M Sivasankar is a retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of 1995-batch Kerala cadre. He made headlines on February 14, 2023, when he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate for accepting bribes to facilitate the signing of a contract for the LIFE Mission project with Unitac Builders & Developers, a private construction company.
Wiki/Biography
Siva Sankar M (or Sivasankar Nair) was born on Thursday, January 24, 1963, in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India (60 years old as of 2023). His zodiac sign is Aquarius. Sivasankar studied at NSS College of Engineering, Palakkad, Kerala, and received his bachelor’s degree in technology in instrumentation and control systems. He completed postgraduate course in Rural Management from Institute of Rural Management (IRMA), Anand, Gujarat, India.
appearance
Height (approximately): 5′8″
Hair color: gray
Eye color: black
M Sivasankar (left) with Pinarayi Vijayan, the 12th Chief Minister of Kerala
family and race
M Sivasankar belongs to a Malayan family.
Parents and siblings
There is not much information about M Sivasankar’s family or siblings.
wife and children
According to some media sources, Sivasankar’s wife is a doctor and Swapna Suresh, the main accused in the Kerala gold smuggling case, revealed in her autobiography “Chathiyude Padmavyuham” that M Sivasankar married her at the Padmanabha Swamy Temple. chennai.
M Sivasankar and Swapna Suresh
address
M Sivasankar lives in Devadarsana, Katturoad, Pujapuram, Thiruvananthapuram, opposite the Magic College.
Profession
After graduation, Sivasankar worked for some time with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). On March 1, 2000, he was appointed Deputy Minister of Communications and Information Technology and was subsequently promoted to Deputy Minister, serving until June 2001. Sivasankar was appointed as Deputy Minister of Civil Supplies and Food and Public Distribution in June 2001 and was promoted to Director of the same department until August 2002. From August 2002 to September 2003, Sivasankar served as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. In September 2003, he was appointed as District Collector, Malappuram District Administration and Land Revenue Management Department. In 2006, Sivasankar was appointed Deputy Minister of Public Instructions. He was subsequently promoted to Division Chief and served in the same department until 2008. In April 2008, Sivasankar was appointed as Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Tourism and was subsequently promoted to Director and continued to work in the Ministry of Tourism. Served until 2011. From 2010 to 2011, he served as Director of the Department of Unconventional Energy and Rural Technology. In 2011, Sivasankar served as secretary of the Public Works Department (PWD) and Sports Department. Sivasankar, served as Secretary, General Education Department and Tribal Welfare Department in 2012. In the same year, he was appointed as Joint Secretary, Kerala State Electricity Board and Sports Department. Later, Sivasankar was promoted as chairman of the Kerala State Electricity Board and continued to serve in the department till 2016. Sivasankar was appointed as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) in 2016 to Pinarayi Vijayan, who took over as the 12th Chief Minister of Kerala on May 25, 2016. In 2017, he was promoted as principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. In the same year, he served as Principal Secretary, Department of Information Technology.
Kerala Gold Smuggling Scam 2020
Sivasankar was removed from his post as principal secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on July 7, 2020 after his alleged links with the gold smuggling case. But he continues to serve as principal secretary of the IT department and chairman of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL). On July 16, 2020, Sivasankar was suspended for one year after he was accused of recommending Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling scam, for the post of business development manager of the Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL). . In October 2020, Sivasankar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate and was released on bail on February 3, 2021 after 98 days in jail. On January 4, 2022, after serving 17 months in prison, Sivasankar’s suspension was revoked by the Chief Minister. Reinstated on January 6, 2022, as Minister of Sports and Youth. Later, he also held the post of Ministry of Animal Husbandry and Dairy Development.
retire
In April 2022, Sivasankar requested Voluntary Retirement (VRS) from the state government. However, his request was denied citing the ongoing investigation against him by Customs and Enforcement Directorate officials. M Sivasankar, who served as Secretary, Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, retired on January 31, 2023.
