Anu Garg to be Odisha’s 1st woman chief secretary

Bhubaneswar: Putting speculation to rest, the state govt on Wednesday appointed Anu Garg as the new chief secretary of Odisha.The 1991-batch IAS officer, currently serving as development commissioner with additional charge of the water resources department, becomes the first woman to hold the state’s top bureaucratic post.She was also the first woman development commissioner, a role she assumed on March 1, 2023. Garg will succeed incumbent chief secretary Manoj Ahuja (1990 batch), who retires on Dec 31.With over three decades of experience across state, district and central administrations, Garg brings a strong record of leadership to the role. She has previously headed key state departments, including health and family welfare, women and child development, and labour & ESI. Her district-level stints include serving as collector and district magistrate of Sambalpur and Bargarh, and earlier as additional district magistrate and sub-collector in Kalahandi and Jharsuguda.During her central deputation, Garg held various senior positions. Among them are joint secretary in the ministries of textiles and health & family welfare, and joint secretary to the Prime Minister.An alumna of Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi University, she holds a Master’s degree from the University of Lucknow and a Master of Public Health from the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, USA.