Veena George, the journalist-turned-legislator, takes charge of one of the most vital institutions of Kerala at a time when the State is grappling with the second wave of COVID-19.
As she strives to fill the shoes of K.K. Shailaja, a much-celebrated Health Minister, extraordinary hopes will be pinned on Ms. George to act decisively and deliver at these times of uncertainty. The mild-mannered, pragmatic politician has always stayed calm even in the face of adversities — be it the Sabarimala protests of 2018 or the consequent defeat in the Parliament elections a year later — and kept on strengthening her base across the segment. That quiet resolve is expected to serve Ms. George well as she sets off to deal with the State’s biggest health crisis.
The 45-year-old politician, a former Students Federation of India activist, had completed her postgraduation in physics and a bachelor’s degree in education before getting into journalism. Having worked in several prominent Malayalam news channels, she was one of the five Indian journalists selected for covering the U.S. presidential elections of 2012. She went on to become the first woman executive editor of a news channel in the State.
Many awards
A recipient of several awards for her contributions as a journalist and a legislator, she also served as chairperson of the Legislative Assembly Content Development Committee and a member of the Kerala Technical University Syndicate, among others.
A trained classical dancer, she had participated in the State School Arts Festival and won the first prize in mono-act competition in 1992 at Tirur. She is married to George Joseph, former secretary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, and the couple has two children.
In 2016, she piped senior Congress leader K. Sivadasan Nair in Aranmula by a margin of 7,646 votes and improved the margin to 19,003 votes against the same opponent this year. She is the first CPI(M) Minister from Pathanamthitta.
Ms. George is known for her excellent working relationship with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, a fact evident during her selection as the anchor of ‘Naam Munnottu,’ a weekly public relations exercise by the previous Left Democratic Front government.
