IAS Topper Sriram Venkitaraman has been in the news ever since he topped the 2012 UPSC exam. Venkitraman, who is a doctor by profession, had cleared the civil services exam in his second attempt with All India Rank (AIR)-2. However, Venkitaraman’s journey as an IAS officer has remained very much controversial.
Sriram Venkitaraman, is a native of Kochi in Kerala. He completed his schooling at Bhavan's Vidya Mandir-Girinagar. Following which he pursued M.B.B.S from the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram in 2010. He then did his MD in General Medicine from Srirama Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack.
He later went on to pursue an MPH degree from Harvard University with a Fulbright scholarship.
After the completion of his training at Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Venkitaraman was appointed as Alappuzha District Collector. But he had a very short tenure and serves the collector office for only 6 days. Yes, you read it right, he had taken the charge on July 26 but he was removed from the post on August 1.
Notably, Sriram Venkitaraman was accused of killing a journalist, in a drunken driving case in 2019. As per reports,
Sriram and his friend Wafa Firoz were travelling in a Volkswagen Vento owned by latter on August 3, 2019, when he lost control over the wheels and hit Basheer near Museum Road. Though his co-passenger said she was driving the car, eyewitnesses stated otherwise.
Following this, there was a widespread protest against him, forcing the government to remove him.
Later, the district sessions court in Kerala’s Thiruvananthapuram in October dismissed the murder charges against IAS officer Sriram Venkitaraman. However, the court maintained the other charges framed against the IAS officer and the co-accused under sections 304 A (causing death by negligence) and 279 (rash and negligent driving) of the IPC and sections 184, 185, and 188 of the Motor Vehicle Act.
Currently, Sriram Venkitaraman is posted as the General manager of Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation Ltd.