Christy Fernandez, 74, who served as Secretary to the former President Pratibha Patil, died here on Monday, December 4.
He was admitted at the Lisie Hospital in Kochi two weeks back following gastroenterology ailments. The death occurred around 12.20 a.m. His funeral will be held at St. George Church cemetery, Clapana in Kollam district at 11 a.m. on December 6, according to family members.
A former civil servant, he belonged to the 1973 batch of the IAS Gujarat cadre. He had also served as joint secretary in the Agriculture and Petroleum ministries, additional secretary in the Commerce ministry and principal secretary of the Gujarat Town Development Council and was Secretary to the Department of Tourism.
He had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election as independent candidate of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) in Ernakulam and had lost the battle to K.V. Thomas of the United Democratic Front (UDF). Most recently, he was serving as the chairman of Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation.
