Four IAS officers from Tamil Nadu will be Secretaries to the Chief Minister effective immediately. Chief Minister MK Stalin signed the order effecting the transfer of the bureaucrats. IAS officers T Udhayachandran, P Umanath, MS Shanmugam and Anu George will be Chief Minister’s secretaries.

According to an order passed by the government of Tamil Nadu, T Udhayachandran, who is currently the Principal Secretary/Commissioner of Archaeology will be posted as the Principal Secretary to the Chief minister with immediate effect. The state government also created three temporary posts in the grade of Secretary to the government and appointed Dr P Umanath, MS Shanmugam and Anu George to these posts. Dr P Umanath is currently the Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) while MS Shanmugam is, at present, the Commissioner of Museums. Anu George is the Industries Commissioner and the Director of Industries and Commerce in the government of Tamil Nadu.

MK Stalin was sworn in as Tamil Nadu’s Chief Minister on Friday morning by the Governor of the state in a small ceremony in Raj Bhavan, Chennai. As soon as he took office, he signed five orders including providing Rs 4,000 financial assistance as COVID-19 relief and announcing that treatment for COVID-19 in private hospitals will also be covered by the Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance scheme. He also announced that the price of one litre of Aavin milk will be reduced by Rs 3 and that women can travel on state transport corporation buses (ordinary fare) for free. A few of these moves were promises made in the election manifesto released by the DMK during the run up to the Assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

The DMK alliance won 159 out of the 234 seats in the Assembly elections in the state, thus paving way for the party to form the government after ten years.