Eye on 2019, Telangana CM to shake up babudom

Hyderabad: A major reshuffle of IAS and IPS officers in TS is on the cards.  The reshuffle is expected to take place ahead of the TRS government completing its second year in office on June 2.

The last reshuffle was done in April 2015, more than a year ago. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao wants a complete overhaul of the administration with officers who can deliver results in the next three years to be appointed in key posts so that the targets of the government are met in the run-up to the 2019 elections.

Mr Rao had expressed displeasure at the functioning of some IAS officers and district collectors during last week’s collectors’ conference, in the presence of Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma. Mr Rao was upset at the slow pace of works pertaining to Mission Bhagiratha and Mission Kakatiya, both flagship programmes of TRS government.

He had said the ideal season to expedite these works was summer but the district collectors had completely failed in ensuring smooth progress of the schemes in this crucial period due to their ‘indecisiveness’ on various issues in securing forest and other clearances.

The CM was also unhappy at the functioning of housing and agriculture departments, where the works were not moving beyond the files giving indications that there was an urgent need to set right the things by overhauling the entire administration.

“CM could not focus on overhaul of administration in the last two years. The bifurcation of IAS and IPS officers between TS and AP took one year and the second year went for planning the schemes and priorities of government.

The coming three years are crucial for the government as it has to deliver results to win confidence of the people before the 2019 elections. The CM wants an efficient administrative mechanism to be in place at state and district-levels to meet the targets of government and the fresh reshuffle is planned in this direction,” said a CMO official. While some officers would be rewarded with plum posts in the reshuffle, those who failed to perform would be shifted to insignificant departments.