Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Tuesday decided that Chief Minister's Office (CMO) will appoint PROs (Public Relation Officer) and Personal Secretaries (PS) for his ministers.

According to sources, the Chief Minister decided to directly appoint PS to Ministers by the CMO and the ministers will have no say in this. The decision was taken after allegations of corruption were levelled against some of PROs and PSs of ministers in the previous government.

Earlier, every minister was entitled to appoint a PRO to send regular press releases to media on the respective minister's official programmes and decisions taken by his department. Remuneration between Rs 40,000 and Rs 70,000 per month was fixed for the PROs.

Now, Rao has decided that CMO will select the secretaries after screening the officers and ensuring their efficiency in handling the ministries concerned. The CMO has also directed ministers not to appoint PS of their choice.

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