Kerala chief secretary succeeded by spouse — both cadres of 1990-batch
On the last working day, Dr V Venu was mobbed by reporters for the precise reason that he was handing over the reins to his spouse and fellow 1990 batch IAS officer Sarada Muraleedharan
The retirement of a state’s chief secretary doesn’t usually elicit attention from the media. However, on August 31, the last working day of Dr V Venu in Kerala saw him being mobbed by reporters for the precise reason that he was handing over the reins to his spouse and fellow 1990 batch IAS officer Sarada Muraleedharan.
Succeeding a spouse as the chief secretary of a state has happened before. But the couple being officers of the same batch is a rarity. “It’s the first such instance in Kerala and perhaps the second in India,” Dr Venu told HT over the phone.
Dr Venu has an MBBS degree from the Kozhikode Medical College and served as the sub-collector of Thrissur district in his first posting. Since then, he has served in a variety of roles both in the Kerala government and the Centre. His notable tenures were as director of Kerala tourism and the secretary of the same, joint secretary in the Union ministry of culture, secretary of the cultural affairs department in Kerala, director general of the National Museum in Delhi and as additional chief secretary in Kerala in charge of home and vigilance departments.
The IAS officer, who secured the 26th rank in the civil services exam, counted being at the helm of the state’s tourism department and handling the “Rebuild Kerala” initiative in the backdrop of the 2018 floods as some of his proud career stints.
Dr Venu stands out from the rest of the bureaucrats in the state by wearing Kerala-style mundu (dhoti) to work. He also marks his official signature in Malayalam instead of the usual English.
The affable bureaucrat, who takes keen interest in theatre and has acted in key roles in dozens of plays, is a relaxed man post-retirement and is looking forward to simpler pleasures of life.
“I will certainly get back to theatre. I have to reach out to old friends and colleagues. I have a few interest areas and I want to keep myself active professionally. I probably won’t be taking up a full-time job. I want to explore advisory and mentoring roles and perhaps write a bit,” he said.
As a couple who had to handle arduous jobs in the government and raise two children at the same time, Dr Venu admitted that it was a “tough ask to have work-life balance”.
“Particularly in Kerala, officers have a culture of working hard. Work-life balance is often ignored. It was quite stressful especially for Sarada who handled extremely important areas like poverty eradication, waste management, etc. We had to work over 10 hours a day. When we reached home, we tried to switch off and spend whatever little quality time for ourselves,” he said, admitting that they were only able to attend few events of their children at school or college.
At the same time, Dr Venu said that he and his wife constantly shared tips and supported each other throughout their careers even though their working styles were different.
“Sarada is more of an analytical person and takes time (to study matters), whereas I am a more impulsive person. My attention span is also lower than hers. I have a more broad-based professional experience while she has deeper experience working in key sectors for long periods, such as local governance at the state and central levels, poverty alleviation and women’s empowerment,” Dr Venu revealed.
He underlined that there will be “continuity” in governance as Sarada takes over as the state’s chief secretary ”from where he left off”.
Prior to her appointment as the chief secretary, Sarada Muraleedharan was serving as the additional chief secretary (planning and economic affairs). The 1990 batch officer served in roles such as the district collector of Thiruvananthapuram, director of the scheduled caste department and commissioner of rural development. But her pivotal stint was as the head of the Kudumbashree Mission from 2006 to 2012 during which she brought substantial reforms to Asia’s biggest women empowerment programme.
Some of the other significant stints include being handpicked by then Union textiles minister Smriti Irani as the director general of National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and serving as the CEO of the National Rural Livelihoods Mission (NRLM).
Muraleedharan, after assuming the post of top bureaucrat in the state, told reporters, “I am deeply grateful. I am also happy that now I have an advisor at home (laughs). Usually, its not difficult for me to do welcome speeches. But at a function bidding Venu farewell, it was tough for me to do the speech. I hope to continue the work that Venu has left off.”