IAS officers Renu Raj and Sriram Venkitaraman are expected to tie the knot on April 28. The two IAS officers, who studied medicine before coming into civil services, announced their impending nuptials to their colleagues via social media last week.
Both Renu Raj and Sriram Venkitaraman hold posts as civil servants and are MBBS graduates. While Renu Raj serves as the Alappuzha District Collector, Sriram Venkitaram works as the Kerala Medical Services Corporation Managing Director.
Renu Raj And Sriram Venkitaraman Wedding
Renu Raj rose to prominence for handling the land encroachers in the Munnar despite the political pressure. She stood against legislator S Rajendran and took action against illegal constructions in the area while she was serving as the sub-collector at Devikulum. Before entering civil services, she worked at a government hospital after completing her medical degree. During that time, she got married to Dr LS Bhagat.
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Bhagat and Raj developed an interest in each other while pursuing MBBS at Kottayam Medical College. However, the marriage ended in a divorce. Renu Raj went on to crack the Union Public Service Commission exam in 2014 scoring the second rank in her first attempt. Talking about her decision to enter civil services, she said in an interview, "I thought that being a doctor, she could have helped 50 or 100 patients, but as a civil service officer, her one decision would benefit thousands of people will get. After that, I decided to give the UPSC exam."
As for Sriram Venkitaraman, he was the second rank holder during the 2012 UPSC examinations. Just like Raj, he also hails from a medical background and is a trained physician who holds a master's degree in Public Health. After clearing the UPSC examinations, he was posted as the sub-collector of Devikulum. In 2019, he was suspended from the service for speeding during a road accident which involved journalist KM Basheer. The civil servant was reinstated as an official in the Health Department.
Renu Raj and Sriram Venkitaraman are set to enter wedlock on April 28 in a ceremony at the Chottanikara Bhagavathy Temple.