Sarada Muralidharan, a 1990 batch IAS officer, has taken over as the Chief Secretary of Kerala. She took over as CS after her husband and outgoing Chief Secretary Dr. V. Venu retired on August 31. The Kerala government confirmed this historic appointment on August 21. Earlier she was working as Additional Chief Secretary (Planning and Economic Affairs).
During V. Venu’s farewell on Friday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that there have been instances in Kerala where husband-wife duos have held important bureaucratic positions. But this is the first time that a husband-wife duo has taken over as Chief Secretary in place of another Chief Secretary.
Speaking about this, Muralidharan said that this transition is a strange experience, especially when she will be working as the Chief Secretary for the next eight months after her husband’s retirement.
‘Now I am worried’
“Now I am a little worried because I have to continue in service for another eight months after his retirement,” he said. “We worked together as civil servants for 34 years, but I never gave much thought to the fact that we would not leave service together.”
Highlighting the historic nature of the transition, Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor shared a clip of the official handover ceremony on social media platform X.
He wrote on the social media platform, “For the first time in India (at least as far as anyone remembers!) Outgoing Chief Secretary of Kerala Dr V Venu has handed over the post of CS to his wife Sarada Muraleedharan in a formal handover ceremony at the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. He further wrote that both are 1990 batch IAS officers, but Venu is several months older than his wife, who is next in seniority in the service.
Let us tell you that Dr. V. Venu and Muralidharan are both 1990 batch IAS officers, Venu is a few months older than his wife.
Source (PTI) (NDTV) (HINDUSTANTIMES)