On its first day in office on Friday, the DMK government named senior IAS officer V. Irai Anbu as its Chief Secretary, replacing incumbent Rajeev Ranjan. It also named four IAS officers — T. Udhayachandran, P. Umanath, M.S. Shanmugam and Anu George as Secretaries I, II, III and IV respectively to Chief Minister M.K. Stalin.
The State government also appointed IAS officer Shilpa Prabhakar Satish to head the grievance redressal system that will look into petitions received during the election tour undertaken by Mr. Stalin.
Mr. Anbu, a 1988-batch officer, was until recently, the Director of the Anna Institute of Management, a State-run institution to encourage youngsters to take up a career in civil services. Known in IAS circles for being honest, simple and a lover of books, Mr. Anbu has authored several books most of them to motivate and encourage youngsters. He holds two doctorates — one in management concepts found in Thirukkural and one on the comparison between Thiruvalluvar and Shakespeare.
While in Madurai, he contributed a weekly series, ‘Random thoughts’ in The Hindu Metro Plus, which was also brought out as a special publication with three reprints.
Soon after he received the S.P. Adithanar Literary Award from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Tamil daily Dina Thanthi in November 2017, Mr. Anbu donated the cash prize of ₹2 lakh to the Adi Dravidar Hostel for Men in Mylapore. He has been Collector in many districts and the Commissioner of Economics and Statistics, and is known for efforts in boosting tourism in the State.
Mr. Udhayachandran, who was until recently the Commissioner of Archaeology, is known for his genuine interest in Tamil literature, history and archaeology. It was during his tenure as Secretary of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission that it incorporated technology into conducting exams for candidates.
As Madurai Collector, the 1995-batch officer was credited for his efforts to successfully conduct local body polls after a decade in Pappapatti, Keeripatti and Nattarmangalam village panchayats, where caste Hindus had refused to accept Dalits being elected as panchayat presidents.
Helping fight COVID-19
Mr. Umanath, who was the Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC), is credited for efficiently planning ahead for building the oxygen capacity in hospitals and getting testing kits and drugs in time to help combat COVID-19 better. He was also the Coimbatore Collector when the erstwhile DMK government held the World Classical Tamil Conference in 2010.
Mr. Shanmugam, known as an upright and straightforward officer, was posted as the Director of Museums. During his stint as the Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu FibreNet Corporation Limited, he refused to allow political interference in his functioning.
As Managing Director of the Tamil Nadu Slum Clearance Board, he ensured that law and order problems in the Perumbakkam tenements were resolved and infrastructure developed in housing facilities for the underprivileged.
An alumna of the Jawaharlal Nehru University, Ms. George was the Collector of Ariyalur district and the Joint Secretary (Protocol) in the Public Department during the AIADMK regime under then Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. Ms. George has also served as the Commissioner and Director of Industries and Commerce.
Ms. Satish was earlier Tirunelveli Collector and was in the news when she chose a government-run anganwadi for her child. She has worked as Deputy Commissioner (Education), Greater Chennai Corporation.
