The Gujarat government has appointed district collectors as administrators of nine newly formed municipal corporations without elected bodies. These include Morbi, Anand, Nadiad (Kheda district), Vapi (Valsad district), Mehsana, Surendranagar, Navsari, Porbandar, and Gandhidham (Kutch district).
Collectors will handle the responsibilities of the elected wing, while municipal commissioners will oversee executive duties, according to a senior government official.
The new municipal corporations are distributed across the state: 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.
Key Appointments of Municipal Commissioners:
Seven of the nine municipal commissioners are IAS officers, while two are from the Gujarat Administrative Service (GAS).
- Mr. G H Solanki (2014 IAS batch): Appointed as municipal commissioner of Surendranagar, transferred from Bhavnagar as District Development Officer. Solanki holds a Master’s in Agricultural Economics.
- Mr. Dev Choudhary (2016 IAS batch): Municipal commissioner of Vapi, transferred from Ahmedabad as Deputy Municipal Commissioner. He is a science graduate with a Master’s in Public Management.
- Mr. Yogesh Choudhary (2016 IAS batch): Appointed for Navsari, holding a Bachelor’s in Technology and a Master’s in Business Management.
- Mr. Ravindra Khatale (2016 IAS batch): Municipal commissioner of Mehsana, transferred from Regional Commissioner of Municipalities. He holds a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering.
- Mr. Swapnil Khare (2017 IAS batch): Commissioner of Morbi, transferred from Rajkot Municipal Corporation. Khare has a Bachelor’s in Civil Engineering from IIT Delhi.
- Mr. Milind Bapna (2017 IAS batch): Commissioner of Anand, transferred from District Development Officer in the same district. He has a commerce degree and a Master’s in Business Law.
- Mr. Mirant Parikh (2017 IAS batch): Commissioner of Nadiad, transferred from Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. He holds a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering.
GAS Officers’ Appointments:
- Mr. H J Prajapati: Municipal commissioner of Porbandar, previously Resident Additional Collector (RAC) in Patan.
- Mr. M P Pandya: Commissioner of Gandhidham, previously RAC in Kutch.
This restructuring aims to ensure smooth governance and administration in the newly formed municipal corporations until elected bodies are established.
