Thiru becomes IISD chairman

DAMMAM: Forty-one-year-old Thiru K.M. from Tamil Nadu was unanimously elected chairman of the International Indian School-Dammam (IISD) managing committee on Wednesday night.
In a remarkable show of unity, all newly elected members of the committee — Mohammed Farooque, Khurshid Anwer, Abdulla Manjeri, Shamshad Ahmed, Raju Kurian and Hakeem Dowla — expressed full confidence in the new chairman.
Thiru emerged as the most popular candidate having won the highest number of votes (1,654) in the April 26 election. Besides being an engineering graduate from Madurai’s Kamraj University, he also holds an MBA degree in project management from Alagappa University. He has been in the Kingdom since March 1998 working for the Al-Suhaimi Group Holding as division manager.
Manjeri, who was being seen as potential claimant for chairmanship, was the one to propose Thiru’s name for the top post. The other five members followed suit and raised their hands in Thiru’s support. The chairman’s tenure is for one year.
The whole exercise was peaceful, smooth and without any rancor. In attendance at the meeting among others were Principal E.K. Mohammed Shaffe, Ministry of Education’s Senior Supervisor Mubarak Bubshait, Indian Embassy’s Ashok Warrier and members of the previous committee. Later, outgoing Chairman John Thomas formally handed over the charge to Thiru.
The new chairman is seen as a clean and noncontroversial candidate. Those close to him describe him as gentle but firm. He enjoys immense good will among all sections of the Indian community, especially Tamils.
Speaking to Arab News yesterday, Thiru was extremely humble and grateful to all those who voted for him. “I am very happy to serve the school and the community, this is a great honor for me,” he said.
He promised to look into all critical issues. “Our priority and mission will be improvement in all areas,” he said. “Consensus will be our hallmark… We will take all elected members into confidence before taking key decisions. Since the parents have elected seven best members to lead the school, they will get the best out of us.”
He said he would always welcome feedback from the parents. “We promise to listen to their voices at all times and, most important, we will lend an ear to the school staff as well as community elders and intellectuals for the betterment of our institution,” said Thiru.
The new managing committee’s term will expire in April 2015.