Odisha Sends 10-Officer IPS Panel to UPSC Ahead of Khurania's DGP Exit

The Odisha government has forwarded a panel of senior IPS officers to the Union Public Service Commission for consideration as the state's next Director General of Police, ahead of the scheduled retirement of incumbent DGP Y B Khurania in August.

The Director General of Police is the head of a state's police force, and under Supreme Court directions on police reforms, state governments are required to forward a panel of eligible senior IPS officers to the UPSC for empanelment, rather than making a direct appointment. The UPSC examines service records and clears a shortlist, from which the state government then selects the DGP.

The panel forwarded by Odisha is learnt to comprise about ten senior IPS officers. Among the names understood to be under consideration are Sudhanshu Sarangi, a 1990-batch officer; Susanta Kumar Nath, from the 1993 batch; and R P Koche, also of the 1993 batch — officers spanning three different seniority levels within the state cadre.

Khurania, the incumbent DGP, is set to retire in August, creating the scheduled vacancy that has triggered the panel process now underway.

The empanelment process for Odisha's next DGP follows the same procedure used across states since the Supreme Court's directions aimed at insulating the post from political interference, requiring a minimum residual tenure and a transparent, merit-based selection from among eligible officers rather than a state government's direct pick.

With the panel now before the UPSC, the commission is expected to examine the service records of the shortlisted officers and return a cleared list to the state government ahead of Khurania's retirement date, allowing for a smooth transition at the top of the Odisha Police.

The Odisha government is expected to finalise its selection from the UPSC-cleared panel closer to Khurania's retirement in August, following the standard timeline for DGP transitions in the state.