Current affairs

Beela Rajesh out as TN Health Secretary, Radhakrishnan comes in! What's behind the transfer?

By alagu, 12 June, 2020
India, Tamilnadu, Chennai, Coronavirus, Nationwide lockdown

In a surprise development in Tamil Nadu's fight against the Coronavirus pandemic, the state government has, on Friday, announced that it has transferred sitting Health Secretary Beela Rajesh and inducted long-time secretary J Radhakrishnan as the new health secretary to the government, who will take over his role immediately.

The sudden transfer and replacement has become one of the major shuffles at the secretarial berth and has come at a crucial time when the state health department is on the front of combating the COVID-19 pandemic as the state is reeling through the rapid spread with the heavy caseload. 

According to the order issued by the Chief Secretary of the government, Dr. Beela Rajesh has been transferred from her post of Health Secretary and she has been appointed as the secretary to the Commercial Taxes and Registration department. J Radhakrishnan would be succeeding Beela Rajesh and will take over his new role as Health Secretary.

 

The order which was consented by the Governor has further stated that Radhakrishnan will continue to hold the post of Principal Secretary/Commissioner of Revenue Administration in full additional charge until further orders. According to the reports, Beela Rajesh was holding the post of Health Secretary from February 17, 2019, before which she served as the commissioner for India Medicine and Homeopathy. 

J Radhakrishnan is a known face in the state's government machinery and he served as the health secretary of Tamil Nadu from 2012-2019, which is one of the longest tenures ever to hold by any secretary of the government and he was then posted to the revenue department. However, the rampant spread of COVID-19 cases brought him back to the picture.

In May, the government has appointed Radhakrishnan as the special nodal officer for Greater Chennai Corporation to monitor the containment measures to mitigate the spread of the virus in the city and he has been on the spotlight since then as he has been playing one of the important and crucial roles to contain the spread in Chennai, which has become the active and biggest hotspot in the state, with two-thirds of the tally of total affected cases in the state.

The appointment of one of the top bureaucrat to the top post of the Health department has come days after the department has caught up with the controversy over the discrepancy and under-reporting of the death toll and the availability of beds in Chennai to treat the patients, which have largely questioned the transparency factor of the government. While the government has installed the committee to streamline the deaths, it was speculated that there could be a major change in the health department. 

The change has now been made by a major shuffle, however, the government hasn't disclosed the reason behind the transfer. Radhakrishnan is an IAS officer of the 1992 cadre and he is well known for his leadership in handling the disasters and he became notable after he served on the frontline when Tsunami stuck and devasted the coastal districts of Tamil Nadu in 2004. While addressing the reporters on Friday -June 12 after taking over the new post, Radhakrishan said that the government has been taking efforts and containment measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 and appealed to people to extend the co-operation to the government in its fight against the global pandemic.

 

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