Haryana Shuffles the Deck: 17 IAS Officers Handed New Postings
Chandigarh, August 8, 2026 — The Haryana government set off a fresh round of bureaucratic musical chairs on Friday, transferring 17 IAS officers and a batch of Haryana Civil Service officials in one sweep. The orders, signed off by Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi, touch some of the state’s most sensitive departments — finance, medical education, transport, public relations, human resources, and the municipal corporations of Gurugram and Faridabad. It’s the kind of reshuffle that happens periodically in Indian states, as governments look to match officers to priorities, refresh leadership in high-pressure postings, or simply keep the administrative machine running smoothly. This time, though, one move in particular caught people’s attention for how quickly it was undone. A 24-hour reversal Pradeep Dahiya, a 2013-batch IAS officer, had barely settled into his desk as Deputy Commissioner of Rohtak — he’d been posted there just a day before — when the government reversed itself and pulled him back to Gurugram, this time as Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation and District Municipal Commissioner. It’s a vivid reminder of how quickly plans can change inside the state secretariat. The senior ranks At the top of the list, G Anupama, from the 1991 batch, picked up an additional charge as Additional Chief Secretary of Youth Empowerment and Entrepreneurship — on top of the portfolios she already runs: Social Justice, Empowerment, and Welfare of Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes and Antyodaya, plus Civil Aviation. C G Rajini Kaanthan steps in as Commissioner and Secretary of Finance, while also taking on the Central Committee of Examinations and the Medical Education and Research Department. K M Pandurang, from the 2007 batch, moves into Information, Public Relations, Languages and Culture, along with Mines and Geology, while continuing to lead the Panchkula Metropolitan Development Authority. Also from the 2007 batch, Dusmanta Kumar Behera — who had been working in revenue — takes charge of Human Resources and General Administration. Rajiv Rattan (2008 batch) becomes Secretary for Personnel, Training and Parliamentary Affairs, doubling up as an Inquiry Officer for Vigilance and Director General of Supplies and Disposals — stepping into roles vacated by Pankaj, who himself moves to head the Haryana Public Service Commission and the Haryana Power Generation Corporation. Prabhjot Singh takes over as Transport Commissioner while continuing to oversee the Environment, Forests and Wildlife Department. Out in the field Hema Sharma, a 2010-batch officer with a background in revenue and disaster management, has been posted as Commissioner of the Karnal Division. Dr Aditya Dahiya walks away with a particularly stacked portfolio — Information and Public Relations, Art and Cultural Affairs, Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, and the Department of Future, among other charges. In Faridabad, Yashendra Singh steps in as Municipal Commissioner and head of Faridabad Smart City, taking over from Dhirendra Khadgata, who moves to Medical Education and Research and State Transport. Further down the list, Sachin Gupta, Deputy Commissioner of Ambala, adds the Additional Controller of Civil Defence charge to his plate. Renu Sogan, who had been awaiting a posting, becomes Additional Secretary for Public Health Engineering, and Samwartak Singh Khangwal picks up Mines and Geology on top of his existing IT and Electronics charge. Why it matters None of this happens in a vacuum. Gurugram is one of the country’s fastest-growing economic hubs and needs steady civic leadership to keep pace with its growth. Medical education ties directly into the state’s healthcare push, and the information and PR machinery shapes how the government’s message reaches the public. What stands out about this particular list is the spread of experience on display — from Anupama, a veteran of the 1991 batch, down to officers who joined the service as recently as 2013. Several senior officers, like Anupama and Prabhjot Singh, were handed extra responsibilities rather than being moved out entirely, letting them stay the course on programmes already underway while taking on new ones. The government hasn’t offered a detailed explanation for the individual moves these things rarely come with one but the orders take effect immediately, both in the secretariat at Chandigarh and across the districts. For now, all eyes are on how smoothly the new appointees settle in, and whether the changes translate into sharper delivery on the ground in the months ahead. @Rohit Manral