PANAJI
Nearly 10 days after Ashvin Chandru’s (IAS) transfer left the Excise Commissioner’s post vacant, 2018-batch IAS officer Ankit Yadav has been given additional charge of the department with immediate effect, under a notification issued by order of the Governor.
Yadav will retain his existing responsibilities as Secretary to the Chief Minister, Secretary for Housing, Director of Industries, Trade and Commerce, and Chief Executive Officer of the Goa Investment Promotion and Facilitation Board.
The appointment follows an alleged Rs 1.32-crore job fraud involving a forged Excise Commissioner order. The victim signed official documents before staff detected the irregularity; police are tracing Shankwalkar.
The notification also reshuffled other IAS officers’ portfolios. Sarpreet Singh Gill (2009 batch), Commissioner-cum-Secretary for Water Resources, has been assigned Environment, Information and Publicity, Planning and Statistics, and charge as Commissioner of State Taxes.
Sanjiv Gadkar (2013 batch), Secretary for Civil Supplies, will additionally handle Legal Metrology and Social Welfare and serve as nodal officer for India Energy Week 2026.
Michael D’Souza (2015 batch), Secretary for Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Services, will additionally handle the Museum and Factories and Boilers departments.
Arjun Mohan (2019 batch), Secretary to the Governor, will additionally handle General Administration, Rural Development and Protocol. He has also been designated nodal officer for the Swachh Bharat Mission (Rural) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Rural).
