After the West Bengal government, now the Odisha government has shifted its Health and Family Welfare Secretary N B Dhal (IAS:1993:OR) apparently failing to properly coordinate with senior and junior officers engaged in tackling the novel coronavirus crisis which needed a team effort. He is the same officer who had joined his duty 24 hours after the death of his father.

Dhal has been appointed as principal secretary in the energy department. His midway removal in the war against coronavirus has raised many eyebrows as the state government’s COVID-19 spokesperson Subroto Bagchi in March had praised the officer for joining the duty within 24 hours of his father’s death.

Dhal had lost his octogenarian father in March, when the state had reported just one case of infection. Dhal rushed to his native village in Jajpur district, he returned to the job within some hours and looked after the COVID-19 management, earning praise from all quarters for commitment towards the duty.