Chennai: Just two days ahead of the state assembly session, the government transferred no-nonsense chief secretary Mohan Varghese Chunkanth and named senior IAS officer and Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) chairman K. Gnanadesikan as his successor.
Gnanadesikan will also hold full additional charge of the post of vigilance commissioner and commissioner for administrative reforms, a government order read. Chunkath, who has held the coveted post since April, is transferred to Anna Institute of Management as its director.
Gnandesikan, an IAS officer of 1982 batch, had earlier been finance secretary and home secretary. He is the fourth chief secretary in the present AIADMK regime since 2011.
Only last week, Gnanadesikan and six others were promoted to the chief secretary cadre.
He now supercedes a dozen senior officers to assume the office of chief secretary.
“He has been a wonderful officer in terms of administration and if things go well till his retirement, Gnanadesikan will be the longest serving TN chief secretary post independence”, an IAS officer who has worked with him, said.
The state also transferred a whole set of senior officers, including revenue secretary Gagandeep Singh Bedi, PWD secretary Sai Kumar and housing secretary Mohan Pyare. Saikumar will be the new chairman of TANGEDCO and revenue secretary Bedi will head the rural development and panchayat raj as its secretary.
R Venkatesan will be the new revenue secretary and Dharmendra Pratap Yaday will be the new housing secretary, the order said.
N. S. Palaniappan will be the new PWD secretary. Youth welfare and sports development secretary, Mohammed Nasimuddin has been posted as secretary, co-operation, food and consumer protection department, replacing M P Nirmala.
Niranjan Mardi will be the new vice chairman of Tamil Nadu Maritime Board filling the vacancy caused by the retirement of Ramesh Kumar Khanna. V. Irai Anbu has been posted as economics and statistics department commissioner, C Manoharan will be the new director, Agricultural Marketing and Agri-business, the order added.
