Kerala IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman transferred out of Alappuzha amid protests

Thiruvananthapuram: Barely a week after he took charge, Kerala’s LDF government on Monday transferred Alappuzha District Collector Sriram Venkitaraman, who is an accused in a road accident case that resulted in the death of journalist K M Basheer, to the post of General Manager, Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited.V R Krishna Teja IAS is the new collector of the coastal district.

Venkitaraman was appointed as the collector of Alappuzha on July 24. He took charge of the post on July 26.The state government took the decision after the opposition UDF, journalists unions and various Muslim outfits declared widespread protests against the appointment of Venkitaraman in the post with magisterial powers.In its order, the government said the service of Venkitaraman, district collector, Alappuzha, is placed at the disposal of Food and Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs Department for being appointed as General Manager, Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Limited.

The post has also been declared equivalent in status and responsibility to the cadre post of Joint Secretary to Government.Last week, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had justified the decision, saying the appointment was part of his service as an IAS officer.During various stages of his service, he has to be assigned different responsibilities and this was one of them, Vijayan had told reporters.

He had also said there was no lapse on the part of the government in taking forward the case against the IAS officer.