Thiruvananthapuram: Senior IAS officer Nalini Netto will be the new Chief Secretary in place of S M Vijayanad, who is retiring by the end of this month.
The decision to appoint Netto, presently Additional Chief Secretary (Home) and Secretary to the Chief Minister, was taken at the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here Wednesday, an official release said.
The Cabinet also appointed Additional Chief Secretary (PWD) Subrata Biswas as the new Additional Chief Secretary (Home).
V S Senthil, Planning Department Additional Chief Secretary, would hold the additional charge as Secretary to the Chief Minister.
An IAS officer of 1981 batch, Netto had held various positions such as the State Tourism Director, Secretary in Tax, Irrigation and Transport departments, Cooperation Registrar and also District Collector of the state capital.
She was the first women Chief Electoral Officer of the state.
The Cabinet also decided to create 53 new posts in Kerala Judicial Academy.
In view of increased terror threat, it decided to create 210 commando posts in India Reserve Battalion Commando wing of the state, the release said.