Dr Brundha D Takes Charge of Odisha Social Security Department (SSEPD)

10 Sep 2026, 06:33 by Vinay Kakkad · KalingaTV

Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s social security administration has a new senior official at the helm, with IAS officer Dr Brundha D taking charge as Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Department of Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (SSEPD) on September 9.

Dr Brundha’s appointment follows a recent senior-level administrative reshuffle in Odisha. She was serving as Mission Director of the National Health Mission (NHM) before being posted to the SSEPD Department as Commissioner-cum-Secretary.

The department’s work covers a broad range of welfare concerns involving persons with disabilities, senior citizens, transgender persons and other vulnerable sections of society. After assuming office, Dr Brundha was briefed by senior officials on the department’s mandate, major welfare initiatives, ongoing programmes, organisational matters and areas requiring intervention.

The new Commissioner-cum-Secretary called for stronger coordination within the department and more streamlined administrative procedures. The emphasis, she said, should be on making welfare programmes efficient, transparent and time-bound.

A key focus will be ensuring that social security benefits reach eligible beneficiaries without unnecessary delays. Dr Brundha asked departmental officials to maintain closer coordination and effective communication at different levels to improve the delivery of welfare schemes.

She also stressed the role of technology and data-based monitoring in improving the implementation and assessment of social security programmes. Stronger coordination with officials working at the field level was identified as another area that could help improve programme delivery.

She was welcomed by Rajani Jani of the SSEPD Department, Special Secretary Jayashree Tripathi, Financial Advisor-cum-Special Secretary, and Additional Secretaries Deepak Routray, Sonia Behera and Bhaskar Raito, along with other senior officials and employees.