Bhubaneswar: Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram has urged the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions to initiate disciplinary action against his private secretary Parag Harshad Gavali, an Odisha cadre IAS officer.

According to the Union Minister, Gavali, a 2013-batch IAS officer, has been absent from duty since January 23 without authorisation.

Gavali’s unauthorised absence has caused disruptions in the official work, said the Union Minister.

Oram, the Lok Sabha MP from Sundargarh in Odisha, has urged the Secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) to initiate appropriate disciplinary action against Gavali as per the relevant provisions of the All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules.

The Union Minister also urged Odisha Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja to record this in the performance appraisal report of Gavali for the year 2024-25.     

It is worth mentioning here that Gavali had been appointed as the private secretary to the Union Tribal Affairs Minister in July, last year.

Prior to this, Gavali had served as the Collector of Sundargarh district.