Bhubaneswar:  Senior IAS officer of additional chief secretary rank Gagan Dhal has taken voluntary retriement from service. His application for voluntary retirement has been approved by the State government. Dhal had only two months to attain his superannuation.

“Dhal is allowed to retire voluntarily from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) with effective from November 30.  He will be entitled to all retirement benefits as per rules under AIS (DCRB) Rules,1958,”  said a letter a government letter.

Dhal, an IAS officer of 1985 batch who is serving as Odisha Forest Development Corportion(OFDC) chairman, had submitted for VRS on personal ground. However, since the VRS application was submitted at a time to reshuffle in the top echelon of State bureaucracy, rumors circulated that Dhal has sought VRS in protest as the State government appointed Asit Tripathy as chief secretary ignoring his seniority.

“On being satisfied about the reasons for the VRS, the state Government relaxed the mandatory notice period of three months for Dhal’s voluntary retirement from service”, said a press release by State general administration department.