New Delhi: Senior civil servant S. Krishnan, a 1989-batch officer from the Tamil Nadu cadre, has been elected president of the IAS Central Association.
Sriram Taranikanti, who belongs to the 1992 batch of the Tripura cadre, and A. Anbarasu, who belongs to the 1996 batch of the Union Territories cadre, have been elected as vice-presidents of the association.
The appointment was announced by the association Saturday at its general body meeting, which also elected a new council.
The positions of the president and vice-presidents are ex-officio such that the second senior-most IAS officer after the Cabinet Secretary is usually elected the president, and the director of the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) is usually elected the vice-president.
S. Krishanan is currently serving as the secretary of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), and Taranikanti is serving as the LBSNAA director.
Happy to announce Sh S Krishnan, #IAS (TN:89), as the new President of the IAS Central Association, leading the newly elected Executive Committee!
The EC is committed to championing service excellence, mentoring young officers, fostering ethical leadership, and strengthening… pic.twitter.com/lesDbMyQJa
— IAS Association (@IASassociation) July 27, 2025
In his tenure as the MeitY secretary since September 2023, Krishnan has been overseeing the implementation of the country’s ambitious semiconductor mission, which aims to foster a homegrown chip and complimentary component ecosystem.
The MeitY has been at the forefront of confrontation with social media portals for withholding handles of persons and organisations, including with X most recently over the alleged request by the government to withhold the X handle of Reuters.
Anbarasu holds the important position of Principal Secretary, Home Department in the Delhi government. He also held the charge of the secretary of the AGMUT chapter of the IAS Association at the time when officers serving in the Delhi government were caught in a bitter standoff between the Centre and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in 2015.
“The election of an IAS Association is routine, it is a continuous body, so elections happen every year,” one of the office-bearers said. However, another officer pointed out that the timing of this election is linked to “the constitution of the 8th Pay Commission soon because you need a legitimately elected body, and not an expired one, to put forth the views of IAS officers”.
Meanwhile, Kunal, an officer of the 2005 batch from the UT cadre, has been elected as the secretary. He is serving as a joint secretary in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Aditi Singh, an officer of the 2009 batch of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, has been elected the treasurer. Singh is also serving in the Centre as a joint secretary in the Ministry of Rural Development.
Chinmay Gotmare (2009 batch) and Shelesh Nawal (2010 batch) of the Assam/Mizoram cadre and the Madhya Pradesh cadre, respectively, have been appointed as the two joint-secretaries of the association.
Sanjay Bhoosreddy and Sanjay Bandhopadhyay of the 1989 and the 1988 batches, respectively, have been appointed as retired members. Another nine officers from various batches have been appointed as members.
Also Read: Once male bastion, Indian Forest Service is now only civil service with all-women national executive
Inactive body
At a time when the dominance of IAS officers at the Centre is at an all-time low, Krishnan, in his presidential address, said that there is a need for IAS officers to demonstrate their value to the system.
Over the years, the IAS Association, once a vibrant organisation meant to voice officers’ grievances, support officers in need and facilitate intra-cadre dialogue, has been conspicuously silent.
In 2019, the association unprecedentedly remained headless for months when then home secretary and the second senior-most IAS officer, Rajiv Gauba, was believed to be unwilling to take up the position.
“Officers have been unwilling to be seen as unionising under this government,” an officer said. “If you remember, even when the PM taunted IAS officers on the floor of Parliament calling us babus, there was not so much as a whimper in public.”
“Besides, there have been times when civil servants have been pulled up for taking stands publicly. IRS Association officer-bearers were charge-sheeted by this government only a few years ago for spearheading a report by freshers on taxes,” he said. “IAS officers are the first to learn from these instances.”
Earlier this year, the IAS Association, along with several other associations, however, did take a stand when foreign secretary Vikram Misri was trolled vitriolically when he was acting as the chief spokesperson of the Indian government at the time of the war-like situation with Pakistan.
The Association at the time issued a statement, saying, “The IAS Association stands in solidarity with Shri Vikram Misri, Foreign Secretary, & his family. Unwarranted personal attacks on civil servants performing their duties with integrity are deeply regrettable. We reaffirm our commitment to uphold the dignity of public service.”
(Edited by Tony Rai)