Rathan U Kelkar: The Kerala poll chief, now CM secretary, at centre of raging political storm
The IAS officer made his mark as an anti-encroachment crusader and Covid strategist, oversaw the SIR process.
Kelkar’s appointment has triggered a political controversy, with the Opposition questioning the propriety of the move. (File Photo) A day after his appointment as Secretary to the Chief Minister triggered a political controversy, Kerala Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) during the recently concluded Assembly elections, Dr Rathan U Kelkar, formally assumed charge on Sunday.
The 2003-batch Kerala cadre IAS officer has stepped into the CMO after overseeing the SIR process and the Assembly polls. Unlike West Bengal, Kerala has not witnessed any major debate over the revision of the electoral rolls. While the SIR process was underway, Kelkar, who was appointed CEO in December 2024, periodically met the representatives of political parties and addressed their concerns. He had also made several ground-level assessments of the SIR process before the elections.
However, Kelkar’s appointment has triggered a political controversy, with the Opposition questioning the propriety of the move. When West Bengal CEO Manoj Agarwal was appointed the state chief secretary, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi had said in an X post, “In the BJP-EC’s ‘chor bazaar’, the bigger the theft, the bigger the reward.” Referring to the comment, the CPI(M) and the BJP asked Gandhi to clarify if his views were the same following Kelkar’s appointment.
Kelkar first hit headlines in 2007 while serving as the sub-collector of Devikulam in the high ranges of Idukki district. The famous eviction of illegal constructions and encroachment was initiated by him, when the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government under V S Achuthanandan was in power. It was Kelkar’s strong drive against the encroachment mafia that was later taken over by a three-member special task force.
During his two-decade-long career, Kelkar has been mostly associated with the Health and IT sectors. He served as the director of the National Rural Health Mission, Kerala, and the State IT mission. While serving as the Kannur district collector in 2012, Kelkar was honoured as the best district collector in the state. During his term as the director of the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival, Kelkar converted the event into a shopping brand to promote the state as a shopping destination.
Kelkar’s role again came into the limelight during the Covid pandemic. As the state director of the National Health Mission, Kelkar was in the core team that chalked out the strategies, which later evolved into a Kerala model in fighting Covid-19. He had then coordinated with various stakeholders involved in fighting the pandemic. As the mission director, Kelkar was in charge of the Kerala Covid Brigade, formed to contain the spread of the virus.
Before that, Kelkar had worked in Karnataka on deputation from 2016 to 2019. His Karnataka innings started as the director of the National Health Mission in the state. Later, as the executive director of Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust, he played a key role in streamlining various healthcare projects and integrating state schemes with central projects. He also served as the executive director of the Kerala State Health Agency, which implements universal healthcare schemes such as Karunya Arogya Suraksha Padhathi in alliance with Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.
From 2022 to 2024, till he became the CEO, Kelkar served as the secretary of the Electronics and IT Department under then CM Pinarayi Vijayan. The term was marked by Kerala’s transition to e-governance, when several key services of the government were digitised.
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