Quarrelling IAS officers shifted

Thiruvananthapuram: The State government Wednesday shifted two senior IAS officers in the Agriculture department after they openly traded charges against each other.

The decision to transfer agriculture principal secretary Raju Narayanaswamy and agriculture director Biju Prabhakar was taken at a cabinet meeting held here Wednesday.

Both officers were not given any new posts, an official release said here.

The officers had openly traded charges each other yesterday.

The issue had also figured in the state assembly earlier in the day.

The meeting chaired by chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan appointed finance expenditure secretary Tikaram Meena as the new agriculture principal secretary.

It was decided to post tourism additional director Balamurali as commercial tax joint secretary.

The cabinet also decided to pay Rs.five lakh as compensation to the family of a 50-year-old man who died after being attacked by stray dogs at nearby Pulluvilla on Monday.