List of Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu
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AbbreviationCS
Reports toGovernor and Chief Minister
AppointerChief Minister of Tamil Nadu
Inaugural holderC. W. E. Cotton
(1929–1931)
as Chief Secretary of Madras Presidency
C. A. Ramakrishnan
(1969)
as Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu
(1929–1931)
as Chief Secretary of Madras Presidency
C. A. Ramakrishnan
(1969)
as Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu
| Chief Secretary of Government of Tamil Nadu | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
Incumbent since 8 April 2026M. Sai Kumar | |
| Abbreviation | CS |
| Reports to | Governor and Chief Minister |
| Appointer | Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu |
| Inaugural holder | C. W. E. Cotton (1929–1931) as Chief Secretary of Madras Presidency C. A. Ramakrishnan (1969) as Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu |
The chief secretary of Tamil Nadu is the highest ranking officer in the Government of Tamil Nadu, who serves as the head of the state administration, and the secretariat. The chief secretary is a senior Indian Administrative Service officer, and is appointed by the Governor of Tamil Nadu on the recommendation of the chief minister. The secretary also acts as the ex-officio secretary to the council of ministers. The functions include administration and managing of the secretariat, providing secretarial assistance to the cabinet, coordination and implementation of policies and decisions of the government, providing requisite data and information to the cabinet, and organising cabinet meetings amongst others. The chief secretary ranks 23rd on the Indian order of precedence.[1][2]
| No. | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Chief Minister[a] | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assumed office | Left office | Time in office | |||
| Chief Secretary of Madras Presidency | |||||
| 1 | C. W. E. Cotton | 1929 | 1931 | 2 years | P. Subbarayan B. Munuswamy Naidu |
| 2 | Geoffrey Bracken | 1931 | 1935 | 4 years | B. Munuswamy Naidu Ramakrishna Ranga Rao |
| 3 | C. F. Brackenbury | 1935 | 1938 | 3 years | Ramakrishna Ranga Rao P. T. Rajan Kurma Venkata Reddy Naidu |
| 4 | G. T. Boag | 1938 | 1939 | 1 year | C. Rajagopalachari |
| 5 | S. V. Ramamurthy | 1939 | 1943 | 4 years | C. Rajagopalachari Governor-general's rule |
| 6 | Christopher Masterman | 1943 | 1947 | 4 years | Governor-general's rule T. Prakasam |
| Chief Secretary of Madras State (post independence) | |||||
| 1 | K. Ramunni Menon | 15 August 1947 | 1955 | 8 years | Omanthur P. Ramaswamy Reddiar P. S. Kumaraswamy Raja Rajaji K. Kamaraj |
| 2 | C. K. Vijayaraghavan | 1954 | 1955 | K. Kamaraj | |
| 3 | W. R. S. Sathianathan (1900- | 1955 | 1959 | 5 years | |
| 4 | M. V. Subramanian (1900- | ||||
| 5 | T. N. S. Raghavan (1901- | 1959 | 1960 | ||
| 6 | R. A. Gopalaswami (1902- | 1960 | 1962 | ||
| 7 | S. K. Chettur (1905-1972) | 1962 | 1964 | K. Kamaraj M. Bhakthavatsalam | |
| 8 | T. A. Varghese (1907- | 1964 | 10 November 1965 | M. Bhakthavatsalam | |
| 9 | C. A. Ramakrishnan (1910- | 10 November 1965 | 13 January 1969 | 3 years, 64 days | M. Bhakthavatsalam C.N.Annadurai |
| Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu | |||||
| 1 | C. A. Ramakrishnan (1910- | 14 January 1969 | 13 November 1969 | 303 days | C.N.Annadurai V. R. Nedunchezhiyan M. Karunanidhi |
