PB Nooh IAS moved to Election Department ahead of Assembly polls

PB Nooh, the former Pathanamthitta District Collector who won hearts with his work, has been transferred and posted to the Election Department ahead of the Kerala Assembly elections. A circular with details about transfers, postings and additional charges of the IAS officers stated that Nooh has now been transferred and posted as Additional Chief Electoral Officer and Additional Secretary, Election Department, for the smooth conduct of general elections to the Kerala State Legislative Assembly 2021.

As soon as he was transferred from the post of Pathanamthitta District Collector to an interim post of Registrar of Cooperative Societies, Nooh posted a farewell message on social media: “Time to go. Will miss you, beloved Pathanamthitta,”. His status attracted thousands of comments from users who expressed their admiration, and thanked him for the work he did in the district.

As the DC of Pathanamthitta, PB Nooh’s work during two devastating floods as well as the COVID-19 pandemic remains notable. In 2018, a photograph of him in which he was seen crossing an overflowing stream to cover the areas cut off due the floods that ravaged Kerala that year, went viral. He is also remembered for the calm and composed Facebook live sessions he did during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nooh took over as the DC of Pathanamthitta back in 2018. Within two months, he had to handle the biggest floods witnessed by the state in over a century, like his peers in other districts. As Collector, Nooh evacuated nearly 15 lakh people from various areas of Pathanamthitta. The state government also sent Harikishore, another IAS officer, who had served as the Pathanamthitta DC earlier. Together, both Nooh and Harikishore worked 20 hours every day, managing the control rooms, and even heading groups to help with relief operations.

Apart from PB Nooh, IAS officer D Balamurali, former Collector of Palakkad, has also been posted as Additional Chief Electoral Officer and Additional Secretary, Election Department.

Dr Chitra K, director of Employment and Training, has been given the full additional charges of Labour Commissioner and Director, Environment and Climate Change Department.

Dr Geromic George, Director of Sports and Youth Affairs department will hold the full additional charge of Registrar of Cooperative Societies.

Further, R Girija IAS, Director, Survey and Land Records department and Gokul R IAS, Officer on Special Duty Finance (Resources) department are deputed to Palakkad and Idukki respectively for helping out the District Collectors in these areas to tackle COVID-19 cases.