Nalini Netto, Kerala CM’s chief principal secretary, quits

Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's cheif principal secretary Nalini Netto resigned on Tuesday.

Netto handed over the resignation letter to chief minister earlier in the day. The 1981 batch IAS officer was appointed chief minister's chief  principal secretary on August 29, 2017. The resignation comes in the wake of her reported differences with a section of top functionaries in the chief minister's office and a couple of controversial decisions taken recently.  

The officer had been mandated to examine files related to the chief minister’s office including those related to important policy matters. However, it is understood that of late important files were not being routed through her and decisions were being taken by some of the top functionaries in CMO  along with department secretaries concerned.

The officer had serious differences over the manner in which files related to accepting tax from plantation companies including Harrisons and allowing the opening of quarries in bulk, were sent to Cabinet without strictly adhering to rules. She had reportedly cautioned chief minister that officials handling such crucial files could end up facing corruption charges.

The other view is that the files were not being sent to her as she was not clearing these in a time bound manner and there was a lag. However, there was no confirmation on these charges.

The differences that cropped up in CMO were often resolved at the level of chief minister's private secretary and CPM state committee member M V Jayarajan. It is worthwhile to mention that Netto's resignation comes close on the heels Jayarajan being appointed as Kannur district secretary of CPM.