Handing over appointment letters to 922 recruits for the panchayat raj and rural development, the CM advised them to uphold sincerity, honesty and commitment
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy turned teacher for the day, delivering an unconventional yet thought-provoking lesson on government service at the Ravindra Bharathi. Handing over appointment letters to 922 recruits for the panchayat raj and rural development, the CM advised them to uphold sincerity, honesty and commitment. Revanth highlighted public perception of government employees, stating, “in the first 10 years, officers are ‘garam’ (strict and honest), then become ‘naram’ (soft), and later, some turn ‘besharam’ (shameless) by indulging in corruption.” His candid remarks drew laughter from the audience but also visible contemplation. Encouraging recruits to break this stereotype, Revanth urged them to work with integrity, ensuring a positive image for themselves and the government. His offbeat speech not only entertained but also served as a wake-up call for ethical governance.
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Santhi Kumari sets the bar high as CS
With retirement of Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari just a month away, the Chief Minister's camp is a worried lot. Though she was appointed by his predecessor, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy continued her for her full tenure. She has paid back by leading the state administration effectively. A tough lady, Santhi Kumari shouldered the entire responsibility as the Chief Minister's Office took time to get to grips with the administration. Even today, some officials who could not get things done on their own depend on the CS. If what a little birdie has to say is true, the CS burns the midnight oil to ensure that every programme to be graced by the Chief Minister, be it in the capital or outside, goes off smoothly. The CM camp is hoping that finance special CS K. Ramakrishna Rao, who is all set to take over the baton, proves the right successor.
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Where did secret funds go, cop wonders
Information costs money, and so do informants. And security forces typically have an off-the-book budget just for such purposes as intelligence gathering is a task that is best done in the shadows. So, for years, officials in anti-Maoist and anti-terrorist wings had ‘petty cash’ for this purpose, which apparently is not really that petty. Recently the state government allocated Rs 15 lakh to Rs 20 lakh to each security wing including the Greyhounds, Intelligence and Special Intelligence Bureau involved in combating anti-social elements. But then, like a good cop ought to be, a senior IPS officer had a whiff of something amiss, and sought details of how the money was being spent over the past 10 years. There are suspicions that not all the off-budget cash was spent the way it was meant to, and now those in charge of those amounts are reportedly scrambling to their accounts in order.
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Musi panel’s website just vanishes
After all the sound and fury, the Musi River Development Corporation Limited appears to have perfected the art of saying nothing. First, anyone seeking any answers about the Musi project gets the run around. Now, even the fundamentals of the project have disappeared with the MRDCL website musi.telangana.gov.in vanishing into some unfathomable depth of the online equivalent of a black hole. Officials claim that the website is down and will be up soon after a revamp, but none has an idea when. This, if whispers doing the rounds are anything to go by, is to keep at bay any person seeking an answer that the MRDCL does not have. Maybe those in the corporation read Eliot’s ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’, where fear of scrutiny leads to near-paralysis.
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BRS loss still cuts deep… ask KTR
The BRS appears to be still smarting from the drubbing it received in the last Assembly elections. Party leaders have been resorting to sarcasm on this topic, something that gets displayed every now and then, as was the case in Suryapet the other day when BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao thanked the people of Nalgonda district for electing Komatireddy Venkat Reddy and N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, now ministers, and for them saying that the drying up of crops was not the making of the Congress government but that of nature, and for refusing to take responsibility to ensure irrigation water reached standing crops. Previously too, KTR, responding to shouts of “CM, CM..” at a meeting in Choutuppal, told the crowd there was no use raising such slogans after not voting for BRS candidates in 11 of the 12 seats in the combined Nalgonda district. Some cuts do run deep, and it appears BRS leaders are nowhere near healing after being excised out of power.
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Nagababu’s fandom could fan dissent
Politics is as much about performance as it is about perception. But when the latter takes the centrestage, problems where there were none can crop up, particularly among allies, as it turning out in Andhra Pradesh. The case in point? Jana Sena leader and actor Nagababu’s recent comments in Chitrada in Pithapuram constituency that is represented by party supremo and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan. Nagababu, in his inimitable manner, said Pawan’s victory in the election was a result of his image, and, in the process, stirred a hornet’s nest of sorts. Jana Sena’s ally, the TD, the primary partner in the ruling coalition in AP, was askance and its cadres in the constituency immediately took objection to Nagababu’s claims, straining the already wobbly ties between the two sides in Pithapuram.
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Mithun tries to cork the genie
There is always the possible slip between the cup and the lip. If it happens to be a liquor-filled cup, there could also be a hiccup or two. After seeing himself embroiled in the ongoing probe into the liquor purchase decision of the then YSRC government, Rajampet MP P.V. Mithun Reddy has sought anticipatory bail, turning heads faster than a free liquor coupon at a political rally. Mithun insists he’s being falsely implicated, and that, as an MP, he had no say in state policies. But with officials scrutinising distilleries linked to his family, Mithun began his efforts to cork any case against him in the early stages.
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Vizag’s mystery of many son rises
Like father, like son. Politics is of course a matter of public service, and for some, can also be a family enterprise. Nothing wrong in following the parent’s footsteps but the number of political heirs in AP continues to bemuse folks with examples such as MLA from Bheemli, Ganta Srinivasa Rao, Visakhapatnam East MLA Velagapudi Ramakrishna Babu, Visakhapatnam North MLA Vishnu Kumar Raju, and Vizag West MLA Ganababu. The question doing the rounds is what is that is special about Vizag that it sees such a successful strike rate by sons following their fathers in the political arena.
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Stars shudder in betting apps spotlight
Movie stars are in some ways, gamblers, betting on the success of their films hoping that every movie of theirs rocks the box office. With public adulation and following, actors, apparently, cannot stay away from seeking to exert influence on society, though for a nice little fee, endorsing products and services. The crackdown on betting apps in Telangana has suddenly brought focus on several actors for promoting such apps, seen as the cause of several suicides in the state in the past few months, with users getting addicted to online gambling and incurring heavy losses. Even as the Pushpa 2 movie’s tragic special show involving Allu Arjun that resulted in the death of a mother and continued hospitalisation of her son remains fresh in the minds of people, comes the crackdown on actors for promoting betting apps. Among those facing scrutiny now are actors and social media ‘influencers’ Rana Naidu, Vijay Devarakonda, Prakash Raj, Manchu Laxmi, Shyamala, Ananya Nagalla, Shobha Shetti, Ritu Chowdhry, Nidhi Agarwal, and Vishnu Priya. Stars love the limelight, but when it comes to the spotlight of social ills, the jury’s verdict on how they behave is still out.
Contributed by Avinash P. Subramanyam, Aruna, L. Venkat Ram Reddy, N. Vamsi Srinivas, Neeraj Kumar, Mouli Mareedu, Mrittika Banerjee, P. Srinivas, Vadrevu Srinivas
