change. He has been replaced by former Ahmedabad Collector Praveena D K; Industries Commissioner Sandip Sagale has been made the Director-General of Sports Authority of Gujarat. His earlier charge has been taken over by P Swaroop, a secretary in the Revenue Department.

Meanwhile, even after this reshuffle, over 15 senior officials continue to hold additional charges, including key departments like Home Affairs, Ports and Shipping, and crucial positions like the Municipal Commissioner of Bhavnagar, Director of Technical Education, and MD of GACL. Internal sources suggest that another round of transfers is likely to take place at the end of the state Budget session. 

A major reshuffle is also expected in the IPS cadre. More than a dozen IPS officers are currently handling additional portfolios,while Piyush Patel, who returned from the Centre, is yet to be given any charge. 

Meanwhile, the post of Gujarat Anti-Corruption Bureau Chief has been lying vacant ever since Shamesher Singh was sent on deputation to Delhi. The CID Crime Branch position also awaits an appointment since the transfer of Rajkumar Pandian. Moreover, there has been no new appointment in lieu of R B Brahmbhatt, who retired last year.

Sources confirmed that there is no scope for an immediate IPS transfer overhaul as the Moral Code of Conduct is currently in effect for the state-wide local bodies' elections, but it is anticipated soon after the elections.