Thiruvananthapuram: Newly-appointed chief secretary V P Joy assumed office on Sunday. The senior IAS officer took over from his predecessor Vishwas Mehta, who retired from the service on the same day.
Joy will be 47th chief secretary of the state. He will be the head of state’s bureaucracy till June 30, 2020. The 1987-batch IAS officer had recently returned to the state after his central deputation and joined as officer on special duty.
At the Centre, immediately prior to returning to the state, he was holding the charge of secretary of coordination and security in the cabinet secretariat.
A native of Kinginimattam in Ernakulam, Joy served as a scientist at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre in Thiruvananthapuram from 1985 till 1987.