T’puram: Former additional chief secretary and senior IAS officer P H Kurian, who played a key role in coordinating rescue operations during Keralam’s devastating 2018 floods, died on Wednesday at the age of 67.A native of Pampady in Kottayam, Kurian was residing at Muttada in Thiruvananthapuram. His funeral will be held in Pampady on Saturday.A 1986-batch Keralam cadre IAS officer, Kurian became widely known for his leadership during the 2018 floods. As additional chief secretary of the revenue and disaster management department and state relief commissioner, he coordinated large-scale rescue and relief operations during the unprecedented disaster.Born on Jan 20, 1959, in Pampady, Kurian completed his postgraduate studies in chemistry and undertook three years of research in organic chemistry at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, before joining IAS in 1986.During his career, he served in several key positions, including as district collector, labour commissioner, project director, managing director, secretary, principal secretary, additional chief secretary and special secretary.From 2009 to 2012, Kurian served as the controller general of patents, designs and trademarks under the central govt. His decision to allow an Indian pharmaceutical company to manufacture an expensive cancer drug at a substantially lower cost was hailed as a landmark move with global significance.He also served as principal secretary of information technology and industries departments, where he played an important role in strengthening the state’s startup ecosystem and expanding digital governance. He was later appointed the first chairman of Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority (K-RERA), established to ensure greater transparency in the real estate sector.During the 2018 floods, Kurian led a coordinated response mechanism involving Indian Army, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, National Disaster Response Force, the state police and fire and rescue services.He also formally sought the assistance of the state’s fishing community to reach flood-hit areas inaccessible to official rescue teams. Fishermen responded in large numbers and played a crucial role in rescuing stranded people. Kurian famously described them as ‘Keralam’s own army‘.
