Raids on Rao continue; Girija named new TN CS ■ Vaidyanathan is known for her no-nonsense approach

Seasoned bureaucrat Dr Girija Vaidyanathan, known for her no-nonsense approach, integrity, high competence and revolutionising the public health system in Tamil Nadu, was on Thursday named as the chief secretary replacing P. Rama Mohana Rao.

Mr Rao was removed unceremoniously from the top job after his continuance became untenable following the I-T raids on residences and offices belonging to him, his son and relatives on Wednesday. Immediately after being sacked, Mr Rao was kept on the wait list.

The appointment of Chennai-born Girija Vaidyanathan, a 1981-batch IAS officer serving as the commissioner of land administration in the rank of additional chief secretary, came even as raids on the premises belonging to Mr Rao and his relatives continued for the second day.

Ms Girija Vaidyanathan is the fourth woman chief secretary of Tamil Nadu after Lakshmi Pranesh, S. Malathi and Sheela Balakrishnan.

Ms Girija, daughter of former governor of Reserve Bank of India S. Venkitaramanan, had served as the health secretary from 2011-2012 during the tenure of late Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa and was also the mission director of state Rural Health Mission. She was overlooked twice when K. Gnanadesikan and his successor P. Rama Mohana Rao were appointed as chief secretaries in 2014 and 2016.

A straight forward officer, Ms Vaidyanathan faces an arduous task of steering the bureaucracy, whose reputation has hit its lowest ebb as two of her predecessors are in the dock.