A day after his home was raided by Income Tax officials, (former) Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary P Rama Mohana Rao was sacked. Dr Girija Vaidyanathan is the new Chief Secretary.
Dr Girija Vaidyanathan is a civil servant, belonging to the Tamil Nadu cadre, who joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1981. She has wide experience in the design and financing of schemes in the development sector, having spent nearly fifteen years in the Health, Nutrition and Environment sector in various leadership positions.
During her tenure as Mission Director of the State Health Society, Tamil Nadu received the award for best performance among the Non EAG states. She has been directly involved in the implementation of various programmes in the health sector, with specific focus on improvement of maternal and child health and strengthening of the public health system in the state. Dr Vaidyanathan, who has a doctorate in health economics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai is keenly interested in research which impacts policy formulation.