COVER STORY | movers and shakers
The ones who ruleBrief sketches of the men and women who run India’s institutions of governance
 | TKA Nair – Principal Secretary to PMA 1963-batch Punjab cadre officer, Nair retired from the IAS 12 years ago. He was also Secretary to former Prime Minister IK Gujral and Atal Behari Vajpayee and served in the Planning Commission. | ||
 | R Gopalakrishnan – Addl. Secretary, Prime Minister’s Office (Personnel & General Admn) A 1979-batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, he has been for long the PMO’s pointman for the social sector. He has been overseeing the Bharat Nirman programme and is Member-Secretary of the National Innovation Council set up by the PM recently. He functioned as Joint Secretary in the PMO since his appointment in June 2004. He was Congress leader Digvijay Singh’s information adviser when the latter was Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister. He monitors social sector Ministries and the government’s flagship schemes. | ||
 | KM Chandrasekhar – Cabinet SecretaryA 1970-batch Kerala cadre officer, he earlier served as Revenue Secretary. A former ambassador and Permanent Representative of India in the World Trade Organization, he was the first IAS officer to be Director of Fisheries in Kerala. The PM has appointed Chandrasekhar head of a committee to monitor the Commonwealth Games with powers to override the Games’ Organizing Committee. | ||
 | Christy L Fernandez – Secretary to the PresidentDr Fernandez (IAS, 1973 batch, Gujarat cadre) became Secretary to the President when Pratibha Patil took office in July 2007. Belonging to the Latin Catholic diocese of Quilon in Kerala, he was also Secretary to the Department of Tourism at the Centre. He has served as Joint Secretary in the Agriculture and Petroleum Ministries, Additional Secretary in the Commerce Ministry and Principal Secretary of the Gujarat Town Development Council. | ||
 | Nirupama Menon Rao – Foreign Secretary Nirupama Menon Rao, IFS, is the second woman to hold the post of Foreign Secretary. In 1973, she topped the civil services examination before joining the IFS. She was Minister of Press Affairs in Washington, Deputy Chief of Mission in Moscow, and in the Ministry of External Affairs as Joint Secretary, East Asia, and External Publicity, making her the first woman spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry. She was also Chief of Personnel, and ambassador to Peru and China, and High Commissioner to Sri Lanka. | ||
 | Gopal Krishna Pillai – Home SecretaryThe 1972-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre served as Special Secretary for Industries, as Secretary, Health, and as Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister of Kerala. He was also Joint Secretary in charge of the Northeast over 1996-2001. | ||
 | S Sundareshan – Secretary, Petroleum & Natural GasA 1976-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, he was earlier Additional Secretary and Special Secretary in the Ministry. An MBA from University of Leeds, UK, he has held positions including Joint Secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs (Ministry of Finance), Minister (Economic and Commercial), Embassy of India, Tokyo, and Joint Chief Controller of Imports and Exports (Ministry of Commerce). | ||
 | M Madhavan Nambiar – Secretary, Ministry of Civil AviationA 1974-batch IAS officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre, he was earlier Special Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. | ||
 | Neela Gangadharan – Secretary, Dept of Justice, Ministry of Law and JusticeA 1975-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, she has been Land Revenue Commissioner, Agriculture Production Commissioner, Excise Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary in charge of Cooperation and Parliamentary Affairs. On Central deputation, she was Joint Secretary in the Agriculture and Cooperation Ministries. She was Minister of Agriculture in the Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome. | ||
 | Rudra Gangadharan – Secretary, department of Animal Husbandry and DairyingA 1975-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, he was formerly Director of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie. | ||
 | Raghu Menon – Secretary, Information and BroadcastingA 1974-batch IAS officer of the Nagaland cadre, he earlier served in the Civil Aviation Ministry and Air India. He was also Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary in the I&B Ministry. | ||
 | K Mohandas – Secretary, ShippingA 1974-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, he was earlier Secretary in the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. He has vast experience in the sectors of Finance, Industry and Commerce, Education, Urban Development and General Administration. He has been Special Secretary/Additional Secretary in the Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance and was Principal Secretary in Kerala. | ||
 | Sudha Pillai – Secretary, Planning CommissionA 1972-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, she was earlier Union Labour Secretary. She stood second in the IAS examination and was originally allotted to the Punjab cadre. She has served as DC of Thiruvananthapuram, Chairman and Managing Director of the Kerala Finance Corporation, and Principal Secretary, Finance. She served in the Ministries of Industry and Corporate Affairs, Panchayati Raj, and Mines. She is married to GK Pillai. | ||
 | Shiv Shankar Menon – National Security AdviserA 1972-batch Indian Foreign Service officer who has served in China, Israel, Austria, Japan and Sri Lanka, and was an adviser in the Department of Atomic Energy, he retired in July 2009. As Foreign Secretary, he backed India’s successful bid to join the civil nuclear commerce mainstream. | ||
 | Vinod Rai – Comptroller & Auditor General of IndiaA 1972-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, he was earlier Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, and responsible for managing the Financial Services sector, including banks and insurance companies. He has also been Principal Secretary, Finance, in the Kerala government apart from holding senior positions in the Union Ministries of Commerce and Defence. | ||
 | KG Balakrishnan – Chairperson, National Human Rights CommissionHe is the sixth Chairperson of the NHRC. He was appointed a judge of the Kerala High Court in 1985. He became Chief Justice of the Gujarat High Court in 1998 and was transferred to the High Court of Judicature at Madras. He assumed charge there as Chief Justice in 1999. He was elevated as Supreme Court Judge in 2000. In 2007, he was appointed Chief Justice of India and retired on May 12, 2010. | ||
 | PJ Thomas – Central Vigilance CommissionerA 1973-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre, he is India’s 14th CVC. He is a former Chief Secretary of Kerala and Parliamentary Affairs Secretary. As Telecom Secretary, he was instrumental in holding the 3G auctions that brought IN Rs 67,000 crore. | ||
 | Dr S Ayyappan – Secretary, Agriculture ResearchHe obtained BFSc and MFSc degrees from the College of Fisheries, Mangalore, and a PhD from Bangalore University. He headed CIFA and CIFE before becoming Deputy Director General of Fisheries in ICAR in 2002. | ||
