Nalini Netto

{{short description|Indian administrative officer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2019}}

{{Use Indian English|date=March 2019}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| image =

| governor = P. Sathasivam

| predecessor = S. M. Vijayanand IAS

| term_start = April 2017

| term_end = August 2017

| office = Chief Secretary, Government of Kerala

| 1blankname = Chief Minister

| 1namedata = Pinarayi Vijayan

| alma_mater = University of Kerala

| native_name =

| birth_place = Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1957|08|19}}

| successor = Dr. K. M. Abraham IAS

| occupation = Bureaucrat

| awards =

| spouse = Desmond Netto IPS

}}

Nalini Netto is a retired officer of the Indian Administrative Service. She served as State Chief Secretary and took office on [http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/nalini-netto-assumes-charge-as-kerala-chief-secretary/articleshow/57977074.cms 1 April 2017], from incumbent S. M. Vijayanand. She is the 42nd head and 4th women head of the state bureaucracy.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/nalini-netto-is-the-new-chief-secretary/article17735666.ece|title=Nalini Netto is new Chief Secretary|last=Correspondent|first=Special|work=The Hindu|access-date=2017-04-30|language=en}} Before becoming the chief secretary she had been in the post of Chief Electoral Officer and Home secretary. Nalini Netto was in news when she filed a case against the Transport minister Neelalohithadasan Nadar in 2000 when she was the Transport Secretary.{{Cite news|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/battle-of-the-atoms/225546|title=Battle Of The Atoms|work=outlookindia.com/|access-date=2017-04-30}}

Personal life

Nalini Netto was born in 1957{{Cite web |url=http://civillist.ias.nic.in/YrCurr/AppendixQryCL.asp?fmAppNum=B |title=Archived copy |access-date=1 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160430051457/http://civillist.ias.nic.in/YrCurr/AppendixQryCL.asp?fmAppNum=B |archive-date=30 April 2016 |url-status=dead }} at Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala to Professor T.S. Ramakrishnan and Chandra Ramakrishnan. Nalini's brother Mohan is an Indian Revenue Service officer. Her husband Desmond Netto is a retired IPS officer in Kerala. Her cousin Girija Vaidyanathan was Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu{{Cite news|url=http://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/now-two-cousins-nalini-and-girija-head-the-bureaucracy-of-kerala-and-tamil-nadu/298387|title=Now, Two Cousins, Nalini And Girija, Head The Bureaucracy Of Kerala And Tamil Nadu|work=outlookindia.com/|access-date=2017-04-30}}

Netto holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in Chemistry from the University of Kerala.

Career

File:Rajnath Singh at the inauguration of the National Conclave on Community Policing, at Kovalam, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. The Kerala Home Minister, Shri Ramesh Chennithala and the State Home Secretary.jpg

In her long career, Nalini Netto has held key posts including the State, starting from 1981, as Tourism Secretary, Irrigation Secretary and District Collector of Thiruvananthapuram. She was then made the Transport Secretary in 1999. Later, Nalini became the first woman to hold the office of the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO). Then, she served as the CEO for 11 years. Nalini Netto became the Additional Chief Secretary in 2014. She became Chief Secretary in April 2017. She retired in August 2017. After retirement, she was appointed as Chief Principal Secretary of Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan. She resigned from the post in March 2019 citing personal reasons.{{Cite news|author=Staff Reporter|date=2019-03-12|title=Nalini Netto quits as CM's Principal Secretary|language=en-IN|work=The Hindu|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/nalini-netto-quits-as-cms-principal-secretary/article26515274.ece|access-date=2021-06-21|issn=0971-751X}}

Sexual harassment case

In 1999, Nalini, who was the Transport Secretary then, boldly reacted to alleged sexual harassment by Transport Minister Neelalohitadasan Nadar, leading to the resignation of the latter. Though Nadar was later acquitted in the case, the IAS officer sent out a strong message by pursuing the case against the politician. T P Sundararajan, a retired Intelligence bureaucrat turned law professor, was the one who fought the case for her.{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2012/04/30/the-secret-of-the-temple|title=The Secret of the Temple|magazine=The New Yorker|access-date=2017-05-01}} Before this incident Nadar was penalized for a similar case filed in by the forest officer Prakriti Srivastava.{{Cite web|title=The Telegraph - Calcutta : Nation|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1040924/asp/nation/story_3797291.asp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040930054438/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1040924/asp/nation/story_3797291.asp|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 September 2004|access-date=2017-04-30|website=www.telegraphindia.com}}

References