For the first time in six years, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao skipped reading the progress card of the State and the government at the Independence Day celebrations. This was for obvious reasons because the event was organised at his camp office in the presence of a limited gathering due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Mr. Rao was credited with shifting the celebrations from Parade Grounds to Golconda Fort after formation of Telangana State. The reason was to pad up the event with the rich cultural heritage of the State and it was decided that the fort will provide the right ambience.
The previous six celebrations at the fort had a colourful mix of cultural artistes demonstrating the heritage of the truly plural society of Telangana. School children dressed in tricolour were an added attraction. After the traditional address by Mr. Rao, when he read out the achievements of the government, he used to distribute awards to a large number of recipients in different disciplines. But, all that was missed this time.
Baptism by fire
The long wait of about three years to get the postings is proving to be baptism by fire for the 257 out of 259 probationary Deputy (Naib) Tahsildars who reported to duties during the last week of July. As their month-long field training period concludes by the month-end, many of them have already experienced what it takes to deal with the emergency situations. As part of undergoing the last leg of training, the capabilities of probationary Tahsiladars in disaster management – dealing with the emergency situations arising out of heavy rains and floods, epidemics, lightning – are being put to test with most of the 32 rural districts witnessing heavy rains and floods. Asked about his experience in the ongoing training, a probationer stated that it has been hectic learning experience and the last few days in particular have been testing their abilities as the emerging situations have been demanding instant reaction and swift response. The Deputy Tahsildars have already undergone training in all relevant subjects.
A long overdue process
The State government has initiated the process of recruitment of senior professionals in the Health department. Bypassing the regular pattern, it has invited qualified professionals with relevant experience to appear for walk-in interviews on Monday. The exercise is to fill posts of assistant professors in general medicine, anaesthesia and other specialisations in Gandhi and TIMS. The recruitment will be on contractual basis for one year and extendable as per the needs.
There is no criticism/opposition to the government's decision, but a section of the medical fraternity feels that the process should have started long ago so that there is adequate working strength either regular or on contract basis to tackle emergencies like COVID-19.
N.Rahul, B. Chandrashekhar, M. Rajeev