P.H. Kurian, former Additional Chief Secretary of Kerala and one of the State’s most respected civil servants, passed away on Wednesday (August 26) at a private hospital here after battling cancer. He was 67.

The funeral will be held on Saturday (August 29) at his native place in Pampady, Kottayam.

Four decades of civil service

Over a career spanning nearly 40 years, as officer of the 1986 Kerala cadre, Kurian held some of the State’s most consequential administrative posts, including that of Labour Commissioner and Managing Director of the Kerala State Industries Development Corporation (KSIDC).

He later served as the Principal Secretary and additional Chief Secretary across Industries, Revenue, Information Technology and Water Resources departments.

As the IT Secretary during the time of the Oommen Chandy Government, Kurian spearheaded major revamping initiatives in Kerala’s technology infrastructure, e-governance initiatives and is credited with the expansion of the Akshaya network, the digital service delivery platform, which brought Government services directly to citizens.

He was also the executive vice president of the Science and Technology department from 2018 and played a key role in devising the State’s IT start-ups policy and was also involved in the promotion of several IT start-ups in the State.

As Revenue Secretary in charge of Disaster Management, he coordinated relief and rescue operations during Cyclone Okhi and the State’s devastating floods in 2018

Kurian’s tenure as the Controller General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks from 2009 to 2012, marked a transformative period of India’s intellectual property administration. He took the lead in digitising massive legacy records and introducing online patent filing systems and undertook several key measures to bring in transparency in the trademark allocation processes.

In 2012, he issued the nation’s first ever compulsory licence under the Patents Act to Natco Pharma, an Indian pharmaceutical company, for producing Bayer’s patented cancer drug, Nexavar. This groundbreaking ruling set the critical global precedent for the production of the affordable generic versions of expensive and life-saving cancer drugs, striking a balance between patent enforcement and an important public health need.

After retirement, Kurian had served as the Chairman of the Kerala Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) and played a significant role in the implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, pushing for mandatory project registrations and transparency in the real estate sector.

Born into an agrarian family in 1959, Kurian had studied chemistry. After postgraduation, he was pursuing research in the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, when he got selected into the civil services. In his initial years as a civil servant, he had served as the sub collector in Pala and Palakkad and later as the District Collector of Idukki and Kottayam.

CM pays tributes

Chief Minister VD Satheesan has condoled Kurian’s death. He described Kurian as a civil servant who stood firmly with the common people and demonstrated how power and authority could be put to good use for people’s welfare. Despite holding high-ranking positions, Kurian maintained close personal relationships with people around him. His demise is an irreparable loss to Keralam, Mr. Satheesan noted.