“Precept and practice match here” – Those who visit the Telangana Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma’s office are sure to say this. With the State facing an acute shortage in power supply leading to load shedding and power supply holidays for industries, the Chief Secretary took a conscious decision to order stopping of all air conditioners in his office.
Those visiting him sure would notice that it’s somewhat stuffy in the Chief Secretary’s office. The room meant for visitors to wait is somewhat better as windows are opened and there is some cross ventilation. Sharma would somewhat apologetically tell his visitors that it was his decision to order switching off of the air-conditioners as he wanted to set an example to his subordinates. How many have followed him in this regard is a moot point.
Shocker for bureaucracy
The bureaucracy in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana was shocked on Thursday when it learnt that Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent back the list of IAS, IPS and forest service officers distributed between the two States to the Pratyush Sinha committee that undertook the job. This was the second time Mr. Modi rejected the list prepared by the panel.
A senior IAS official who was in the know of things said the Prime Minister was not happy with the committee frequently changing the norms for cadre allotment. He also enquired why the changes were effected.
The committee had modified the list four times and referred its final recommendations to the Department of Personnel and Training in the first week of November. After Mr. Modi returned the recommendations, the committee again convened a meeting of the Chief Secretaries of the two States in New Delhi on Friday to address the displeasure of the Prime Minister.
Finance Department officials a happy lot
The IAS officers heading the finance department are a relieved lot at the conclusion of the budget session of Telangana Assembly.
They are happy that the Finance Bill was passed by the Assembly in the manner it was drafted by them. This was the first time allocations were made to all sectors to ground election promises of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
“We passed on hundreds of notes to the Finance Minister and others from the officers box in the Assembly to let them clarify the points raised by members,” a senior official said on the painstaking efforts taken by them to prepare the budget and get it passed.
IAS officers in for surprise
IAS officers who are eyeing plum posts in the establishments of Telangana were in for a surprise when a middle level non-IAS officer of State-run corporation was elevated to the top post. This was not an isolated case as such proposals were mooted in several other State-level organisations where bifurcation is not yet complete. This led some of the IAS officers to lobby for the top slot in such places.
