Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Dr Beela Rajesh transferred amid COVID-19 pandemic

The outgoing Health Secretary faced complaints of “poor coordination” with other departments that were also involved in the COVIDd-19 mitigation efforts, sources said

Ending days of speculation, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Dr Beela Rajesh was on Friday shunted out of the key post and replaced with seasoned bureaucrat J Radhakrishnan.

The transfer of a key official in the middle of a pandemic raised many eyebrows, though it was widely expected for some time now.

Radhakrishnan, who was Health Secretary for over six years and was transferred in February 2019, makes a comeback to the Health Department after a gap of 16 months. He faces huge challenges as the state continues to report an exponential increase in the number of COVID-19 positive cases.

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Ramping up testing numbers, strict enforcement of rules, and coordination among several departments are some of the key things that need the senior IAS officer’s attention. He is currently over-seeing the COVID-19 efforts in Chennai as Special Nodal Officer.

Sources in the government told DH that Dr Beela Rajesh’s transfer was expected for some time as the top brass of the government, including Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Chief Secretary K Shanmugam, was not happy with the Health Department’s handling of the crisis, especially in the state capital of Chennai.

They added that the outgoing Health Secretary faced complaints of “poor coordination” with other departments that were also involved in the COVIDd-19 mitigation efforts and those leading the fight in districts.

During the initial months, Dr. Beela Rajesh was the face of the state’s fight against Coronavirus and was even praised for her deft handling of the crisis and the media when Health Minister C Vijayabaskar was side lined by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

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However, the bureaucrat came under attack along with the Minister as cases began to increase. It is a different story altogether that the Minister made a comeback and he is now leading the government’s efforts.

At last count on Friday, the number of positive cases stood at 40,698 including 22,047 discharges and 367 deaths. Chennai is the biggest hotspot in the state with 28,924 cases.

Read: Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on June 12

Dr. Beela Rajesh’s transfer also came days after the Tamil Nadu government was accused of “under-reporting” Covid-19 deaths, especially in Chennai. The issue attained importance after reports emerged of a mismatch between the numbers announced by the Health Department and those recorded in the death registry of the Greater Chennai Corporation.

This is the second transfer in the Health Department in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. S Nagarajan, an upright officer, was transferred out of Tamil Nadu Health Systems on June 1. Ironically, the outgoing Health Secretary was blamed for the transfer.

Radhakrishnan, who was hand-picked by the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa as Health Secretary in September 2012, is considered a disaster mitigation expert for his splendid work during the 2004 Tsunami as the Nagapattinam district collector.