THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The cabinet has cleared the appointment of Sarada G Muraleedharan as the next Chief Secretary of the state. She will succeed Venu V, her spouse, to the topmost bureaucratic post in the state, after his retirement on August 31.
The 1990 batch IAS officer is presently the Additional Chief Secretary of the Local Self Government department. She has held key posts in various departments both at the Centre and the state. She headed the Kudumbashree Mission from 2006-2012 and proved her administrative acumen in the post.
At the Centre, she served as Chief Operating Officer at the National Rural Livelihoods Mission of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India. She was Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and was responsible for conceptualising and promoting the Gram Panchayat Development Plans.
During her stint as Director General of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), she was instrumental in restructuring the curriculum and anchoring many strategic projects.
Sarada has served as the director of Scheduled Caste Development, Social Welfare and Collegiate Education departments. She was also director of Civil Supplies Corporation and the Modernising Government Programme. The bureaucrat has also served as Secretary to the state government in the departments of Social Welfare and Archives and Archaeology.