Recruiting retired staff puts Arvind in a spot

Hyderabad: After launching a probe into the irregularities in the conduct of Formula E race, the state government has started digging out the alleged role of former Special Chief Secretary to Municipal Administration and Urban Development Arvind Kumar in the appointment of the highest number of retired employees in MA&UD during the previous BRS government.

The Congress government is said to have found that as many as 178 retired officials were appointed by the previous government from the level of Directors, Assistant Directors, consultants to various sections, section officers and senior assistants in the MA&UD head office in Hyderabad whose salaries ranged from Rs 50,000 to Rs 2 lakh every month from the account of the Municipal department.

The authorities are now reviewing the role of these employees. Ever since Arvind Kumar was appointed as the Secretary to Urban Development department, officials said the number of appointments of the retired employees was high. The government is also looking into the reasons for this action and whether it had the consent of then MA&UD minister K T Rama Rao or not.

MA&UD officials said it was unusual to recruit the retired employees in the department. For the first time, such a big number of superannuated officials were inducted into services by offering them big salaries along with regular pension, they said. Their role in the financial management is a crucial issue that will also be investigated.

The service rules, it is said, do not permit the department to accord powers to the retired officials either in the release of funds or the management of the funds in the official accounts. Officials said that the internal scrutiny would be done in this aspect to find out the mismanagement of funds, if any, by these re-appointed officials. Some of the retired employees have been appointed as consultants and they have allegedly spent money lavishly for their tours in the country to hold deliberations with stakeholders in the urban infrastructure development projects in the state in the last five years.