The State government has recommended for Central deputation four senior Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officials of the Kerala cadre.
The applications of two senior IAS officials — Managing Director of the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) Aruna Sundararajan (1982 batch) and Managing Director of the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) Ashok Kumar Singh (1999 batch) — for Central deputation are under the consideration of the government, official sources told The Hindu .
The applications of Raju Narayanaswamy (1991 batch), W.R. Reddy (1986), K.S. Srinivas (1997), and K. Elangovan (1992) have been forwarded to the Union Department of Personnel and Training. Mr. Narayanaswamy will take over as Chief Vigilance Officer, Central Public Undertakings, while Mr. Reddy is seeking deputation as Deputy Director General, National Institute of Rural Development.
Dr. Elangovan, who is the Health Secretary, is going on deputation as Executive Director, South, Food Corporation of India, Chennai. Mr. Srinivas will take over as Director, Central Staffing Scheme. Ms. Sundararajan is seeking Central deputation at the Additional Secretary level and Mr. Singh at the Director level, the sources said.
Already, 45 IAS officers, 28 Indian Police Service (IPS), and 15 Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers of the Kerala cadre are on Central deputation. The State needs 165 IAS officers, 125 IPS officers, and 88 IFS officers. At present, there are 59 vacant posts of IAS officers and that of 20 IFS officers, the sources said.
Many IAS officials are entrusted with the additional responsibility of two or more departments. The Additional Chief Secretary, Home, is holding charge of Environment, while the General Administration Secretary is holding charge of Parliamentary Affairs, Agriculture, Devaswom, and Fisheries.
The Director of Tourism is holding charge of Director of Ports and Managing Director of the Kerala Monorail Corporation which comes under three Ministers. The Additional Director Tourism is also holding the post of the crucial State Food Safety Commissioner, sources said.
The deputations are against the decision not to recommend IAS officers for Central deputation this year in view of the acute shortage of top bureaucrats here, the sources said.
