• durgesh dubey
• 02 Sep, 2024

Chief Secretary

In an unprecedented event for Kerala, IAS officer Sarada Muraleedharan has succeeded her husband, V Venu, as the Chief Secretary of the state, marking the first time in Kerala's history that a husband and wife have held the top bureaucratic position in succession. Muraleedharan, a 1990-batch IAS officer, took over the role following Venu's retirement on August 31, making this transition a notable moment in the state’s administrative history.

The Kerala government had confirmed Muraleedharan's appointment on August 21. Before her promotion, she served as the Additional Chief Secretary in the Planning and Economic Affairs department. Both Muraleedharan and Venu belong to the 1990 IAS batch, with Venu being slightly senior to his wife by a few months.

The historic nature of this succession was highlighted by Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor, who shared a clip of the official handover ceremony on social media platform X. Tharoor remarked, "For the first time in India (at least as far as anyone can remember!), Kerala’s outgoing Chief Secretary, Dr. V Venu, handed over the CS’s post to his wife, Sarada Muraleedharan, at a formal handover ceremony at the secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram." He humorously added that the government was able to economize on the bouquet for the ceremony.

During Venu's farewell event, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan noted that while Kerala has seen husband-wife duos in significant bureaucratic roles before, this is the first instance where a Chief Secretary was succeeded by their spouse. Muraleedharan, reflecting on this unique transition, described it as an "odd experience," particularly because she will continue in service for another eight months after her husband's retirement. "We worked together as civil servants for 34 years, but I never gave much thought to the fact that we will not leave the service together," she shared.