Six IAS officers on compulsory wait

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI, MAY 17. In what is regarded as a precursor to a total bureaucratic shakeup, six IAS officers belonging to the Chief Minister's Secretariat and the Chief Minister's office have been put on compulsory wait, pending new postings, by the new Government.

Those who were issued such orders are three officials who manned the Chief Minister's Secretariat, set up a couple of years ago to coordinate the various activities of the State Government. They are Mr. Ashok Vardhan Shetty, Secretary, Mr. Irai Anbu, Additional Secretary, and Mr. Dayanand Kataria, Joint Secretary.

The Chief Minister, Ms. Jayalalitha, has also put on compulsory wait three Secretary-level officers in the Chief Minister's Office, Mr. T. R. Ramaswamy, Mr. N. Sundaradevan, Mr. K. Rajamanickam, and replaced them by three others. Two Deputy Secretaries in the Chief Minister's Office, Mr. S. Chandrakumar and Mr. K. Gopinathan, have also received similar orders.

The decision to put on compulsory wait those who worked for the former Chief Minister, Mr. M. Karunanidhi's Secretariat and Office was taken late in the evening on May 14, soon after Ms. Jayalalitha was sworn in.

Further changes are likely after the posting of a new Chief Secretary. The present incumbent Mr. A. P. Muthuswami, is due to retire at the end of the month and is tipped to move to the Tamil Nadu Public Services Commission.

Among the likely replacements for him are Mr. Lakshmi Ratan, Principal Commissioner of Land Reforms, Mr. S. Parthasarathy, currently deputed as Assistant Director-General to the ICRISAT in Hyderabad, and Mr. P. Shanker, Secretary, Heavy Industry, in Delhi.

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Section  : Southern States
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