Patna: Since taking oath as Bihar’s first BJP chief minister on April 15, 2026, Samrat Choudhary has undertaken an extensive administrative overhaul, reshuffling or changing the responsibilities of 143 IAS officers in 209 days.The education department, which has an annual budget of around Rs68,000 crore, has witnessed the maximum administrative churn, with seven senior IAS officers moving in and out of key positions. The reshuffle reflects the CM’s efforts to build his own administrative team by placing officers in important positions. Several IAS officers have also been transferred more than once or assigned additional responsibilities during the seven-month period. Within just 41 days, by May 5, govt had transferred 49 IAS officers, 24 IPS officers and 61 DSPs.The exercise continued over the next seven months, with several officers receiving fresh assignments or additional responsibilities more than once. IAS officers Pankaj Kumar and Deepak Kumar Singh were among those who figured in repeated reshuffles.June saw the transfer of 21 IAS officers, with 11 districts getting new district magistrates. Thiyagarajan S M, then Patna DM, was appointed chairperson of the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), while Kundan Kumar, then Nalanda DM, was brought in as Patna DM.In July, 16 IAS officers were transferred. Deepak Anand was moved from the food and consumer protection department to the sports department, while Divesh Sehra took over his previous assignment. Abhay Kumar Singh was appointed secretary of the rural works department with additional charge of IT.Dharmendra Kumar became chairperson-cum-managing director of the Bihar State Bridge Construction Corporation. Rajiv Roshan was also appointed secretary of the education department.Aug recorded the biggest reshuffle, with 40 IAS officers transferred or assigned new responsibilities in three phases. H R Srinivas was moved to the rural development department as additional chief secretary (ACS), while Pankaj Kumar became principal secretary of the home department.Vinay Kumar was given charge of finance along with additional responsibility for urban development and housing department. New DMs were also posted.In Sept, eight officers were transferred or given additional charges. Vivek Ranjan Maitrey was appointed director of sports, while several officers received other assignments.Oct saw six officers shifted or given additional responsibilities, including C K Anil, who became the new additional chief secretary of the education department. Pankaj Kumar was also given the additional charge of inquiry commissioner.The Nov reshuffle involved three IAS officers. Deepak Kumar Singh was moved from the Governor’s Secretariat to the Revenue Board. Kanwal Tanuj was appointed secretary of the finance department while retaining additional charge of planning and development. Rachna Patil moved from finance to the Governor’s Secretariat as secretary to the governor.The education department experienced the most frequent changes. B Rajendra, who took over as ACS in Sept 2025 after S Siddharth, was relieved on May 15, 2026.Vinod Singh Gunjiyal replaced him but remained in the position for around 60 days before Rajiv Roshan took charge. Anand Kishor was removed as BSEB chairperson in June after nearly a decade and shifted to the environment, forest and climate change department. Sajjan Rajsekhar was removed as director of Secondary Education in Aug, while Vikram Virkar was shifted from primary education to become Khagaria DM. CK Anil and Manoj Kumar were subsequently assigned top responsibilities in the department.The home department also saw three major changes.
