Radhakrishanan reigns in as TN's Health Secretary, Beela Rajesh transferred

In what comes as an unexpected turn of events, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh has been transferred to Commercial Taxes and Registration Department which was earlier handled by N Muruganandam IAS. J Radhakrishnan IAS who is currently the special nodal officer has taken charge as the new Health Secretary. J Radhakrishnan will continue to hold the post of Principal Secretary/Commissioner of Revenue Administration in full additional charge until further orders.

The transfer order comes at a time when Tamil Nadu has seen over 38,000 cases of COVID-19 across the state with Chennai seeing 27,000 cases of COVID 19.

On Friday, the Tamil Nadu government issued a directive to appoint J Radhakrishnan as the new Health Secretary by transferring Beela Rajesh, who was holding the post since February 17, 2019.

A doctor by qualification, Beela Rajesh previously held the post of Commissioner for Indian Medicine and Homeopathy before being appointed as the Principal Secretary of Health on February 17, 2019.

J. Radhakrishnan, an IAS officer of the 1992 cadre, who was appointed as Special Nodal Officer when the current pandemic started to see a steep rise in the state, is considered to be an expert in handling crisis situations. He has been posted in frontlines during earlier disasters like Tsunami, kumbakonam school fire..

Radhakrishnan was Health Secretary from 2012 to February 2019 was later transferred to the Secretary of Transportation,

The senior bureaucrat has held various important positions in the past from serving as GCC’s Commissioner in 2000 to being the district Collector of Nagapattinam during its worst crisis - the tsunami of 2004. He was also appointed the Assistant Country Director, Disaster Management for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Radhakrishnan also served as district collector of Thanjavur and was tasked with handling the tragic aftermath of the 2004 Kumbakonam school fire which killed 94 students.

Beela Rajesh's transfer is expectd to create a stir in Tamil Nadu and speculation has already begun as to why the officer was transferred at such a crucial juncture. The ministry lately has come under a lot of pressure and flak by public, media houses and opposition parties, for the way it is handling the pandemic.