Thiruvananthapuram: Bringing an eventful tenure to an end, the Kerala Government has removed Tomin J Thachankary from the post of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). The decision was taken during a Cabinet meeting presided over by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Wednesday.

Kochi City Police Commissioner M P Dinesh will take over as chairman and managing director of KSRTC.

The government has appointed V Venu as the new Additional Chief Secretary, Revenue.

He will take over after Revenue Secretary P H Kurien retires from service on Thursday.

M P Dinesh is the fifth CMD of the KSRTC during the LDF government’s term. Incidentally, rescuing the KSRTC from loss was a major election promise of the LDF.

Thachankary lost the top post in the state carrier barely two-and-a-half months before he was to complete a year in the job.

He had earlier taken over from DGP A Hemachandran.

On his first day as CMD of KSRTC, Thachankary had grabbed the headlines by playing a tabla on the occasion.

Several decisions of Thachankary had been opposed by the government as well as trade unions in KSRTC.

Two CPM nominees in the corporation board of directors had even written to the chief minister seeking Thachankary's ouster.

Thachankary’s tenure was marked by frequent confrontations between him and employees. Even Transport Minister A K Saseendran was not initially keen on having the IPS officer as the head of the corporation, but yielded after a compromise was reached.

After Thachankary moved a request for a post with the police too, he was appointed as the ADGP of Crime Records Bureau along with the KSRTC duty.

As Thachankary's salary and allowances were paid by the Police Department, the KSRTC's expenses in this regard were saved.

Meanwhile, it is pointed out that the government has once again removed a CMD of the public carrier, while he was barely settling down.

Earlier, Hemachandran was shifted as soon as he completed a study on duty reforms and trifurcation of the KSRTC and was initiating measures to implement the plans.

Similarly, Thachankary lost his job days after the Corporation raised sufficient funds to pay salaries for staff from its own revenue.