Dehradun, Sep 5 (IANS): In a major administrative reshuffle, the Uttarakhand government on Wednesday transferred 45 government officials which includes 39 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers and six Provincial Civil Service officers (PCS), officials said.

Sources said that the portfolios of two principal secretaries and eight other secretaries have also been reshuffled.

A 1997 batch IAS officer Ramesh Kumar Sudhanshu has been relieved from his position as the Principal Secretary of the Revenue Department. However, he will continue to remain the Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister and Principal Secretary to the Department of Forest, Environment Protection and Climate Change.

Another 1997 batch IAS officer Lalrinliana Fanai has been replaced by Ranjit Kumar Sinha, who took the charge as the Principal Secretary, Minority Welfare, as well as the Chairman, Minority Welfare and Waqf Development Corporation.

Fanai will hold the post of Principal Secretary of Excise Department and Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department. He has also being given the additional charge as the Chairman of the State Transport Department.

Apart from him, eight other officers of secretary level have also been transferred. These include the Chief Minister's Secretary, R. Meenakshi Sundaram, who has been replaced by Deepak Rawat.

Ravinath Raman has been made Higher Education Secretary in place of Shailesh Bagauli. R. Meenakshi Sundaram has been replaced by Pankaj Kumar Pandey, who will be the new Labour Secretary and the new Chairman of Uttarakhand Building and Other Construction Workers Welfare Board.

The officers whose departments have been changed include one Indian Foreign Service (IFS) and five PCS officers.