Pune gets new divisional commissioner ahead of Lok Sabha polls

On Monday, the state government named Chandrakant Pulkundwar as the divisional commissioner for Pune, succeeding Saurabh Rao, who was assigned to the position of commissioner of cooperation and registrar for cooperative societies in Pune.

The reorganization takes place in advance of this year’s Lok Sabha elections.

After Shekar Gaikwad retired from the position in May of last year, Pulkundwar assumed the role of state sugar commissioner. In response to orders from the Election Commission of India that officers cannot be posted in their home districts or remain in a posting for longer than three years, the state government is making a number of transfers. Over his career, Pulkundwar, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from the 2008 batch, has occupied a number of positions. In addition to his roles as joint managing director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation in Mumbai, he has held the position of commissioner for the Nashik Municipal Corporation.

He has held positions as Gondia’s CEO and Buldhana’s collector. He has held positions as a divisional officer at Parbhani, a resident deputy collector in Nanded, a special land acquisition officer at the Krishna Valley project, a sub-divisional officer in Melghat, and a deputy CEO at MIDC.

Rao, who served as the divisional commissioner for Pune for three years, will succeed Anil Kawade as the commissioner of cooperation and registrar of cooperative societies in Pune. In March of this year, Kawade, who has served as the sugar commissioner, will retire.