IAS officer Anu Garg appointed Odisha chief secretary, first woman to hold post

Anu Garg, 56, was serving as development commissioner-cum-additional chief secretary and secretary of the planning and convergence department

Published on: Dec 24, 2025, 20:55:33 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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BHUBANESWAR: Anu Garg, a 1991-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, was on Wednesday appointed Odisha’s chief secretary, the first woman to hold the state’s top bureaucratic post.

Anu Garg’s elevation marks a watershed moment in the administrative history of Odisha (X/_anugarg)

Garg’s appointment order was issued by the General Administration and Public Grievance (GA&PG) Department on Wednesday, days ahead of the retirement of incumbent chief secretary Manoj Ahuja on December 31.

Garg, 56, was serving as development commissioner-cum-additional chief secretary and secretary of the planning and convergence department. She also held an additional charge of the water resources department.

Garg’s elevation marks a watershed moment in the administrative history of Odisha, a state where the top bureaucratic position had, until now, remained the preserve of men. To be sure, the state had Nandini Satpathy as a woman chief minister way back in 1972.

Garg had previously broken a glass ceiling when she became the first woman IAS officer to be appointed as a development commissioner in the state — a post regarded as second only to the chief secretary in the administrative hierarchy.

The incumbent, Ahuja, served as chief secretary for over a year. Garg, who is due to retire only in March 2029, will take over the top post at a time when the state government is preparing to implement key development programmes and budgetary initiatives in the new year.

A native of Uttar Pradesh, Garg holds a master’s degree in Sociology and has spent more than three decades in the civil service, during which she has handled a range of key assignments in Odisha, particularly in the planning, development, and water resources sectors.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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