Bhubaneswar: In a landmark development for gender representation in the state bureaucracy, senior IAS Anu Garg has been appointed as the new Chief Secretary of Odisha.
A 1991-batch officer, Garg will take charge after the retirement of outgoing Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja on December 31. With this appointment, she becomes the first woman to hold the state’s top bureaucratic post and the 47th officer to serve as Chief Secretary of Odisha.
With over 30 years of service, Garg brings wide-ranging experience across district, state, and national levels. At the state level, she has served as Commissioner-cum-Secretary of Health and Family Welfare, Principal Secretary of Women and Child Development, and Principal Secretary of Labour and Employees’ State Insurance. Her district-level experience includes stints as District Collector and District Magistrate of Sambalpur and Bargarh, as well as postings in Kalahandi and Jharsuguda.
At the national level, she has held key roles as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Textiles, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, and the Prime Minister’s Office.
Key Contributions and Achievements
Garg was a member of the High-Level Expert Group on Universal Health Coverage constituted by the Planning Commission of India. She is also the Founder Director of Mission Shakti, a flagship initiative promoting women’s self-help groups in Odisha. Her work spans healthcare reforms, nutrition programs, and child protection policies.
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