Effecting a notable reshuffle among senior IAS officers, the Government of Odisha today appointed Principal Secretary, Tourism and Sports & Youth Services Department Vishal Dev, as the new Principal Secretary of Finance department. He had taken charge of the Sports Department on 16 September, 2016.

According to a notification issued by the General Administration Department, R Vineel Krishna, Special Secretary to the Chief Minister, has been given the additional charge of Sports and Youth Services Department. A 2005-batch IAS Officer, Krishna was also functioning as the Director, Department of Sports & Youth Services since from 7 April, 2017 till date.

A 1996-batch IAS Officer, Visal Dev is known to have played important role in making Odisha a global sports destination. During his five-year stint as the Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Department of Sports & Youth Services, Odisha hosted the 22nd Asian Athletics Championship 2017, FIH Hockey Men World Cup 2018 at Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneswar; 21st Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship 2019 at JN Indoor Stadium, Cuttack and many more national and international events.