In a significant administrative reshuffle, the Tamil Nadu government has announced the promotion of twenty-five Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers across various seniority levels. The promotions, sanctioned on Wednesday, will see seven senior officers from the 1995 batch elevated to the prestigious chief secretary cadre.
Senior Leadership Gets a Boost
The most notable elevations are for the seven officers from the 1995 batch, who have been promoted to the chief secretary grade. This cadre represents the highest echelon of the state's bureaucracy. The officers and their current key postings include T Udhayachandran (Finance), Sandhya Venugopal (Tidco), Dr P Senthilkumar (Health and Family Welfare), R Jaya (Economics and Statistics), and M A Siddique (Chennai Metro Rail Limited). Their vast experience is expected to bring renewed vigour to top-tier governance.
Mid-Career Officers Elevated to Principal Secretary Grade
Alongside the senior promotions, the state has also recognized the service of six officers from the 2002 IAS batch by promoting them to the principal secretary grade. This group includes Archana Patnaik (Chief Electoral Officer), Sigy Thomas Vaidhyan (Disaster Management), and C Samayamoorthy (Secretary-II to the Chief Minister). Also promoted are Reeta Harish Thakkar (Public and Rehabilitation) and Jayashree Muralidharan (Social Welfare and Women Empowerment).
Supertime Scale for 2010 Batch Officers
In a move that strengthens the middle management, the government has promoted twelve IAS officers from the 2010 cadre to the supertime scale. This list features officers like R Lalitha, Praveen P Nair, Shankar Lal Kumawat, Subodh Kumar, Ajay Yadav, and Rashmi Siddharth Zagade. Others in this promotion order are R Kannan, S Natarajan, A Sivagnanam, L Nirmalraj, S A Raman, and A Annadurai.
The state administration issued three separate government orders to formalize these promotions. All the promotions are scheduled to come into effect from January 1, 2026. This forward-dated implementation allows for a smooth transition in current responsibilities and planning.
This large-scale promotion drive is seen as a step to infuse fresh leadership and reward meritorious service within the Tamil Nadu bureaucracy. It ensures a structured succession plan for critical administrative roles across finance, infrastructure, health, and social welfare departments in the coming years.
