TN Home, Health secys shifted in major reshuffle

CHENNAI: Senior IAS officer J Radhakrishnan, who steered Tamil Nadu’s efforts to contain the pandemic, was moved out of Health Department in a major bureaucratic reshuffle on Sunday. The government also replaced Home Secretary in the shakeup during which over three dozen senior officers were transferred.

After being posted as the Secretary when COVID-19 was raging and threatened to go out of control, Radhakrishnan became the face of pandemic response in the State. He has now been posted as the Secretary of Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection Department. In his place, Dr P Senthil Kumar, who has been the Officer on Special Duty of Health and Family Welfare Department has been appointed as the Health Secretary.

In the much anticipated reshuffle, rumours about which has been making the rounds in the Secretariat for several days, K Phanindra Reddy, who was the Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, was transferred and posted as the Home Secretary, replacing SK Prabakar who is now posted as Commissioner of Revenue Administration.

Pradeep Yadav, the managing director of Chennai Metro Rail, was now transferred and posted as Highways Secretary replacing Deeraj Kumar who was posted as Commissioner of Commercial Taxes. MA Siddique, Commissioner of Revenue Administration and Disaster Management, is the MD of Metro Rail.

Jayashree Muralidharan, Special Secretary of Industries Department, is appointed as MD of Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation (TIDCO) replacing Pankaj Kumar Bansal.

Several departments get new secretaries

Mohammed Nasimuddin, Secretary of Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection Department, is transferred and posted as Secretary of Labour Welfare department. Ananda Kumar, Member Secretary of SDAT, is now posted as Secretary of the Differently-abled Persons Welfare Department replacing Lalvena who is now posted as Commissioner of Food Safety Department.

Darez Ahamed, Mission Director, National Health Mission, is posted as Commissioner of Rural Development and Panchayat Raj department replacing Praveen P Nair who is now posted as Director of e-Governance.

J Jayakanthan, Commissioner of Excise and Prohibition, is posted as Commissioner of Geology and Mining replacing L Nirmalraj who is now posted as Transport Commissioner. L Nirmal Raj was earlier the Director of Geology and Mining. Jacintha Lazarus, Commissioner of Non-Resident Tamils Welfare and Rehabilitation, is posted as Commissioner of Welfare of the Differently-abled replacing Johny Tom Varghese.

S Gopala Sundara Raj, Tenkasi Collector, is posted as Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Large Taxpayers Unit, Chennai, and MS Sangeetha, MD, Tamil Nadu Civil Supplies Corporation, is posted as Joint Commissioner (Admin), Commercial Taxes replacing K Karpagam.

S Sivarasu, Tiruchy Collector, is transferred and posted as Joint Commissioner of Commercial Taxes, Coimbatore.

M Mathivanan, Commissioner of Most Backward Classes and Denotified Communities, is transferred and posted as Commissioner of Prohibition and Excise. Mariam Pallavi Baldev, MD, Tamil Nadu Corporation for Development of Women, is posted as Additional Secretary to Government, Industries Department replacing Jayashree Muralidharan.

K Vijayendra Pandian, Director of e-governance is transferred and posted as Commissioner of Treasuries and Accounts replacing TN Venkatesh. JU Chandrakala, former Ramanathapuram Collector, is posted as Director, Entrepreneurship Development Innovation Institute replacing Sigy Thomas Vaidhyan.

E Sundaravalli, Secretary of Tamil Nadu Election Commission, is posted as MD of SIPCOT replacing T Anand, who is posted as MD of Small Industries Development Corporation (SIDCO) replacing R Gajalakshmi who is now posted as MD of Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services.

S Vijayaraj Kumar, MD of Chennai Metro Water, is posted as Chairman and MD of Power Finance and Infrastructure Development Corporation (POWERFIN). Har Sahay Meena, Commissioner of Archives and Historical Research, is posted as Special Secretary of Planning and Development department.

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