Amid the rising COVID-19 cases in Pune District, Ajit Pawar the deputy chief minister has appointed 12 Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to deal with COVID-crisis in the city.

The 12 appointed IAS officers include Pune municipal commissioner Shekhar Gaikwad and two additional municipal commissioners Rubal Agrawal and Shantanu Goyal. They are the three IAS officers currently handling the COVID-19 situation in the city. Maharashtra Government decided to appoint nine additional IAS officers, as Pune is witnessing a sudden rise in cases, the authorities believe, it is important to handle the situation with efficacy.

In a recent meeting chaired by Ajit Pawar, the guardian minister raised concerns over the surge in cases, he questioned the officials as to why the cases in Pune are still rising and cases in Mumbai has started to decrease. He even warned the officers to act quick or face action.

On Monday, as per Ajit Pawar's directives, Deepak Mhaisekar the divisional commissioner appointed five IAS officers in the city. According to reports, the responsibility of COVID-19 testing has been handed over to Vishwajeet Mane, the director-general of Maharashtra council of agriculture education and research. Mane will closely monitor government and private laboratories. 

Omprakash Bakoria, the Sports Director has been appointed for contact tracing. His sole responsibility is to follow up on contact tracing of a coronavirus infected patient and contain the virus by early detection. Pavneet Kaur, the tribal research and training institute commissioner is responsible for bed-availability. He will closely monitor the number of vacant beds, follow up and coordinate to when there's a shortage of isolation beds. 

Suhas Diwase, the agricultural commissioner is accountable for inviting non-governmental and public participation for handling the COVID-19 crisis, and Nayana Gunde, PMPML chairman and managing director is responsible for ambulance availability and coordination.