Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel.

In a major bureaucratic reshuffle, the Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday transferred 50 IAS and state administrative officers, including 20 district collectors. While the government termed the transfers routine, it later released a circular informing of a moratorium on more transfers.

The Opposition BJP said the government had taken a “drastic” decision that has created “chaos” amid of a pandemic.

Senior BJP leader and former Chief Minister Raman Singh said: “The government has created a scene of chaos because the new officers are going to take time to adjust. At a time when numbers are increasing rapidly, this could have been avoided.”

Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly Dharamlal Kaushik said:“It’s almost like a business deal by the state government.”

There were murmurs in the bureaucratic circles too. “For any official to get used to the district administration, the work force takes time. The logistic challenges of shifting cities in the middle of the pandemic would be huge,” a senior officer said. “Since the collectors are handling all Covid-related activities in their districts, the transfers raise questions on the preparedness of the districts,” another officer said.

Government spokesperson Taran Sinha said the transfers were “routine” and won’t pose challenges. “Today it was decided to slowly lift the lockdown, a lot has opened up. There is no problem as such for the state.”

Chhattisgarh has reported a total of 361 Covid-19 cases, of whom 79 have recovered.