THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Revenue Secretary V Venu has gone on leave in protest against the government's decision to remove his junior and survey director VR Premkumar.
He handed over the leave application to Chief Secretary Tom Jose minutes after the Revenue Minister E Chandrasekharan made it clear that Premkumar would be replaced by V Girija. Premkumar has not been given any other charge. Venu is also the CEO of Rebuild Kerala Initiative, a pet project of Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan.
Premkumar was appointed as survey director last August and his abrupt removal was against the guidelines of the Civil Service Board. As per the guidelines, officers have a fixed tenure of two years. If an officer has to be removed before the end of the term, the board should be intimated and it will make a recommendation after consulting the officer marked for transfer and his superior. In Premkumar's case, the removal was abrupt and done without the knowledge of the Revenue Secretary.
In his letter to the chief secretary and the offices of the chief minister and revenue minister, Venu said the abrupt transfer of Premkumar would not only demotivate him but also send a negative signal to IAS officers in sensitive and responsible positions.
The IAS Association has come out against the frequent transfer of officers and demanded that the government follow the procedures of the Civil Service Board. Premkumar is a 2014 batch IAS officer. He had cancelled the controversial land title of Joice George, MP, when he was Devikulam sub-collector.