With Telangana’s seniormost bureaucrat Shanti Kumari nearing retirement this month, talk is rife of her impending move to a constitutional position. According to sources, the state government is favorably considering appointing her as Chief Information Commissioner.
A very important meeting was recently conducted by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, along with Deputy CM Bhatti Vikramarka, Assembly Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, and Council Chairman Gutha Sukhender Reddy, to discuss appointments to key constitutional posts. Even opposition chief K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) received an invitation but was conspicuous in his absence during the meeting.
The panel directed its focus to filling in the vacancies such as that of Lokayukta, Upa-Lokayukta, members of the Human Rights Commission, and that of the State Information Commission. A broad consensus was also reached on the deliberations, it is said, and the name of Shanti Kumari surfaced as the favorite to join as an Information Commissioner.
Shanti Kumari was appointed Chief Secretary of Telangana on January 11, 2023, following a court directive under which her predecessor Somesh Kumar was repatriated to the Andhra Pradesh cadre. In spite of a change in the state government, CM Revanth Reddy extended her tenure, recognizing her experience and administrative skills.
While approaching her retirement deadline, veteran IAS officer K. Ramakrishna Rao is highly speculatively supposed to take the Chief Secretary’s position. 1991 batch Telangana cadre officer Ramakrishna Rao has steered the finances of the state and has introduced 10 budgets till date. He was even Director General, Centre for Good Governance, also demonstrating his leadership in policy-making.
The position of Chief Information Commissioner has remained vacant since 2023, and the expected appointment of Shanti Kumari is likely to give a boost to the working of the Right to Information (RTI) Act in Telangana.
