Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer VP Joy took charge as the new Kerala state Chief Secretary on Sunday, February 28. He is replacing Vishwas Mehta, who is retiring on Sunday. The charge was handed over at the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram.
"I will focus on working for the progress of the state, under the guidance of the cabinet and in line with the state government's policies," said VP Joy, who was the Additional Chief Secretary before the new appointment.
Watch: VP Joy takes charge
A 1987 IAS-batch officer, Joy had come back to the state cadre recently after central deputation. Hailing from Ernakulam, VP Joy, also known as Joy Vazhayil, had worked with the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) before joining the IAS service. At the VSSC, he worked as an engineer/scientist on the control of launch vehicles.
VP Joy is also a writer and has published several poetry collections and a novel. His poetry collection Nimisha Jalakam won him the SK Pottekatt literary award. Joy is also a researcher, having written papers on energy policy and philosophy of education and metaphysics. He got his doctoral degree from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Delhi.
He will hold the post of State Chief Secretary till his retirement on June 30, 2023.
Outgoing Chief Secretary Vishwas Mehta had taken charge last June after his predecessor Tom Jose retired from service on May 31. He took office at a time when COVID-19 cases were fast rising to a peak in Kerala and the priority had been to contain it. He is an officer of the 1986 batch and had earlier served as the Additional Secretary, Home department. Mehta was also the Additional Chief Secretary of Health, Revenue, Education and Water Resources.
Earlier this month, a virtual meeting of the cabinet had also decided to recommend the appointment of General Education Department Secretary A Shahjahan as the State Election Commissioner.