RN Ravi sworn in as Governor of Tamil Nadu

Ravindra Narayan Ravi was sworn in on Saturday, September 18, as the 26th governor of Tamil Nadu, succeeding Banwarilal Purohit who has been transferred to Punjab. RN Ravi, who was previously the governor of Nagaland, said he saw his new role more as an opportunity than a challenge. The former IPS officer, in addition to his duties as the Governor of Nagaland, had also served as interlocutor between the Union government and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-Isak-Muivah).

 

Chief Justice of the Madras High Court Justice Sanjib Banerjee administered the oath of office to Ravi at an official ceremony held at the Raj Bhavan in Chennai. Chief Minister MK Stalin, his Cabinet colleagues, Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami and others participated at the swearing-in. After the swearing-in, Stalin introduced State Assembly Speaker M Appavu and his Cabinet colleagues to Ravi.

 

Later, addressing the media, the newly-appointed Governor said, "I think more than a challenge, it is an opportunity and I think it will be helpful for me," in response to a query. Asked if his stint in the Intelligence Bureau (IB) will serve in discharging his duty as a Governor, Ravi replied, "the slate of our (his and the state government) relationship is absolutely new and clean. My effort will be to make it as beautiful as possible in the days to come." Dismissing as "premature" to comment on the four-month-old DMK government's performance in the state, Ravi said he would be able to know more about it as the days go by.

 

"I think it is too premature for me to say but I believe that they have be doing well in the way they have handled COVID-19 cases, which have come down." he replied. On whether he would carry out review meetings with officials as his predecessor had done, which the then opposition DMK among others had protested against, Ravi replied saying, "Look, I have been sworn in some minutes ago. Plans will unfold as the time comes. One thing I know is that this state has a popular government mandated by the people and governance is the responsibility of the government. Governor is to function within the parameters of the constitution. And I will try my best to keep that in mind."

 

Born at Patna in Bihar, Ravi, who did his Masters in Physics in 1974, joined the Indian Police Service in 1976 after a brief stint in journalism. He served in Kerala in various capacities for over a decade and then in different parts of the country in various capacities and was also deputed with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). While in the IB, he served largely in theatres of endemic violence including in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East. He also specialised in the dynamics of human migration in South Asia and worked extensively on the political sociology of border population. After retirement from government service in 2012, he regularly wrote columns in national dailies. He has served as chairman, Joint Intelligence Committee in the Prime Minister's office. He was appointed as Deputy National Security Advisor in October 2018 and served as the Governor of Nagaland from August 1, 2019 to September 15, 2021.