Hyderabad: Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao (KCR) is likely to rearrange IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers after January 5, when the Election Commission of India (ECI) publishes the final electoral rolls for the assembly elections scheduled for December 2023.
The reshuffle will reportedly be covering IAS officers from collectors to secretaries, principal secretaries, and special chief secretaries.
The state government has reportedly submitted a list of 25 senior officials working in non-revenue agencies who are eligible for the IAS cadre to the Centre’s Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT).
Five non-revenue employees would be conferred IAS status this month for the first time in Telangana’s history.
The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has appointed a committee that will conduct personal interviews with 25 candidates and will shortlist five for the IAS posts.
Non-revenue officials working with ministers as OSD (officer on special duty) and PS (personal secretary), as well as three women officials, are among the candidates on the list for conferring IAS status.
The last major reshuffle happened on February 3, 2020, when the government transferred 50 IAS officers at one go, including collectors to various districts.
KCR and chief secretary Somesh Kumar had earlier held a series of meetings to discuss and finalise the reshuffling of IAS officers soon after the Munugode Assembly bypoll result on November 6.
They planned to form an ‘election team’ in order to fast-track administration for the effective implementation of welfare schemes and development programmes.
The government has put the process on hold since the EC would not allow the government to transfer collectors during the period of summary revision of electoral rolls.
Currently, several critical departments lack full-time secretaries, commissioners, or directors, and these roles are held by incharges.
Somesh Kumar handles additional responsibilities of all main revenue-generating departments, including revenue, registration, stamps, excise, and commercial taxes at present.
He further holds the additional charge of chief commissioner of land administration (CCLA) in addition to being the chairperson of the TS Real Estate Regulatory Authority.
So far, four districts have no collectors with incharges from other districts taking care of the department.
A few IAS officers have remained in the same positions since the formation of Telangana in 2014.
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