Andhra Pradesh’s top babu looks for ‘leakers’ in his office

VIJAYAWADA: Chief Secretary L.V. Subrahmanyam has started an inquiry to identify officials said to be “leaking” information about the goings-on in his office to the Chief Minister’s Office. This come just a day after Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu took umbrage at Mr Subrahmanyam’s absence from his review meeting.

According to reports, some officials were relaying information from the Chief Secretary’s review meetings to the CMO.

Citing an instance, sources said that Mr Subrahmanyam had recently conducted a review meeting about a corporate hospital in Nellore demanding the organs of a brain dead patient in lieu of the bill payment. The matter was leaked.

Information of several other review meetings also leaked to the CMO, sources said, which left officials at the Chief Secretary’s office worried. According to sources, Mr Subrahmanyam himself found some persons leaking information and had decided to take action.

Further, Mr Subrahmanyam had ordered an inquiry into alleged double payments in the Comprehensive Financial Management System and into payments of bills to contractors and firms by the finance department, which the Chief Minister’s Office reportedly tried to stop.

Sources claimed that Mr Naidu had tried to stop Mr Subrahmanyam from holding reviews meetings by lodging complaints with the Election Commission but in vain.

Mr Naidu has been critical of Mr Subrahmanyam from the time he was appointed by the Election Commission. He has called the official an accused in the quid pro quo cases of YSRC president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, something that has angered IAS officials.

Officials are worried that the tussle between Mr Naidu and Mr Subrahmanyam will split the bureaucracy into two groups which would not good for the administration.