HYDERABAD: In a major shake up of bureaucracy, the State government shifted as many as 23 IAS officers on Friday night. GHMC Special Officer Somesh Kumar, considered close to the powers-that-be, was shunted out even as a decision by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) on his cadre allotment is pending.
A 1989 batch IAS officer, Somesh, who was hand-picked for the key post of the GHMC from the tribal welfare department two years ago, has been sent back to the same department. He has been replaced by B Janardhan Reddy, HMWSSB Managing Director and CDMA Commissioner.
Among other key transfers, one was that of HMDA Metropolitan Commissioner Shalini Mishra who has been posted to the General Administration Department (GAD) while Panchayat Raj Secretary Raymond Peter is posted as Chief Commissioner, CCLA. This assumes significance as Chief Secretary Rajiv Sharma is going to retire in February next and going by tradition, it is the CCLA Commissioner who often get the top job of the Chief Secretary. It remains to be seen if the Chief Minister will follow this tradition.
Likewise, Suresh Chanda, secretary of Medical and Health Department, too has been transferred to a non-focal post. Chanda is said to have invited the wrath of the powers-that-be after he differed with the government over a few proposals.
However, the talk among the babus is the abrupt end to Somesh Kumar’s run at the GHMC. Somesh Kumar completed two years as GHMC’s top man just last week. In these two years, he drew flak from various quarters, including cabinet ministers, MPs and MLAs, for not living up to their expectations with regard to development works in Greater Hyderabad limits. Many charged him with failure in making an impact though a lot of hype was being created.
The deletion of names of 4.77 lakh voters from electoral rolls evoked public outrage as well as criticism from all political parties. Some of the parties have even lodged complaints against the Commissioner with the Election Commission. The Commission subsequently deputed a 14-member team to look into deletion of lakhs of names from the electoral rolls under the GHMC limits.
In fact, former Congress MLA, M Shashidhar has been urging the Commission to inquire into the allegations and relieve the Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Bhanwar Lal and GHMC Special Officer and DEO Somesh Kumar from their responsibilities. The Opposition has been alleging that the TRS has set an agenda of mass deletion of names from the voters’ list.
The prestigious Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP) for hassle-free traffic movement in the Hyderabad also got delayed by about six months. A majority of former corporators also complained against Somesh for not implementing development works in their divisions.
As for HMDA Metropolitan Commisisoner Shalini Mishra, the issue of not reinstating outsourcing workers despite instructions proved to be the last straw.
New Tasks for Shalini, Raymond
HMDA Metropolitan Commissioner Shalini Mishra has been shifted to the General Administration Department (GAD) while Panchayat Raj Secretary Raymond Peter is posted as Chief Commissioner, CCLA.