The race for the coveted Chief Secretary post is hotting up with incumbent Dinesh Kumar’s retirement due by month end. Though many names are in circulation, Special Chief Secretary L. V. Subrahmanyam and Chief Commissioner of Land Administration (CCLA) Anil Chandra Punetha are believed to be the top contenders.
Mr. Dinesh Kumar assumed the CS office in April 2017. A decision on his successor would be taken after Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu returns from the U.S. tour on September 28.
Mr. Punetha is said to be confident of securing the top post. Till recently, there was a tittle-tattle that Mr. Subrahmanyam was keen on joining the Central services. But sources say he had met the Chief Minister requesting him to consider his seniority for the post.
As per the speculation in the government and political circles, the government may consider Mr. Punetha for the post. But a pressure lobby of Telugu officers seems to be building up. Their argument is that Mr. Subrahmanyam (1983 batch) is the senior most IAS officer in the State; Mr. Punetha is a 1984 batch officer. The next senior officer Preeti Sudan is working as Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in the Central government, and she is unlikely to come back to AP, sources say.
“The government would have to consider many equations now — be it seniority or north and south pressures. More importantly, elections are due in 2019,” said an IAS officer.
The IAS officers hailing from AP are R. Subrahmanyam and P V Ramesh, both 1985 batch. Dr. D. Sambasiva Rao, a 1986 batch officer, is also from AP. There are 13 IAS officers (of AP cadre) that have fewer than three years of service. A few of them such as Ms. Sudan, Nilam Sawhney, AP Sawhney, Dr. Sameer Sharma, Mr. R. Subrahmanyam, Dr. Ramesh, Veena Ish, Abhay Tripathi, A. Giridhar etc. are in the Central service.
The government would be appointing fifth Chief Secretary in a span of a little over four years. IYR Krishna Rao was the first one after the bifurcation. Satya Prakash Tucker succeeded him in 2016 followed by Ajeya Kallam in 2017 serving only for a month. The State government approached the Centre requesting a six-month extension of his tenure. The Centre turned it down. Mr. Dinesh took charge from Mr. Ajeya Kallam. The government, in an unusual move, issued a common GO in February 2017 appointing Mr. Ajeya Kallam and Mr. Dinesh Kumar as Chief Secretaries.