Telugu Desam Party (TDP) MLC Buddha Venkanna has alleged that the State government is “harassing and frequently transferring” IAS and other senior civil servants.
The civil servants were being transferred and posted at the whims and fancies of the ruling party leaders and in utter disregard for the Constitution, he alleged while addressing the media here on Monday.
‘Unconstitutional’
Mr. Venkanna said it was unconstitutional on the part of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy to use civil servants by denying them their constitutional roles. The Chief Minister’s advisers were acting as “extra-constitutional authorities with unlimited powers”.
Civil servants such as L.V. Subrahmanyam, Nimmagadda Ramesh Kumar, P.V. Ramesh and Jasthi Krishna Kishore faced harassment and victimisation. The Chief Minister was not conscious of the fact that the IAS officers were appointed at the national level and that they were bound to act by the Constitution. “Only out of ignorance, Mr. Reddy has appointed 33 advisors to run an extra-constitutional government without involving civil servants, Ministers or departmental heads in the decision-making process,” he said.
It was because of Mr. Reddy’s reluctance to follow the advice of IAS officers that his government’s decisions suffered strictures from the courts for over 60 times. Still Mr. Reddy did not change and was continuing to undermine IAS officers, he said.