Bureaucratic reshuffle: 14 officers shifted ahead of Assam elections

Guwahati: In a sweeping administrative shake-up just months before Assam heads to the polls, the state govt has transferred 14 senior IAS and state service officers in a series of exchanges and new appointments.Kamrup Metropolitan DC Sumit Sattawan has been moved to Tinsukia, while his counterpart, Swapneel Paul, will now take charge in Guwahati in his place.Aranyak Saikia, who had been serving as staff officer to the chief secretary, steps into the role of DC of Karbi Anglong, replacing Nirala Phangshopi, who shifts to the Hill Areas department as additional secretary.In another round of swaps, Sivasagar DC Aayush Garg and Cachar DC Mridul Yadav exchange postings, as do Dhubri DC Dibakar Nath and Bongaigaon DC Nabadeep Pathak.The reshuffle also extends to Kokrajhar, where Masanda Magdalin Pertin moves out of her role as DC and director of training at the Bodoland Administrative Staff College to join the finance department as joint secretary.Tamulpur DC Pankaj Chakravarty will take over her responsibilities in Kokrajhar, while Simi Karan, joint secretary in the environment and forest and housing and urban affairs, has been appointed as the new DC of Tamulpur.Changes continue in the prison and home departments where IG (Prisons) and home and political secretary Pubali Gohain has been appointed DC of Darrang, succeeding Parag Kumar Kakaty, who moves to Golaghat as DC. Pulak Mahanta, the outgoing DC of Golaghat, will now serve as IG (Prisons).