BRS government likely to reshuffle IAS officials after January 5

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao is likely to reshuffle the IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officers after January 5, after the Election Commission of India (ECI) releases the final electoral rolls for the assembly elections scheduled for December 2023.

The reshuffle will include IAS officers from Collectors to Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, and Special Chief Secretaries.

According to the sources, the State government has submitted a list of 25 senior officials working in non-revenue agencies who are eligible for the IAS cadre to the Centre'sHyderabad, Hyderabad News, Telangana, Telangana News(DoPT).

Five non-revenue employees are likely to be conferred IAS status in January for the first time in Telangana's history.

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has appointed a committee that will conduct personal interviews with 25 candidates and will shortlist five for the IAS posts.

Non-revenue officials working with ministers as OSD (officer on special duty) and PS (personal secretary), that include three women officials, are among the candidates on the list for conferring IAS status.

The last major rearrange took place on February 3, 2020, when the State government transferred 50 IAS officers at one go, including Collectors to various districts.

KCR and chief secretary Somesh Kumar had earlier held a series of meetings to discuss and finalise the reshuffling of IAS officers soon after the Munugodu Assembly bypoll result on November 6.

They planned to form an 'election team' in order to fast-track administration for the effective implementation of welfare schemes and development programmes.

The government has put the process on hold since the EC would not allow the government to transfer Collectors during the period of summary revision of electoral rolls.

Currently, several critical departments lack full-time secretaries, commissioners, or directors, and these roles are held by incharges.