dispute
Suspected of participating in gold smuggling case
On October 28, 2020, M Sivasankar was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) for his alleged involvement in the Kerala gold smuggling case. The smuggling case came to light on July 5, 2020, when customs officials seized 30 kilograms of gold worth Rs 15 crore from a consignment at Trivandrum International Airport. They arrested P Sarith Kumar, former executive secretary of the UAE Consulate, who was collecting luggage at the international airport. The luggage containing the smuggled gold was sent to the UAE Consulate in India. Sivasankar was arrested under Sections 3 and 4 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act for assisting Swapna Suresh, one of the prime accused in the case. While serving as Chairman of Kerala State Information Technology Infrastructure Limited (KSITIL), Sivasankar recommended Swapna Suresh for the post of Business Development Manager of the organization. Sivasankar allegedly convinced his chartered accountant Venugopal Iyer to open a joint bank locker with Swapna to assist her in laundering black money and smuggling it to the UAE. However, Sivasankar denied any relationship with Swapna and said,
I had no idea they had a gold smuggling deal with Swapna. I have never accepted their hospitality either at home or abroad. “
The Kerala High Court, while speaking about M Sivasankar, passed a statement regarding his involvement in the case, which read:
The fact that the applicant was in constant contact with one of the key witnesses, Swapna Suresh, and that he even voluntarily approached his chartered accountant and asked him to assist her in managing her finances, shows that the applicant had a fair Condition. The applicant may have known that Swapna Suresh was involved in the alleged smuggling activities. “
M Sivasankar was detained by Enforcement Directorate officials on October 28, 2020 for his alleged involvement in the gold smuggling case
Arrested for involvement in dollar smuggling case
Sivasankar was suspended for his involvement in the gold smuggling case and later he was arrested by customs officials on January 20, 2021, for his alleged links with the dollar smuggling case, which came to light during the investigation into the gold smuggling case. He is accused of assisting the former head of finance of the UAE consulate in Thiruvananthapuram to smuggle $190,000 (equivalent to Rs 1.3 billion) to Muscat, Oman. The chargesheet filed by the customs department stated that Sivasankar was in possession of the money, which was seized from a bank locker of Swapna Suresh, the prime accused in the gold smuggling case. The money in Swapna’s bank account was commission money Sivasankar had received in awarding the Life Mission contract, a government program to provide shelter to homeless people in Kerala.
Controversy over publishing his autobiography
On February 5, 2022, Sivasankar published his autobiography titled “Aswathamavu: Verum Oru Aana” (Aswarthamav is just an elephant), in which he mentioned the details of the gold smuggling case, interrogation by the Enforcement Directorate and Customs officials and his role in the gold smuggling case experience in the case. prison. Sivasankar’s autobiography, published by DC Books, sparked controversy as he was accused of violating UPSC service rules, which prohibit serving bureaucrats from writing books based on biographies. Furthermore, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan claimed that Sivasankar did not seek his permission to write his autobiography.
M Sivasankar’s Autobiography Aswathamav Verum Oru Aana
Accused of taking bribes in LIFE Mission project
On February 14, 2023, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested M Sivasankar for his alleged involvement in the award of Livelihood Inclusion and Financial Empowerment Mission (also known as LIFE Mission Project) contract. The LIFE Mission project aims to provide housing to the poor in Wadakkanchery in Thrissur district of Kerala who lost their homes in the horrific floods of 2018 in Kerala. The Enforcement Directorate claimed that Sivasankar accepted a bribe of Rs 1 crore for LIFE to facilitate an assignment project for Unitac Builders & Developers, a construction company in Kerala.
M Sivasankar was arrested by Enforcement Directorate (ED) officials on February 14, 2023 for his alleged involvement in the LIFE Mission project bribery case
Facts/Trivia
- While in college, Sivasankar supported the Students Federation of India (SFI) party.
- In May 2008, Sivasankar was appointed director of the Kerala Tourism Department.
- While serving as principal secretary of the IT department, Sivansankar established the Akshaya Center in Kerala to encourage computer literacy by providing knowledge related to computer applications.
- Sivasankar was diagnosed with cancer and underwent surgery to recover.
- In 2010, Sivasankar underwent training under the “Compulsory Mid-Career Training Phase-IV Scheme for IAS Officers”.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education