Subhasish Panda takes charge as DDA vice-chairman: Official

new delhi: Bureaucrat Subhasish Panda on Monday took charge as the vice chairman of the Delhi Development Authority, a senior official said.

A 1997-batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre, Panda was holding the charge of principal secretary to the chief minister in the hill state before joining the DDA, an official statement said.

In a career spanning over two decades, Panda has worked in various sectors like health, food and public distribution, petroleum and natural gas, urban development, tourism, planning, public works and information technology, the DDA said.

"He played a pivotal role as deputy director (administration) in the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)-Delhi during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure all essential facilities are provided to the patients in a time-bound manner," the statement said.

His model of a community-led total sanitation programme was adopted across Himachal, which ultimately led to the state becoming "the first ODF (open defecation-free) state in the country," the DDA said in its statement.

Panda's experience will be beneficial at a time when important projects are being undertaken by the DDA, such as preparation of the Delhi Master Plan-2041, rejuvenation of river Yamuna plains, in situ slum rehabilitation scheme and PM-UDAY scheme, it said.

Panda holds an MPhil degree in environmental science from Jawaharlal Nehru University. He also has a master's degree in governance and development from the UK's Institute of Development Studies, the statement said.

He succeeds IAS officer Manish Kumar Gupta as the DDA's vice chairman.