The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday, June 29, appointed senior IAS officers Shiv Das Meena and Shankar Jiwal as the state’s new Chief Secretary and the Director General of Police (Head of Police Force) respectively. The officers are succeeding V Irai Anbu and DGP C Sylendra Babu, who are retiring from service on Friday.

Shiv Das, a 1989 batch officer from Rajasthan, is currently the additional chief secretary of the Municipal Administration and Water Supply (MAWS) department. He was serving as Chairman of the Central Pollution Control Board before he returned from central deputation, based on recommendations by the Tamil Nadu government when the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) assumed office in 2021.   

Shiv Das is a native of Tonk in Rajasthan and a civil engineering graduate from Rajasthan University. He began his career in Kancheepuram three decades ago as an assistant collector in 1990. He became Nagapattinam District Collector during the M Karunanidhi regime in 2001. He has previously worked closely with Chief Minister MK Stalin when the latter was Minister for the Local Administration during the DMK rule. He also served as one of the four secretaries to former CM J Jayalalithaa in 2016.  

Shankar Jiwal, incumbent Chennai Commissioner of Police, is a 1990 batch officer who worked in various police units in the last three decades, including as the South Zonal Director of Narcotics Control Bureau and the Inspector-General of Police of Internal Security.  He was appointed as the Chennai Police Commissioner soon after DMK returned to power in May 2021. He will hold office for a period of two years as DGP/HoPF as per the guidelines of the Supreme Court. DGP (Training) Sandeep Rai Rathore will be the new Commissioner of Chennai Police.