Thiruvananthapuram, September 16 – Chief Minister V D Satheesan said the frequent movement of senior IAS officers in Kerala is not routine administrative reshuffling but signals a deeper problem: a shortage of officers and an increasingly heavy workload for those who remain.
Responding to reporters on Wednesday about the recent transfer of the Director General of Education, Satheesan explained that the government is struggling to manage its administrative machinery as several IAS officers are sent to Delhi for compulsory training linked to their promotions. “Many of them do not return after completion of that training period and promotion. Therefore, we are under severe pressure as many IAS officers are overloaded with work. They are handling more than one department,” the Chief Minister said.
The remarks came days after General Education Minister N Samsudheen expressed concern over the frequent changes at the top of the Education Department. On Monday, the minister said such repeated transfers could affect the smooth functioning of the department.
Satheesan said the transfers are part of a wider balancing exercise within the government. “When two or three IAS officers leave, the government cannot simply leave their departments unattended. The workload has to be redistributed among the officers who are still available. When two or three officials leave, the entire deployment of other IAS officers in the government has to be rearranged to properly distribute the workload,” he said.
