Administrator and author. Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu — the state's senior-most civil service post — and one of the most prolific Tamil authors of his generation.
V. Irai Anbu was born in 1963 in Kattur, a village in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu, to Venkatachalam and Baby Saroja. He took a B.Sc. in Agriculture — placing first in his cohort — and went on to accumulate an unusually wide set of qualifications alongside a full administrative career.
He entered the Indian Administrative Service in the 1987 batch, placing 15th in India and first in Tamil Nadu, and joined service on 25 August 1988. Over the following thirty-five years he served as Assistant Collector, Additional Collector, District Magistrate of Kanchipuram, Director of Information and Public Relations, and Secretary or Principal Secretary across tourism, culture, environment and forests, personnel and administrative reforms, and economics and statistics.
On 7 May 2021 he was appointed Chief Secretary of Tamil Nadu, the state's highest administrative office, and held it until his retirement on 30 June 2023.
Running in parallel — and for many readers the more familiar half of his life — is his writing. He has authored in the region of 150 books in Tamil and English, spanning fiction, essays, literary criticism, spirituality, management and guidance for students preparing for the civil services. His work on the Thirukkural and Purananuru has been presented at international conferences, and his books have been published by New Century Book House, Vijaya Pathippagam and Karpagam Puthagalayam among others.
The administrator and the author were never separate careers. Both were addressed to the same reader: the ordinary citizen. On his dual vocation
A selection with publisher and year of the edition listed. His subjects range from the novel and the essay to literary criticism, spirituality, management and guidance for civil service aspirants.
Other widely read titles include:
Degrees taken alongside a full administrative career, across the sciences, management, literature and psychology.
He is also proficient in Hindi and Sanskrit.
For speaking invitations, publication and translation enquiries, or correspondence regarding his writing.
Email contact@iraianbu.com