Over 45 IAS and IPS officers were transferred in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday in continuing rejig in administration by new Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Several bureaucrats considered close to previous government of N. Chandrababu Naidu were either shunted to insignificant posts or asked to report to General Administration Department for further postings.
Chief Secretary L V Subrahmanyam issued four different orders, transferring 41 IAS, four IPS and two IFS officers.
This is the largest number of officials transferred since Jagan Reddy took over as the Chief Minister on May 30, following massive victory of his YSR Congress Party in the Assembly elections.
D. Gautam Sawang, Director General, Vigilance and Enforcement & Ex-officio Principal Secretary, was transferred and posted as Chairman, A.P. Road Safety Authority. He will continue in full additional charge of the post of Director General of Police.
Immediately after assuming office, Jagan Reddy had shunted out DGP R. P. Thakur and in his place appointed Gautam Sawang as the police chief. He had also shunted out four key officials from Chief Minister's Office and they are still waiting for new postings.
Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary, Energy, Infrastructure and Investment Department was transferred and directed to report to the General Administration Department for further posting. He was one of the key officials considered close to Naidu.
The government appointed Ram Prakash Sisodia, Principal Secretary, Tribal Welfare as Principal Secretary, (Political), General Administration Department in place of Srikant Nagulapalli.
K. Vijayanand, Managing Director, Andhra Pradesh Power Generation Corporation (APGENCO), was transferred and directed to report to the General Administration Department for further posting.
Mukesh Kumar Meena, Commissioner, Prohibition & Excise and M.D, A.P. Beverages Corporation Ltd, was also transferred and posted as Secretary, Social Welfare Department.
In other key transfer, Dr. P.Lakshminarasimham, Secretary, Services & HRM, General Administration Department, was transferred and posted as the Commissioner, Capital Region Development Authority. Dr C. Sridhar, who was holding the post, was directed to report to the General Administration Department for further posting.
Peeyush Kumar, Secretary, Finance Department was posted as Commissioner, Commercial Taxes.
Barring Krishna, Kadapa, Srikakulam and Vijayanagaram, collectors of remaining seven districts were also transferred.
Ajeya Kallam reinstated
In another major development, retired IAS officer and former Andhra Pradesh Chief Secretary Ajeya Kallam was appointed as the Chief Minister's principal advisor and he will now hold the rank of a cabinet minister.
Kallam, who retired as the Chief Secretary in 2017, will be head of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) and allot the subjects between secretaries of CMO. He will be authorised to call for advice from across the departments and all advisors of the government will also be accountable to him, says the order.
According to the GO, the term of appointment of Kallam will be initially for three years and he will be paid a fixed remuneration of Rs 2.5 lakh per month.
After his retirement, Kallam had come out publicly to criticise Naidu, accusing the former CM of corruption, especially where the construction of capital Amaravati was concerned.
Meanwhile, the government also issued orders for creation of nine posts in the office of the Principal Advisor.
IANS inputs
