The government of Telangana on Tuesday allotted subjects to the newly appointed advisors, including four former bureaucrats, to guide the newly formed State.
Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma, in the order on Tuesday, said the government has decided to appoint R. Vidyasagar as advisor on irrigation, A. K. Goel (planning), A. Ramalaxman (welfare), B. V. Papa Rao (policy issue and infrastructure development), K. V. Ramana Chary (culture, tourism, endowment, youth and media related issues) and G. R. Reddy (finance) for a period of one year.
Mr. Vidyasagar Rao, an irrigation expert, during his wide ranging professional experience spanning over 38 years worked as Commissioner in Ministry of Water Resources, Chief Engineer at National Water Development Agency and Director at Central Water Commission. He worked as consultant to the United Nations Environmental Programme at Nairobi (Kenya) and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). He was one of the key advisors to the TRS chief on irrigation issues.
Chief Minister of Telangana K.Chandrasekhar Rao chose to bring into his team four former bureaucrats including Mr. Ramanachary, who also hails from his native Medak district.
Till his entry into the TRS, Mr. Ramanachary was advisor to the State government on cultural affairs during N. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s regime. He held high-profile positions in the State government, including Executive Officer of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams and Commissioner of Information and Public Relations.
Mr .Goel, a 1974 batch IAS officer hailing from North India, retired in 2010 and joined the TRS. Mr. Ramalaxman retired from the civil services in 2004 has been associated with the TRS.
Mr. Papa Rao, who retired as Home Secretary of Assam and earlier worked with United Nations, came into limelight in 2012 when he filed a criminal case against the then Minor Irrigation Minister T. G. Venkatesh for making ‘inflammatory and provocative’ statements against bureaucrats and exhorting people to shoot public servants, whose performance was not up to the mark.
Other advisor G. R. Reddy is a former Indian Economic Service officer.
