The Odisha government has now made it mandatory for all IAS officers posted in the state to avail permission of the Chief Secretary before leaving their designated headquarters. A circular in this regard was issued by the general administration (GA) department. It said that “it has come to the notice that in some cases, the officers are availing leave/headquarters leaving permission without obtaining prior permission of the chief secretary which results in unavoidable dislocation of official works.” “It is therefore decided that, prior permission of the chief secretary shall be mandatory for all lAS officers of the state while availing leaves as well as headquarter leaving permissions. This instruction shall be followed henceforth with due diligence,” read the letter signed by Additional Chief Secretary, GA department, Surendra Kumar. At present, the GA department is the administrative department in respect of IAS officers of the state while the chief secretary is the competent authority for sanctioning all types of leave. Though the GA department’s letter mentions no specific cases, where the guidelines were violated, sources said it has been issued after Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram sought disciplinary proceedings against his private secretary — Parag Harshad Gavali, an Odisha-cadre IAS officer — for unauthorized absence from duty. A day after Oram wrote to Odisha Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja, the GA department’s circular was issued. “I am writing to inform you that Dr Parag Gavali has been absent from duty without authorization since 23rd January 2025. His continued unauthorized absence is in violation of the service rules and has caused disruptions in the functioning of the office,” said Oram in his letter to Ahuja. Stating that he has requested the DoPT to initiate appropriate disciplinary action against Gavali as per the relevant provisions of the All-India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, Oram asked Ahuja to update records in the personal file of Gavali. Oram said his letter should be part of Gavali’s annual performance appraisal reports for the year 2024-25. Gavali, a 2013-batch IAS officer, was earlier posted as collector, Sundargarh, Oram’s home district. Sources said Oram has also written to the PMO for replacement of Gavali as his private secretary.
