HYDERABAD: In a sudden development, senior IPS officer and secretary of Telangana Social and Tribal Welfare Residential Educational Institutions
(TSWREIS) R.S. Praveen Kumar announced his voluntary retirement from
the service on Monday, six years prior to his superannuation.
His sudden resignation triggered speculations that the Centre wants Praveen Kumar to be repatriated to the police department immediately as he has been discharging non-IPS duties for the past 10 years since 2011 when he was appointed as secretary of residential schools in Undivided AP. The Centre reportedly asked the state government to transfer him immediately else it would be forced to take action.
Praveen was reportedly upset at this and decided to quit the service on his own. However, his resignation also triggered 'political speculation' that the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) is all set to field him as its candidate for upcoming Huzurabad bypoll.
Praveen Kumar, though controversial for his recent anti-Hindu pledge, is hugely popular among the Dalit communities. Speculation is also rife that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao wants to utilise his services in TRS for effective implementation of his newly-launched Dalita Bandhu scheme. The scheme is being launched by the Chief Minister soon from Huzurabad itself.
Rumour mills are abuzz that the TRS leadership feels that he would be
the best candidate to take on Etala Rajendar. Praveen Kumar has great
credibility as an honest official and his anti-Naxal activities have endeared him to large sections of the society.
Praveen Kumar’s close relative Metuku Anand is an MLA from Vikarabad. For the last two days, Metuku Anand is said to have met Chandrashekar Rao at least twice and discussed several issues. The name of Praveen Kumar may have come up during the discussion, sources say.
However, Praveen Kumar dismissed reports on contesting Huzurabad bypoll. Speaking to the media, he said, "I have no intention to contest Huzurabad bypoll. I cannot comment on my political entry at this stage."
The unexpected resignation of Praveen Kumar, fondly known as ‘Gurukul hero’ and ‘Swaeroes hero’, who led the trailblazing tribal and social welfare residential institution movement in undivided Andhra Pradesh earlier and Telangana now, came as a big shock to thousands of students and staff in gurukul institutions across the state.
“After 26 years of serving the motherland as an IPS officer, I have applied today for voluntary retirement to pursue my passion for social justice and equality with more vigour at my own pace. I thank you all for standing by me throughout my career. (sic),” the 1995 batch additional director general of police rank officer announced on Twitter. He said he had mailed his resignation letter to chief secretary Somesh Kumar.
The Telangana social welfare residential schools led by Praveen Kumar hit the national headlines, when one of its students Malavath Poorna from Nizamabad became the youngest girl in the world to scale Mount Everest on May 25, 2014, at the age of 13 years and 11 months.
Bollywood director Rahul Bose made a biopic on this girl, titled “Poorna” in 2017, which received critical acclaim. The students of social welfare institutions have been excelling in academics, on par with any other corporate colleges. Every year, several students are securing seats in MBBS, IITs, NITs, besides getting admissions in prestigious institutions like Delhi University, Tata Institute of Social Sciences etc.
