(MENAFN- Live Mint) Sarada Muraleedharan, the Indian Administrative Service(IAS) officer presently posted as Chief Secretary of Kerala, has renewed a debate on skin colour bias after she narrated the 'discrimination' that she continues to face.

Muraldheeran took to Facebook and spoke about a comment by someone comparing her work with that of her predecessor, V Venu, saying, "It is as black as my husband's was white." Venu, a 1990-batch IAS officer , is also Muraldheeran's husband.

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“Heard an interesting comment yesterday on my stewardship as Chief Secretary – that it is as black as my husband's was white. Hmmm. I need to own my blackness,” Muraleedharan wrote in her post on 25 March,

Muraleedharan deleted the post after it was "flustered by the flurry of responses". She reposted it again, though.

"I am reposting it because certain well-wishers said that there were things that needed to be discussed. I agree. So here goes, once again," she said in her post, which garnered over 1,000 reactions and has been commented upon and shared hundreds of times.

Who is Sarala Muraleedharan?

Muraleedharan is a 1990 batch IAS officer. She has been Kerala chief secretary since she took over from her husband Dr V Venu in September 2024.

Muraldheeran served in many key positions – at the Centre and in the state - before becoming the chief secretary. She headed the Kudumbashree Mission of the Kerala government from 2006 to 2012. The mission focused on empowering women, reducing poverty and emphasising on human rights perspectives. She has also served as the chief operating officer at the National Rural Livelihoods Mission of the Ministry of Rural Development, Government of India, till December 2013.

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