Assam names Kimnei Changsan Home Secretary; new DCs for Baksa, Morigaon

The Assam government has reshuffled three senior officers, appointing Baksa Deputy Commissioner Kimnei Changsan as Secretary of the Home and Political Department and changing the heads of the Baksa and Morigaon district administrations, Indian Masterminds reported on Saturday.

Who goes where

• Kimnei Changsan, a 2014-batch IAS officer inducted from the State Civil Service, moves from Baksa, where she was Deputy Commissioner, to the state secretariat as Secretary, Home and Political Department.
• Srishti Singh, a 2021-batch IAS officer from the regular recruitment stream, moves from Morigaon to Baksa as Deputy Commissioner, replacing Changsan.
• Anamika Tewari, an Assam Civil Service officer of the 1997 direct-recruit batch, becomes Deputy Commissioner of Morigaon. She was serving as Additional Secretary in the Industries Department.

Why the posts matter

The Home and Political Department handles internal security, law and order and political matters, including coordination with central agencies, and is one of the busiest departments in Dispur. A secretary-level post there involves work on policing, the state's dealings with armed groups that have signed peace accords, and responses to protests and bandhs.

Baksa lies in the Bodoland Territorial Region along the Bhutan border, with its headquarters at Mushalpur. Its Deputy Commissioner has to work alongside the Bodoland Territorial Council administration. Morigaon, in central Assam, includes the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary and riverine areas that regularly face floods and erosion.

What a Deputy Commissioner does

Deputy Commissioners in Assam oversee revenue administration, disaster management, welfare schemes and, as district magistrates, law and order, and work closely with the Election Commission during electoral roll work. In Morigaon, Tewari's move from the Industries Department marks a return to field administration, while Singh, one of the younger IAS officers heading a district in Assam, takes over a district in a Sixth Schedule area.

For Changsan, the move ends her tenure in Baksa, where the district administration works closely with the Bodoland Territorial Council on land, development and welfare schemes.

The government has not said when the officers will take charge. Further postings, if any, are notified by the Personnel Department. NEInsider will update this story if more transfers are ordered.