Former Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) Prakash Mishra, a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, has been appointed as an advisor to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
A 1977-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, Mr. Mishra had retired in 2016 as the Director General of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
He had an illustrious career in Indian police services as he had served also served as Director General of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), additional DG of National Investigation Agency, and Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Union Home Ministry.
Though Mr. Mishra had served Odisha police as its chief from 2012 to 2014, he was reportedly not getting along with the previous Naveen Patnaik government, which had slapped a vigilance (corruption) case on him. In 2019, he had joined the BJP to contest from Cuttack Lok Sabha seat on the party’s ticket.
A former IPS officer known for his quiet yet efficient administrative style has recently published a 198-page book titled Comedy in Khakee: The Humorous Memoirs of a Policeman. The book is a collection of amusing anecdotes from his long and eventful career in the police service.
His appointment is seen as a significant move as the new BJP government seeks to consolidate its influence over the bureaucracy, a process reminiscent of the strategies employed during the previous Naveen Patnaik-led administration. His position in the present government would be in the rank of cabinet Minister.
Mr. Patnaik relied on a team of retired bureaucrats as advisors, including his trusted aide V.K. Pandian. R. Balakrishnan had served as the Chief Advisor during his tenure as Chief Minister, while former chief secretaries Asit Tripathy and Suresh Mohapatra were also brought in to play advisory roles. Besides, there were regular IAS and IPS officers in the CMO.
Mr. Majhi is currently assisted by three IAS officers Nikunja Bihari Dhal as additional chief secretary, Manoj Kumar Sahoo, private secretary, and Anupam Saha, additional secretary. Besides, he has a couple of trusted officers from Odisha Administrative Services.
The new Chief Minister appears to be struggling with ensuring a swift bureaucratic response to political crises. While the current team of IAS officers in the Chief Minister’s Office is focused on routine governance, he, according to sources in the government, wanted someone capable of rallying the bureaucracy during critical events or when the government comes under intense scrutiny from the Opposition on key issues.
The Mohan Majhi government has also appointed Madhusudan Padhi, a retired IAS officer, as the next State Election Commissioner of Odisha.
