Ashutosh Pednekar appointed as Rajasthan Health Secretary after major administrative reshuffle

Jaipur: In a major administrative reshuffle, almost 52 IAS Officers have been transferred by the Rajasthan Government on Sunday. Ashutosh AT Pednekar who previously served as secretary of industries and MSME has been appointed as secretary of medical, health, and family welfare.

As secretary of medical, health, and family welfare, Pednekar will now be responsible for developing action plans to manage healthcare services during the third wave of COVID. 

IAS officer T. Ravikant has been transferred from Principal Secretary Finance (Revenue) to take Pendnekar's place as the Principal Secretary Industries, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) and State Undertakings.

Pednekar belonged to the 2002 batch IAS batch and he played a pivotal role in serving the state's COVID management team. He even acted as the in-charge of oxygen management during the second wave of COVID19 last year. Managing the acquisition and distribution of the oxygen cylinders across the districts of the state was also managed by his team under his leadership. He along with his team have secured great appreciation for their work during COVID, reports ET.

The number of patients has more than doubled in a week. Currently, there are around 69,000 active cases in the state, Health Secretary Ashutosh AT Pednekar said during a virtual meeting headed by Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot. Hence, he as well as other ministers emphasized achieving 100 percent vaccination.

The other major appointments included the transfer of Dr. Jitendra Kumar Soni as Mission Director of National Health Mission (NHM). He was Ex-Officio, Medical, Health & Family Welfare. In the order issued by the Personnel Department, district collectors of Jaipur, Jaisalmer, Jhunjhunu, Karauli, Bikaner, Udaipur, Kota, Baran, Sriganganagar, Churu, Jodhpur, Pali, Ajmer, Bharatpur, Nagaur, Dungarpur, Jhalawar, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa, Sirohi, Bhilwara have been changed, reports PTI.