a whatsapp group titled cs l and o and administered by chief secretary k shanmugam buzzes with activity every day its flooded with government orders guidelines from the state and centre chief ministers instructions and directions from the cs himself the covid19 pandemic has turned the government working system on its head its the bureaucrats who are now calling the shots with ministers taking a back seatthe pandemic has brought out the best in many tn bureaucrats for more than 50 days they have been coordinating with the cm and health minister c vijaya baskar rolling out solutions as best as they can dgp j k tripathy and his entire workforce too joined hands in the covid battle sensing the gravity of the situation many have assumed the role of ceos throwing the usual bureaucratic red tape to the wind to implement quick solutions to problems and to serve public in this time of crisis the chief secretary is virtually in command health secretary beela rajesh dissects the orders and gives guidance to deans health officials and district collectors through whatsapp commissioner of revenue administration and disaster management j radhakrishnan nodal officer for migrant movement atulya misra and scores of other officials reach out to their colleagues and subordinates through the same mode of communication bureaucracy has risen to the occasion and is giving its best said shanmugamshanmugam finance secretary s krishnan and radhakrishnan meet chief minister edappadi k palaniswami on a daily basis to give him inputs and take instructions the cmo is active coordinating with officials all through the day radhakrishnan who is assigned the task of monitoring the situation in chennai corporation limits starts his day early with field visits and and microplanning for vulnerable and containment areas he is assisted by a host of senior and junior ias officersfor beela a series of video conferences is an integral part of her day she has a team that keeps track of best practices followed in every nook and cranny of the world as news spread about investors exiting china palaniswami set up a special investment promotion task force to lay red carpet to attract japanese us singapore taiwanese and south korean firms that are on the lookout for new destinations industries secretary n muruganandam is in touch with all such potential investors to understand their requirement to facilitate return of guest workers to their home states and tamils from other parts of india 22 ias officers have been appointed as nodal officers it is not as if nature of governance changes during crisis it is just that the focus shifts to specific tasks which are related to the crisis the political executive too has been extending all support and young officers have been doing a fabulous job misra saidtirupur collector k vijayakarthikeyan for instance was the first to initiate door delivery of vegetables and groceries to public he set up a walkin sample collection kiosk dedicated 247 control rooms for migrant workers and pregnant women