| 2 | E. P. Royappa (1918–1993) |
14 November 1969 | 12 April 1971 | 1 year, 149 days | M. Karunanidhi |
| 3 | P. Sabanayagam (1922–2023) |
12 April 1971 | 11 March 1976 | 4 years, 334 days | M. Karunanidhi President's rule |
| 4 | V. Karthikeyan (1924–2014) |
12 March 1976 | 15 February 1977 | 340 days | President's rule |
| 5 | C. V. R. Panikar (1926–2020) |
16 February 1977 | 29 June 1977 | 133 days | |
| (4) | V. Karthikeyan (1924–2014) |
30 June 1977 | 21 August 1981 | 4 years, 52 days | M. G. Ramachandran President's rule |
| 6 | K. Diraviam (1925-1983) |
22 August 1981 | 24 January 1983 | 1 year, 155 days | M. G. Ramachandran |
| 7 | K. Chockalingam (1926-) |
11 February 1983 | 31 March 1985 | 2 years, 48 days | |
| 8 | T. V. Antony (1933–2020) |
1 April 1985 | 20 July 1986 | 1 year, 110 days | |
| 9 | A. Padmanabhan (1928–) |
21 July 1986 | 5 February 1988 | 1 year, 199 days | M. G. Ramachandran V. R. Nedunchezhiyan V. N. Janaki Ramachandran President's rule |
| 10 | M. M. Rajendran (1935–2023) |
6 February 1988 | 18 January 1991 | 2 years, 346 days | President's rule M. Karunanidhi |
| (8) | T. V. Antony (1933–2020) |
19 January 1991 | 25 June 1991 | 157 days | M. Karunanidhi President's rule |
| 11 | T. V. Venkataraman (1935–2018) |
26 June 1991 | 31 May 1994 | 2 years, 339 days | J. Jayalalithaa |
| 12 | N. Haribhaskar (1936- | 31 May 1994 | 27 May 1996 | 1 year, 362 days | J. Jayalalithaa M. Karunanidhi |
| 13 | K. A. Nambiar (1938- | 6 June 1996 | 30 June 1998 | 2 years, 24 days | M. Karunanidhi |
| 14 | A. P. Muthuswami (1941- | 30 June 1998 | 31 May 2001 | 2 years, 335 days | M. Karunanidhi J. Jayalalithaa |
| 15 | P. Shankar (1943–2024) |
1 June 2001 | 6 June 2002 | 1 year, 5 days | J. Jayalalithaa O. Panneerselvam |
| 16 | Sukavaneshvar (1944- | 10 June 2002 | 2 December 2002 | 175 days | J. Jayalalithaa |
| 17 | Lakshmi Pranesh (1945–) |
2 December 2002 | 30 April 2005 | 2 years, 149 days | |
| 18 | N. Narayanan (1948-) |
1 May 2005 | 12 May 2006 | 1 year, 11 days | |
| 19 | L. K. Tripathy (1948–2013) |
13 May 2006 | 31 August 2008 | 2 years, 110 days | M. Karunanidhi |
| 20 | K. S. Sripathi (1951–) |
1 September 2008 | 31 August 2010 | 1 year, 364 days | |
| 21 | S. Malathi (1954–2012) |
1 September 2010 | 15 May 2011 | 256 days | |
| 22 | Debendranath Sarangi (1953–) |
16 May 2011 | 31 December 2012 | 1 year, 229 days | J. Jayalalithaa |
| 23 | Sheela Balakrishnan (1954–) |
31 December 2012 | 31 March 2014 | 1 year, 100 days | |
| 24 | Mohan Verghese Chunkath (1956–) |
31 March 2014 | 2 December 2014 | 246 days | J. Jayalalithaa O. Panneerselvam |
| 25 | K. Gnanadesikan (1959–) |
2 December 2014 | 6 June 2016 | 1 year, 187 days | |
| 26 | P. Rama Mohana Rao (1957–) |
6 June 2016 | 22 December 2016 | 199 days | |
| 27 | Girija Vaidyanathan (1959–) |
22 December 2016 | 30 June 2019 | 2 years, 190 days | O. Panneerselvam Edappadi K. Palaniswami |
| 28 | K. Shanmugam (1960–) |
30 June 2019 | 31 January 2021 | 1 year, 215 days | Edappadi K. Palaniswami |
| 29 | Rajeev Ranjan (1961–) |
1 February 2021 | 6 May 2021 | 94 days | |
| 30 | V. Irai Anbu (1963–) |
7 May 2021 | 30 June 2023 | 2 years, 54 days | M. K. Stalin |
| 31 | Shiv Das Meena (1964–) |
1 July 2023 | 19 August 2024 | 1 year, 49 days | |
| 32 | N. Muruganandam (1969–) |
19 August 2024 | 8 April 2026 | 1 year, 232 days | |
| 33 | M. Sai Kumar (1966–) |
8 April 2026 | Incumbent | 15 days | |
