Has Telangana become a rehabilitation center for retired judges and bureaucrats of AP under the Congress rule? Are they assigning the responsibilities of key institutions in the state to those with AP roots as if there are no eligible people in Telangana? Are they somehow providing shelter to them in Telangana in the name of a ‘key’ person from AP?
These are the questions that are creating uproar among Telangana Congress circles over the appointment of AP-based people by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy in nominated posts. They are suspecting only to please his former `political boss’ and AP Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, he is accommodating such persons.
Appointing people with Andhra Pradesh roots to key positions and influential institutions in Telangana has become a common practice recently. There has already been a big uproar over the appointment of AP-based Adityanath Das as the advisor to the Telangana Irrigation Department.
It is also learnt that the post of Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Tribunal Chairman is also likely to be assigned to a person from AP soon. The Chief Minister is also reportedly planning to appoint another person who held key positions in the AP government as the RTI Commissioner.
Recently, the Revanth Reddy government appointed former AP High Court judge Dr. Sivashankar Rao as the Chairman of the State and District Police Complaint Authority. His hometown is Sakurru village in Amalapuram mandal of East Godavari district.
Though he completed a Master’s degree in Commerce, a Master’s degree in Law from Kakatiya University, he did his PhD in Law from Acharya Nagarjuna University.
He was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Judicature in Hyderabad for the states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.Apart from Dr. Sivashankar Rao, is there no retired judge with Telangana roots to be appointed as the Chairman of the State and District Police Complaint Authority? The question is being asked loudly.
Justice Sambasiva Rao from AP has been appointed as the Chairman of the State Pollution Control Board (PCB) Appellate Authority. Although he served as a judge of the Telangana High Court, his AP roots have become controversial.
Meanwhile, while two more members were to be appointed in this authority, a dispute arose over one member and a deadlock has been ongoing for almost a month. Due to this, the appointment orders of the PCB Appellate Authority have been stalled.
Recently, Dr. B. Kishore, a retired IAS officer with Andhra roots, was appointed as a member of the State Human Rights Commission. He did M.Sc. Agriculture and LLB as an IAS and served AP in various departments including as an ex-officio member of the TTD.
Usually, the post of member of the Human Rights Commission is given to social activists. It is very rare to give it to bureaucrats. However, the appointment of Dr. Kishore has become controversial, as it is claimed that none of the locals have any understanding of human rights and issues in Telangana.
