Tamil Nadu Transfers Health Secretary Beela Rajesh As Coronavirus Cases Surge

Chennai: With rising numbers of coronavirus cases in the state, the Tamil Nadu State government on Friday transferred Health Secretary Beela Rajesh and posted her as the Secretary, Department of Commercial Taxes and Registration, according to media reports. She has been replaced by senior IAS official J Radhakrishnan, who was the Health Secretary earlier till February last year.

Tamil Nadu has been seeing a consistent spike in the number of coronavirus cases and is only second in the country in the list of states to be affected by the COVID-19 pandemic after Maharashtra. Tamil Nadu has so far reported 38,716 confirmed coronavirus cases and 349 deaths.

The death count in the state has become a subject of controversy after it was reported that 236 fatalities in the state were not recorded. The mismatch in the overall tally came to light when a team of Public Health officials reportedly visited the Chennai Municipal Corporation and went through the records. The instance of 236 deaths not being recorded in the total death count of the state was attributed to a procedural lapse. The Tamil Nadu government formed a panel to probe the mistake.

The state government said that it had nothing to hide and that it had always been transparent with regard to the fight against coronavirus. The opposition DMK accused the ruling AIADMK of fudging figures and facts with regard to the coronavirus crisis in the state. However, Chief Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswamy remarked that the state government believed in utmost transparency and had nothing to hide in the matter.