Senior IAS officer goes on leave as govt ignores him

Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government here on Wednesday failed to take note of the veiled 'threats' of senior bureaucrat V. Venu by ignoring his demand that his junior should not be shifted and at the end, Venu decided to go on leave.

Principal Secretary (Revenue) V. Venu's letter surfaced in the media last week where he had expressed displeasure to the Chief Minister and Revenue Minister over removal of young IAS officer V.R. Premkumar from the post of Survey and Land Records Director.

On Wednesday, when the news broke out that Premkumar had been transferred, Venu wrote to Chief Secretary Tom Jose stating he was going on leave.

The decision that there was no reason to budge was taken on Tuesday at an emergency cabinet meeting, called to discuss the coronavirus issue.

According to sources, a section in the cabinet was unhappy over the manner the IAS officers' association took up the issue and it was decided that there was no reason to reverse the decision.

In his first letter, Venu had said, "As a team leader, I feel it as my responsibility to take this issue up as this affects the morale of my officers. I would urge the Chief Secretary to submit this matter for reconsideration of the Chief Minister and the Council of Ministers, so that the decision is revoked and he is posted back."

Venu's wife is also a senior IAS official in the state.