Bhubaneswar, June 30 (IANS): Manoj Ahuja, the 1990-batch IAS officer, on Sunday took charge as the Chief Secretary of Odisha.

He took charge from the Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena at the Lok Seva Bhawa, the state secretariat.

The previous government had extended the tenure of Jena, who was slated to retire from services on December 31, 2023, by six months till June 30.

"I relinquished charge of @SecyChief today at 3.30 pm. I welcome Manoj Ahuja one of my good friends from the 1990 batch ( from my Kalahandi days) my successor Subcollector Dharamgarh & I'm happy to have been succeeded by him today to hold the post of @SecyChief. Wish him all the best," wrote Jena on X.

The state Department of General Administration & Public Grievance through a notification on Friday announced the name of Manoj Ahuja to succeed Jena as the new Chief Secretary of the state.

The union government has recently repatriated Ahuja, who was holding the post of secretary for the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, to his parent cadre on June 25.