Annies Kanmani Joy Age, Husband, Children, Family, Biography & More

Some Lesser Known Facts About Annies Kanmani Joy

• Annies Kanmani Joy is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer who is also a former nurse from Kerala. She made headlines in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. She contained the transmission of the Coronavirus in her Kodagu district in Karnataka. In 2017, she was appointed as the deputy commissioner of the Kodagu district in Karnataka, India.

• Annies, the daughter of a poor farmer in Ernakulam district, Kerala was selected as an IAS officer after securing 65th rank among the 85 candidates of the general category in the civil services exam in 2011.

•  Since childhood, Joy was a bright student who aspired to become a doctor; however, her family did not have enough money to buy books for her education.

• Annies Kanmani Joy is the second nurse ever to become an IAS officer after Alice Vaz R, a 2005 batch West Bengal cadre IAS. In 2010, in her first attempt at the Civil Service exam, Annies Kanmani Joy ranked at 580th position.

• In an interview, Joy revealed that she referred to her notes from the previous year’s examinations and thoroughly read the current affairs for her second attempt at the UPSC examination.

• In 2012, Annies gave an interview to a News channel after cracking the civil services examination. She said that her parents always encouraged her while she was preparing for the UPSC. She explained that she wanted to become a civil servant and in her first attempt, she got rank 580 as she gave it haphazardly. She told the media person that she already knew that she will do better in the next attempt and eventually, she scored the rank 65. Kanmani Joy’s optional were psychology and Malayalam literature.

• After her success in the UPSC examination, Annies received her Junior Scale training at LBSNAA Mussoorie from 2012 to 2014.  Reportedly, before clearing the UPSC examination, Annies had already done well at the nursing exam; however, she never worked as a nurse.

• During her initial working years in Karnataka as an IAS officer, Annies Kanmani Joy rejected more than 500 applications for the conversion of the local agricultural land for commercial purposes in her district, Kodagu. She made these rejections on the basis of the recommendations given by an 18-member team of experts who visited the area.

• In 2018, massive landslides struck in the southern Kodagu district of Karnataka. Ten local villagers died in these landslides. Annies Joy, along with the then Superintendent of Police Suman D Penneker and the then Zilla Panchayat CEO Lakshmi Priya, were honoured for their on-ground response. They regularly visited to inspect the landslide-affected area. This inspection was done to search the missing persons.
  

  Annies Joy the DC of the district along with the then Superintendent of Police Suman D Penneker and the then Zilla Panchayat CEO Lakshmi Priya

• In September 2019, Kodagu district Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy declared that all encroachments on the government land would be cleared. She further added that the land would be given to the flood victims for their permanent rehabilitation.
  

  Deputy Commissioner Annies Kanmani Joy inspects the encroached land in Ghattadala in Kodagu

• In 2019, Annies was transferred and promoted as the deputy commissioner of the Kodagu district in Karnataka.
  

  Annies Kanmani Joy (left), a 2012 batch IAS officer, took charge as the new Deputy Commissioner of Kodagu in February 2019

• Amid a busy schedule, Kanmani often takes out time to attend local events. In October 2019, she was spotted wearing a traditional dress while she was attending the Madikeri Dasara event in Banglore.
  

  DC Annies Kanmani Joy (in the middle), SP Suman D Pennekar ( right) and ZP CEO K Lakshmi Priya (left) in traditional Kodava dress in Madikeri Dasara event

• In March 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Indian states, Joy imposed an early lockdown in Kodagu district when the cases of coronavirus started reporting there. All the tourist places were also ordered to shut down amid the lockdown. This imposition was much before the national lockdown in India. During the early lockdown in Karnataka, the Kodagu district followed strict containment protocols. For the straight 28 days, there were no cases reported in that area. Annies Kanmani Joy was responsible for the successful break-in transmission of corona cases in Kodagu. As a result, she received national recognition.

• In October 2020, Annies Kanmani Joy received some viral WhatsApp videos and messages. In these viral videos, she was seen thanking the local people for the management and prevention of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Joy denied the claim and said,
  

  That is not me in the video. Since yesterday (Monday), I am receiving endless messages about it but it’s not me! I was told the video was shared on a Facebook page and then it was downloaded and circulated on WhatsApp.”

• In 2020, Annies filed an FIR against the journalists of Cauvery Times (a Kannada paper) for the articles published in May and June 2020, they had written against the DC. A police complaint was filed against Vasanth, a reporter, and the editor of Cauvery Times by an official in the DC office. Annies Joy was criticized for this action. Handling of the post-lockdown rules of designated red and green zones was the cause of criticism. Reportedly, it was supposed through an unidentified letter that the DC and the then SP of the district were misusing disaster relief funds.

• In 2021, Annies Kanmani Joy went on leave; she applied for leave till the end of the year. She said in an interview that she would resume work at the end of the year, and she was on leave to spend some time with her daughter and husband in the US. She said,
  

  I have had a successful two-year tenure in Kodagu as Deputy Commissioner. Thank you everyone for the support and warmth provided. The beautiful memories in Kodagu will be cherished forever. I made the request for a break. I am leaving to spend time with my family and my daughter Apoorva. I will be returning to service later this year in a new role.”

• Annies Kanmani Joy has also banned the felling and transportation of timber. She battled against the notorious timber mafia in Kodagu district.

• Annies Joy’s success story from being a nurse to an IAS officer was covered by many renowned newspapers.
  

  Annies in a Newspaper article