MP Govt Changes Collector on First Day of Newly-formed Mauganj District

Soon after Mauganj became the 53rd district of Madhya Pradesh, the new District Collector was suddenly changed within a few hours of his appointment and a new officer immediately put in place.

The Madhya Pradesh government issued a gazette notification on Sunday regarding the formation of Mauganj as a new district as had been promised by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in March this year. Announcing that the headquarters of the new district will be Mauganj, the state government also appointed a new District Collector and the Superintendent of Police (SP).

However, the newly-formed Mauganj district added an interesting chapter on the very first day of its existence -- that the district collector was changed within a few hours of the appointment. Soniya Meena, a 2013 batch IAS officer, who is posted as a director with the tribal welfare department, was appointed as the first collector of Mauganj, but was cancelled soon after.

However, a few hours later (during late Sunday night), the state government issued a notification mentioning that Ajay Srivastava, a 2013 batch IAS officer will be the first collector of Mauganj. Srivastava was earlier posted as additional commissioner in the Scheduled Tribe and Finance Corporation tribal in the Madhya Pradesh government.

“Ajay Srivastava, (additional commissioner Scheduled Tribe and Finance Corporation of MP govt.) has been appointed as collector of Mauganj until the next order. Soniya Meena's appointment as collector of Mauganj has been cancelled,” a notification issued by the General Administration Department (GAD) read.

IPS officer Veerendra Jain, who was previously commandant of the 8th Battalion in Chhindwara district, was assigned as the Superintendent of Police (SP) of Mauganj.

According to the government orders, three tehsils from the Rewa district -- Mauganj, Hanumana and Devtalab will in Mauganj district, while the nine tehsils, namely -- Huzur, Huzur Nagar, Jawa, Teonthar, Raipur Karchuliyan, Mangawan, Semaria, Sirmaur and Gurh will remain in Rewa district.

Earlier in March this year, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had announced the formation of Mauganj district, which is estimated to have a population of around six lakh and will comprise two Assembly constituencies- Devtalab and Mauganj.