The Great Purge of Secretariat: Govt reshuffles over 170 Section Officers!

Hyderabad: Following the allegations of leakage of crucial information to the Opposition parties and under-performance of a few officials in the Secretariat, the Telangana government effected a major reshuffle by transferring more than 170 Section Officers on a single day on Friday.

Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari issued the orders of transferring the Section Officers in various departments at one go. Officials said that the ministers and Secretaries of all departments raised doubts on the sincerity of many Section Officers who have been discharging duties in the same department for more than 4 years.

“Some of them are still maintaining close relations with BRS leaders and reportedly leaking information to some leaders. This has come to light in the recent times and created a big trouble to the government in taking some important decisions,” a senior official said, adding that some Section Officers were not cooperating with the government in moving files and other department related transactions with other wings in the government.

The key wings – Finance, Education, Irrigation, Municipal Administration and Urban Development, Medical and Health, Energy and Panchayat Raj departments have already been under close watch and the official activities in these wings are being monitored regularly, sources said. The Vigilance and Enforcement wing already conducted departmental inspections to find out the officials who are non-cooperative to the new government and listed out their names.

“All of them are transferred to other wings and entrusted with the responsibility of fulfilling the tasks given to them in the new posts,” officials said and added that the performance of the Assistant Section Officer (ASO) was also under study and many of them will be transferred soon.