Telangana State Likely to See Reshuffle of Senior IAS Officers

Hyderabad: The Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) rejecting the pleas of five IAS officers on Tuesday who sought to continue their current stay in Telangana, and in AP in one case, is most likely to set the stage for a potential reshuffle of senior IAS officers on Wednesday.

The five officers are planning to file a lunch motion petition with the High Court on Wednesday, challenging the DoPT’s directive to report to AP on Wednesday. However, if the High Court refuses to stay the order, the officers will be required to report to AP on Wednesday, as per the deadline.

Four of these officers, originally from the Andhra Pradesh (AP) cadre but currently serving in Telangana, have been directed by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) to report back to the AP government by October 16.

They officials include GHMC commissioner Amrapali Kata, energy secretary D. Ronald Rose, tourism secretary A. Vani Prasad, and women & child development secretary Vakati Karuna. Though forests and environment secretary M. Prashanti is also affected, she did not challenge the DoPT’s order in the tribunal.

Additionally, Srijana Gummala, serving as the collector of NTR district in Andhra Pradesh, was allotted to the Telangana cadre but had been working in AP. She, too, approached CAT, requesting to continue her service in AP. Hplea was also rejected. Srijana now has to report to the Telangana government by Wednesday, necessitating a new posting for her in the state.

IAS officers Chevuri Hari Kiran and Lotheti Siva Sankar, who are currently serving in AP, also need to report to Telangana on Wednesday.

In such a scenario, the Telangana government will need to immediately appoint replacements for these key positions, leading to a significant reshuffle within the state administration.