Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis is all set to reshuffle IAS and IPS officers in order to tighten his grip over the state’s administration and enhance its functioning in 2025, sources said on Monday.
“There are going to be big changes in the state administration and police force in the coming months. Many officers are likely to be removed from their posts. The Superintendent of Police of Beed was transferred a week ago since he was accused of delaying the investigation into the murder of Massajog village sarpanch Santosh Deshmukh,” sources said.
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“Officers will be given new postings after evaluating their work since the last 10 years. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis plans to make many other changes to tighten his grip on the state administration,” sources added.
Senior bureaucrats said that when Fadnavis rejigs IAS and IPS officers as well as posts, he must ensure that certain bureaucrats do not monopolise key departments, all new postings are on a rotation basis, and IAS officers in the infrastructure sector get opportunities to work in the social sector and vice-versa.
They said that the biggest challenge Fadnavis faces is to bring Maharashtra out of its financial crisis by reducing its debt burden, which has hit Rs 8 lakh crore, as well as restore people’s confidence in the government.
When Fadnavis was the Chief Minister of Maharashtra from 2014 to 2019, he had played an important role in the postings granted to many IAS and IPS officers.
During his tenure as Chief Minister from 2014 to 2019, Fadnavis had given new responsibilities to officers based on their performance over two decades and deputed officers with clean image to important posts.
It is learnt that Fadnavis is preparing to implement the same pattern once again in 2025 when he changes the postings of officials.
However, the winds of change in the Maharashtra state bureaucracy had begun blowing from December 6, 2024, immediately after Fadnavis was sworn in as CM.
The first thing Fadnavis did after he assumed office as CM was appointing IAS official Shrikar Pardeshi as the Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister.
Shortly after this, Fadnavis named Ashwini Bhide as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. Ashwini Bhide replaced Brijesh Singh, an IPS officer who was appointed to the post by the Eknath Shinde-led Mahayuti government last year.
Very few women have held this post in Maharashtra, which is seen as one of the most influential posts in the state administration, with CMs usually picking their own confidantes to head this vital post.
Fadnavis intends to speed up Maharashtra’s infrastructure development and Ashwini Bhide who has experience overseeing the work on the Mumbai Metro railway is seen as key to implementing his plans for the state.
