IAS Officer Beela Venkatesan: IAS Officer Beela Venkatesan was an officer of the 1997 batch. She joined the services as Sub-Collector of Chengalpattu. Dr. Beela Venkatesan became widely recognized in Tamil Nadu during the COVID-19 crisis of 2020. She was serving as the Health Secretary of Tamil Nadu, she frequently appeared in media briefings and became a public face of the government’s pandemic response.
Beela was suffering from a brain tumor and due to which she passed away in Chennai at the age of 56. She was serving as the Secretary in the Energy Department at that time. Her sudden demise has left everyone shocked and the state is grieving her demise, especially because her tenure coincided with some of the most challenging health emergencies Tamil Nadu faced.
Beela’s Personal & Family Background
Beela was born on November 15, 1969 in Thoothukudi, Tamil Nadu. Her father, SN Venkatesan, was a former DGP and her mother, Rani Venkatesan was a senior Congress leader and former MLA.
Beela Venkatesan got married to Rajesh Das, an IPS officer from the Odisha cadre. He is currently serving as the Additional Director General of Police (ADGP).
Beela’s Academic and Professional Journey
Beela Venkatesan earned her MBBS degree from the prestigious Madras Medical College. Despite being a trained medical doctor, Beela chose to go for her ambitions and started preparing for the UPSC civil services exam. She got selected in 1997 and was initially posted in Bihar and then Jharkhand cadre before being transferred to Tamil Nadu cadre.
Beela’s Career as an IAS Officer
Over her career, Dr. Beela Venkatesan held several significant roles across health, planning, and state administration. Some of her notable postings include:
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Sub-Collector of Chengalpattu (Tamil Nadu)
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Commissioner of Fisheries in Tamil Nadu
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Commissioner for Town & Country Planning
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Commissioner for Indian Medicine & Homeopathy
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Principal Secretary, Health & Family Welfare (Tamil Nadu)- her most high-visibility assignment during the pandemic.
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Later, she moved to hold important posts in energy and administrative domains, ultimately serving as Energy Secretary / Principal Secretary, Energy Department for Tamil Nadu at the time of her death.
In addition, she was involved in initiatives such as digitizing health records (Hospital Management Information System) and battling dengue outbreaks.
Her administrative style was stated by others and her subordinates as very firm and determined.
Beela’s Leadership During COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu
When COVID-19 struck, Dr. Beela Venkatesan was the Health Secretary of Tamil Nadu. She got involved in the frontline of crisis management in Tamil Nadu. Some of her contributions and characteristics during this period:
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She became a recognizable and trusted voice, holding daily press briefings to inform the public.
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She gathered all her medical knowledge and used it to make administrative decisions.
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She constantly adhered to the protocols and her accountability helped shape the state’s response machinery.
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During her tenure as the State’s Health Secretary, she also worked on developing the Hospital Management Information System (HMIS).
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