Frequent transfers hitting governance in Telangana: Harish Rao

HYDERABAD

BRS Legislative Assembly Party vice president and former minister T. Harish Rao accused the Congress government of destabilizing the Telangana administration through unprecedented and reckless transfers of senior officials. He found fault with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy for these transfers and advised the government to be against such constant replacement of All India Services (AIS) officers.

During an informal chat with the media at Telangana Bhavan on Wednesday, Mr. Rao said the government has made five major rounds of transfers so far, leaving department heads with an average tenure of less than eight months. He pointed out that 140 IAS officers and 20 District Collectors, including four Collectors in Ranga Reddy district alone, have been shifted.

He said the electrical department had seen five leadership changes in two years, causing ‘turmoil’ and affecting service delivery. “Four officers each have been transferred to SCCL, GHMC, I&PR and many other departments. This government is damaging the morale of young officials. Collectors need time to understand the areas, but they are moved within months,” he said.

He criticized the Congress government for extending the services of retired IAS, IPS officers and hundreds of engineers. “Corruption is increasing in engineering departments due to retired officials holding key positions,” he alleged.

Questioning the decision to entrust the Chief Secretary with the additional charge as IT Secretary, he said it is not possible to manage both effectively. He also accused the government of keeping 80% of Government Orders (GOs) offline despite Supreme Court directives and asked why the State’s education policy was removed from the official website.

The former minister alleged irregularities in mining activities linked to people close to the Prime Minister, claiming that a stationary crushing plant was set up illegally in Neopolis despite restrictions.