V Ponnuraj appointed Chief Minister’s secretary

Mangaluru, Aug 01, 2021: IAS officer V Ponnuraj, who had served as the Deputy Commissioner of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi, has been posted as the Secretary to Chief Minister.

This is the first order by the new Chief Minister regarding his new officers’ team.

The Chief Minister selects the Secretary, Principal Secretary, and other officials related to Chief Minister’s office. Now Ponnuraj is the first officer to be selected by the Chief Minister for his new team.

With the appointment of V Ponnuraj as Chief Minister’s secretary, the expectations of the people and elected representatives in Coastal Karnataka has increased.

The 2000 batch officer Ponnuraj has a close connection with Coastal Karnataka and is a popular officer here.

He had served as the Deputy Commissioner of Udupi and later in Dakshina Kannada. In both the districts he had taken several major decisions which had made him known as a bold officer. The widening of several roads in Udupi and Mangaluru, shifting of Udupi DCs office to Manipal endpoint, land documentation, development of infrastructure were during his term.

He was famous for undertaking quality checks of the works and also controlling illegal sand mining and transport. All these popular and far-reaching measures had also left several people fuming against him.

Ponnuraj’s contact with the coastal district continues as he is now the Incharge Secretary of Dakshina Kannada and also heads the Smart City Project.

Though he had not served as DC in Uttara Kannada, he is connected to that district too. He is the Managing Director of Karnataka Power Corporation Limited. As many as five dams in Uttara Kannada are managed by KPCL and thus Ponnuraj is closely connected to the district too.

“Ponnuraj was keen on knowing the problem and finding a solution as DC in both the districts. He knows the problems that bother the people in the region and the files which are pending due to technical reasons in various offices. Now his appointment as Secretary to Cheif Minister will provide him proximity to the Chief Minister. He can help the CM in knowing these problems and suggesting solutions to them,” BJP Mangaluru Vibhag Prabhari Uday Kumar Shetty told The Canara Post.

“While elected representatives of the Coastal Karnatak region visit CM’s office to get a solution to their problem, Ponnuraj’s presence in the CM’s office will help in following it up,” he added.