The Gujarat government has appointed the collectors of nine districts as administrators of the newly formed municipal corporations in Morbi, Anand, Nadiad (Kheda District), Vapi (Valsad district), Mehsana, Surendranagar, Navsari, Porbandar, and Gandhidham (Kutch district). This decision was announced on Thursday, with officials clarifying the roles of administrators and municipal commissioners.
A senior government official stated, “In the absence of an elected body, the collectors will perform the duties of the elected wing, while municipal commissioners will perform executive duties.”
The newly formed municipal corporations are spread across various regions of Gujarat, including Morbi, Surendranagar, and Porbandar in Saurashtra; Anand and Nadiad in Central Gujarat; Gandhidham in Kutch; Mehsana in North Gujarat; and Vapi and Navsari in South Gujarat. Seven of the nine municipal commissioners are IAS officers, while two are GAS officers.
Among the IAS officers, G H Solanki, from the 2014 batch, has been appointed municipal commissioner of Surendranagar. Solanki, previously serving as District Development Officer of Bhavnagar, has a Master’s degree in Agricultural Economics.
Three IAS officers from the 2016 batch have been assigned roles. Dev Choudhary, with a science degree and a Master’s in Public Management, has been transferred from his role as Deputy Municipal Commissioner in Ahmedabad to serve as the municipal commissioner of Vapi. Yogesh Choudhary, a Bachelor of Technology graduate with a Master’s in Business Management, will now serve Navsari. Ravindra Khatale, a mechanical engineering graduate, has been appointed commissioner of Mehsana, following his tenure as Regional Commissioner of Municipalities.
Three officers from the 2017 IAS batch have also received appointments. Swapnil Khare, a Bachelor of Technology graduate in Civil Engineering from IIT Delhi, has been transferred from Rajkot Municipal Corporation to oversee Morbi. Milind Bapna, a commerce graduate with a Master’s in Business Law, has been assigned to Anand after serving as District Development Officer in the same district. Mirant Parikh, with a Bachelor of Technology in Electrical, has been transferred from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation to Nadiad.
The two GAS officers, H J Prajapati and M P Pandya, have been appointed as municipal commissioners of Porbandar and Gandhidham, respectively. Both officers were previously serving as Resident Additional Collectors in Patan and Kutch.
The senior official reiterated, “The collectors will act as the elected wing in these municipal corporations, ensuring governance continues smoothly during this transitional phase.”
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