Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s secretariat has undergone its fourth major reshuffle since he took charge in December 2023, with the additional chief secretary (ACS) to the chief minister, Rajesh Rajora—a 1990-batch IAS officer—being replaced by 1993-batch IAS officer Neeraj Mandloi.
The change, announced Sunday, was part of a broader bureaucratic shake-up involving 10 senior IAS officers. Rajora continues to hold two other important portfolios as vice chairman of the Narmada Valley Development Authority (NVDA) and ACS of the Water Resource Department (WRD).
Senior government officials said the reshuffle had been under consideration for the past month, with several rounds of meetings held between Chief Secretary Anurag Jain and Mohan Yadav before Rajora was finally transferred out of the CMO. The move comes two months ahead of Jain’s retirement on 25 August, although there is speculation that he will be given an extension. He took over as the Chief Secretary last September.
ACS Mandloi, who replaces Rajora, served as joint secretary in the urban development and higher education ministries between 2014 and 2017. Along with being ACS to the chief minister, Mandloi will continue to hold charge of the energy department.
As part of the reshuffle, senior IAS officer Ashok Barnwal, who was holding charge of the state’s cooperative department along with the forest department, was relieved of the former. Another senior officer, M. Selvendran, was also relieved of the charge of the Farmer Welfare and Agriculture Development department.
According to other senior officers, both had sought to be relieved of the additional portfolios. Apart from Jain, the present ACS (Home) J.N. Kansotiya is also set to retire in August, officials said, allowing the government to move Rajora in his place, with at least two years of service left before his retirement.
The reshuffle, the latest in a long line of changes under Chief Minister Yadav, has raised concerns about administrative stability and policy continuity.
“With these frequent reshuffles, the only person suffering is the common man, with governance taking a back seat,” Arun Gurtoo, former Director General of Police of Madhya Pradesh, now part of the Bhopal Citizens’ Forum, told ThePrint.
Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Secretary S.C. Behera said that for the current government, “other factors take precedence over allowing stability in tenures”.
“The need of the hour is a healthy balance between the political executive and permanent executive, but what we see is the political needs of these executives taking precedence over the needs of the job of a permanent executive,” he told ThePrint.
Behera also pointed out that stability of a tenure is of crucial importance to allow an officer to understand the needs of their department, give their best performance and bring in efficiency.
Rajeev Sharma, another former civil servant, who served as the commissioner of Shahdol division before taking voluntary retirement in October 2023, said that transfers are the prerogative and privilege of the government, but are often shrouded in suspense with no clarity on why an officer is posted or transferred.
“There was a time when it was the job of the Chief Secretary to run an efficient bureaucracy, and was entrusted with these transfers through that prism, but today, it seems that the political representatives take these calls,” he told ThePrint.
Constant reshuffle
A week after taking charge as chief minister, Mohan Yadav first appointed the 1997-batch IAS officer Raghuvendra Singh as his principal secretary (PS).
In February 2024, two months after the officer took charge, five others were brought in to form the chief minister’s secretariat under him. IAS officer Bharat Yadav was appointed as the secretary to Mohan Yadav. But this was changed soon after.
Four months later, in June last year, while Raghuvendra Singh continued as the principal secretary in the CMO, several other senior officers were brought in, including Sanjay Shukla as principal secretary of women and child development, and Rajora as ACS.
The order entrusted Rajora with 15 tasks, including coordinating with the Prime Minister’s Office, and overseeing implementation of policy initiatives across departments.
Rajora’s elevation, just three months before then Chief Secretary Vera Rana’s retirement, was seen as CM Mohan Yadav positioning him to take over the state’s topmost bureaucratic post and allowing for a swift transition.
But in a surprise move, just when Rajora seemed set to take over as chief secretary, Anurag Jain, a 1989-batch IAS officer on deputation in Delhi, was posted as the chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh.
After Jain took over, several officers, including those in the chief minister’s secretariat, were reshuffled. In November 2024, Sanjay Shukla was moved from principal secretary in the CMO, and appointed principal secretary of the urban development department.
Two months later, in January 2025, 2008-batch IAS officer Bharat Yadav was moved out of the CMO and made managing director of Madhya Pradesh Road Development Corporation (MPRDC).
ACS Sanjay Shukla has been moved around at least six times since Mohan Yadav took over. Shukla was looking after the industries department, and was soon moved to Raj Bhawan, but two months later was moved from Raj Bhawan to Mantralaya, and given charge of the women and child welfare department.
He was then moved to CM’s secretariat and handed charge of mining, but after Anurag Jain took over as the CS, Shukla was handed charge of urban administration. But on Sunday, Shukla was once again shifted and moved to the General Administration Department.
(Edited by Sugita Katyal)