The Government of Kerala on 2 November 2026 transferred 35 senior IAS officers in a major reshuffle, moving K R Jyothilal to Home and Vigilance as Additional Chief Secretary and Minhaj Alam to Finance. The order, signed by Chief Secretary Bishwanath Sinha, also changes the leadership of the Health, Power, Local Self-Government and Electronics and IT departments.
The Kerala IAS reshuffle is the second large round of postings in the state in two months, after the government transferred 36 IAS officers in September. Several of the officers moved this time had reportedly differed with the ministers they worked under.
Kerala IAS reshuffle: who gets which department
K R Jyothilal and Minhaj Alam have swapped portfolios. Jyothilal, until now Additional Chief Secretary (Finance), becomes Additional Chief Secretary (Home and Vigilance) with additional charge of water resources, housing and coir. Alam, who was made Additional Chief Secretary for Agriculture in June, now heads Finance and also holds taxes, public procurement advisory, the Rebuild Kerala Initiative and the chairmanship of Kerala Financial Corporation.
- A P M Mohammed Hanish is the new Additional Chief Secretary (Health and Family Welfare), replacing Dr Sharmila Mary Joseph, who moves to Transport as Principal Secretary.
- Puneet Kumar becomes Additional Chief Secretary (Power) and will continue as Resident Commissioner at Kerala House, New Delhi, besides serving as officer on special duty in the Chief Secretary’s office.
- N Prasanth replaces M G Rajamanickam as Chairman and Managing Director of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). Rajamanickam becomes Secretary of the Local Self-Government Department (LSGD).
- Anupama T V, the LSGD Secretary, becomes Secretary of Finance (Expenditure) with additional charge of the Environment department.
- Dr M Beena, back from central deputation, is Principal Secretary (Industries).
Puneet Kumar has represented the state in the capital since his appointment as Resident Commissioner in New Delhi in 2025.
New leadership for Kerala’s Electronics and IT department
For the state’s digital governance programme, the key posting is S Suhas, who becomes Special Secretary of the Electronics and Information Technology Department. He keeps his post as Managing Director of Cochin International Airport Limited (CIAL) and takes full additional charge as Special Secretary (Industries).
Seeram Sambasiva Rao, who was named Special Secretary of Electronics and IT in April 2025, moves to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Development Department as Special Secretary and continues as Excise Commissioner.
Other key postings
- Jafar Malik, back from central deputation, is Commissioner of State GST with additional charge as Special Secretary (Taxes).
- P B Nooh becomes Special Secretary (Labour), and Gokul G R becomes Special Secretary (Planning and Economic Affairs).
- Shanavas S is Special Secretary in LSGD with additional charge as CEO of Cochin Smart Mission Limited.
- Veena N Madhavan becomes Secretary (Agriculture) and Agricultural Production Commissioner.
- Subhash T V is Managing Director of Kerala Medical Services Corporation Limited (KMSCL) and Commissioner of Food Safety.
- Afsana Perween is Managing Director of Milma, and Anu Kumari is Director of Tourism.
- Arun K Vijayan, who was named Industries Director in May, becomes Director of General Education, with Snehil Kumar Singh taking over as Director of Industries and Commerce.
Why the reshuffle matters
The changes come as Kerala faces a looming power shortage and negotiates new power purchase agreements, which puts the new KSEB and Power department leadership under early pressure. The postings in Finance, Health and LSGD also place new officers in charge of the departments that run most of the state’s citizen services. Official orders and department contacts are on the Government of Kerala portal.
Featured image: Government Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram. Photo: Shagil Kannur / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)