Manivannan to head animal husbandry, fisheries department

Amidst public backlash over his transfer, IAS officer P Manivannan on Tuesday was appointed as the animal husbandry and fisheries secretary.

On Monday, the state government had removed Manivannan as the principal secretary to the labour and information and public relations departments, without giving him a new posting. This led to public furore, with netizens demanding that his reinstatement.

By Wednesday morning, #BringBackManivannan and #BringBackCaptain were trending on Twitter. The captain is a reference to Manivannan’s association with the Territorial Army.

The All India Central Council of Trade Unions (AICCTU) tweeted: “It is shocking and condemnable that the government has transferred Manivannan because of pressure from industries lobby. How can industries ask government to transfer labour secretary because he tried to implement Central government notification?”

A petition was also started on change.org in the name of “Corona Warriors”. As part of the petition, the petitioners stated, “We want our Captain back at any cost, at least until Covid-19 situation is over. He has been very effective in handling the situation and he cannot be transferred, just like that, without any prior notice. This is absolutely unacceptable!...” By Tuesday evening, the petition had seen close to 3,000 signatories.

By posting Manivannan to Animal Husbandry Department, the government has relieved A B Ibrahim from his concurrent charge of the same.

Apparently, Manivannan had differences with Labour Minister Shivaram Hebbar on the distribution of food kits to construction workers. Even legislators had complained that the distribution of the kits was “ineffective,” according to sources.