Senior IAS officer Neerabh Kumar Prasad appointed Andhra Pradesh chief secretary
Neerabh Kumar Prasad thanked Chandrababu Naidu for the opportunity and vowed to do his best to implement the new government’s development and welfare programmes
HYDERABAD: Neerabh Kumar Prasad, a 1987 batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, took charge as Andhra Pradesh’s chief secretary on Friday, hours after the state government appointed him as the state’s top bureaucrat to replace KS Jawahar Reddy.
Reddy, a 1990-batch IAS officer, went on leave on Thursday after meeting Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu, who is going to take over as the next chief minister on June 12. Reddy turned 60 on June 2 and is due to retire by the end of this month.
The 1987 batch officer was previously serving as Andhra Pradesh’s special chief secretary in charge of the environment, forest, science & technology departments.
Prasad thanked Chandrababu Naidu for the opportunity and vowed to do his best to implement the new government’s development and welfare programmes
The state government has also transferred three other senior IAS officers, Poonam Malakondaiah, R Muthyala Raju and Narayan Bharat Gupta, who held important positions in the outgoing YS Jagan Mohan Reddy government. The officials have been told to report to the general administration department.
People familiar with the matter said the state government has decided not to relieve bureaucrats and top police officials who came to the state on deputation during the Jagan Mohan Reddy regime.
Among the officers who have asked the government to relieve them are Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams executive officer A V Dharma Reddy, AP State Fibernet Limited managing director Madhusudhan Reddy, AP state mineral development corporation MD V G Venkat Reddy, state information commissioner Tumma Vijay Kumar Reddy, AP state beverages corporation MD Vasudeva Reddy, state industries corporation MD Ch Rajeshwar Reddy and inspector general of stamps and registration Ramakrishna.
Some officials have also applied for inter-state transfer. For example, the special chief secretary of finance department SS Rawat and the special chief secretary of municipal administration Y Srilakshmi have requested to be shifted to the Telangana cadre.
“However, the government rejected all their applications and asked them to stay put in their respective departments, till Naidu takes over as the chief minister and takes stock of the situation,” an official in the state secretariat said on condition of anonymity.
The government also decided not to grant leave to the top bureaucrats, pending inquiry into their alleged acts of omission and commission during the previous regime.
On Thursday, the government ordered the removal of all advisors appointed by the previous government in various fields with immediate effect. Some of them, including advisor (public affairs) Sajjala Ramakrishna Reddy, national media advisor Devulapalli Amar, information advisor GVD Krishna Mohan and principal advisor to CM Ajay Kallam already resigned within hours of the YSRCP losing the elections on Tuesday.
Similarly, chairman of the state council of higher education Hemachandra Reddy, TTD chairman Bhumana Karunakara Reddy, additional advocate general Ponnavolu Sudhakar Reddy, state public prosecutor Yarram Reddy Nagi Reddy and additional public prosecutor Dushyant Reddy also submitted their resignations.