Senior IAS officer Vishwas Mehta appointed as new Chief Secretary of Kerala

On May 27, 2020, The State Cabinet of Kerala appointed Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Vishwas Mehta as Chief Secretary (CS) of Kerala and will continue to hold the office till February 28, 2021. He will be the successor of Tom Jose, who retires on May 31, 2020.

Key Points:

i.About Mehta: Mr. Mehta, an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer, who took over as Deputy Secretary in the Revenue Department in 1991 and in 1992 he became Managing Director (MD) of the Kerala State Cooperative Rubber Marketing Federation. 

ii.He had also served as District Collector of Idukki, Wayanad and as MD of Milma (Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation).

iii.Mehta had also officiated as Health Secretary, Educational Principal Secretary, Revenue Principal Secretary, Revenue Additional Chief Secretary among others.

iv.New DGPs: The cabinet also elevated Additional Directors General of Police (ADGP) Sankar Reddy and R. Sreelekha to the post of Director Generals of Police (DGP).

v.Ms. Sreelekha: The government has posted Ms Sreelekha, the first women IPS officer in the state, as Director General, Fire and Rescue Services. She belongs to the 1987 IAS batch and is the first woman officer to be elevated as a DGP. Sreelekha is due for retirement in December 2020.

vi.Mr. Sankar Reddy has been posted as Road Safety Commissioner. ADGP M.R. Ajithkumar will be appointed as Transport Commissioner.

vii.Other appointments: The state cabinet has also issued its nod for major bureaucratic reshuffle. Senior bureaucrat TK Jose, currently serves as PWD (Public works Department) secretary, will be the new Home secretary.

viii.Revenue Secretary V Venu has been appointed as Secretary, State Planning Board. A Jayathilak has been made Revenue Secretary. Ishitha Roy has been made Agricultural Production Commissioner. 

ix.District Collectors: Thiruvananthapuram collector K Gopalakrishnan has been appointed as Malappuram Collector. Navjyoth Khosa will be the new District Collector of Thiruvananthapuram. Alappuzha District Collector M Anjana has been made Kottayam District Collector. 

About Kerala:
State tree– Coconut tree.
State fruit– Jackfruit.
State Bird– Great hornbill.
State animal– Indian elephant.