BOISE, Idaho (AP) - Gov. Jim Risch has shaken up several state agencies in his first four months as governor and behind many of the moves, the governor has cited the analysis of a little-known forensic chemist who came to Boise from northern India.

Rakesh Mohan, director of the Office of Performance Evaluations, the state's auditing agency, has, rather improbably, become one of the most trusted men in Idaho government.

In June, Risch announced a major revamping of the Department of Health and Welfare, one of the state's largest outfits. He ousted former director Karl Kurtz and named a new director, Richard Armstrong.

At a news conference, Risch gave reporters and staffers two reports prepared by Mohan's auditing agency that highlighted low employee morale at Health and Welfare, as well as failing substance-abuse treatment efforts directed by that agency.

When Risch tapped Jim Tibbs as the state's new drug czar, he referred to an audit by Mohan's office that called for more cohesion between state and community substance abuse efforts.

"I have a high level of confidence" in the auditing agency's work, Risch told the Idaho Statesman through a spokesman, adding the office plays "a valuable role in protecting Idaho taxpayers."

Though his name may not resonate with the public, Mohan and his eight-person office have garnered considerable clout among the state's policy makers.

"Rakesh is one of the best things that ever happened to the state of Idaho," said House Assistant Majority Leader Mike Moyle, R-Star. "How many legislators understand, have the time or have the know-how to find out all the things he does?"

The Legislature has taken notice, granting the Office of Performance Evaluations two Notable Document awards for a cost-analysis of the Idaho School for the Deaf and the Blind in Gooding and an audit of the federal government's use of Social Security numbers.

In August, the office received national accolades from the National Conference of State Legislatures, topping other similar watchdog agencies across the nation that evaluate state programs.

"Those are the kind of below-the-scenes things in the Legislature that people don't really know anything about," said state House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley, who co-sponsored the 1994 legislation that created the office. "Rakesh, he is just a fantastic individual, and he's so smart, and he knows how government works."

Mohan, 50, took an unconventional path to hallways of the Idaho Capitol. He came to the U.S. 30 years ago from India to earn his Ph.D. in chemistry at the University of Michigan.

From there, he took a job as a forensic chemist in Kansas before souring on science. Leaving the laboratory, he took the only job he could find: an entry-level auditor of state agencies for the Kansas Legislature.

After picking up a master's degree in public administration, he stopped over in Washington and Louisiana before moving to Idaho in 1997 to head the upstart Office of Performance Evaluations.

"I knew nothing about that field," Mohan said. "But every day I've spent doing this kind of work, I love this career more and more."

Mohan, who makes an annual salary of $85,000, said he is happy when lawmakers can use his reports to make government more efficient.

"That's my ultimate goal with all projects, to provide them with information they can use to make informed decisions," he said. "We have total unconditional independence in how these reports are created."

In September, Mohan added another chapter to his odyssey, when, after 30 years, he became a U.S. citizen.