The Andhra government on Friday appointed 1990 Indian Administrative Services (IAS) batch officer Jawahar Reddy as Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam (TTD) Executive Officer (EO).

This comes a week after transfer of former EO Anil Kumar Singhal. Following Anil Kumar's transfer, Additional EO Dharma Reddy was made in-charge for a brief period before Jawahar Reddy was appointed.

The order issued by Chief Secretary Nilam Sawhney said that Dr K S Jawahar Reddy, IAS (1990) Special Chief Secretary to Government Health Medical and Family Welfare department is transferred and his services are placed at the disposal of Revenue (Endowments) Department to post him as Executive Officer, Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams.

Jawahar Reddy was offering his services as Special Chief Secretary of Medical, Health and Family department prior to this. The government has appointed Anil Kumar as Principal Secretary of Medical, Health and Family Welfare.

1993 batch IAS officer Anil Kumar was Resident Commissioner in Delhi for the Andhra government. He was appointed in May 2017 as TTD EO by the then Chandrababu Naidu government and his tenure was extended for a year in 2019 by the Jagan Mohan Reddy government. 

His appointment as the EO had created an uproar among the bureaucrats and devotees, as he was the first IAS officer from north India to be given the post.  

The tenure of Anil Kumar has rocked the TTD with controversies ranging from the alleged missing jewels of Lord Venkateswara, hereditary rights of archakas, removal of chief priest AV Ramana Deekshitulu and the more recent proposed auction of temple lands.

The opposition used certain incidents to attack YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led YSRCP government over temple affairs and other issues.