Tough race for minister from city in new Cabinet
■ KCR plans to appoint mantris from old dists
FROM HYDERABAD, the race is seen as being between former ministers T. Srinivas Yadav and T. Padma Rao. One of them would be given a Cabinet berth and the other would be elevated as Deputy Speaker.
Telangana Rashtra Samiti president and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is likely to accommodate one MLA from each of the 10 undivided districts in the Cabinet.
Sources said Mr Rao will have a team comprising old and new faces when he expands the Cabinet at 11.30 am on February 19. Mr Rao can have 17 ministers in the Cabinet, 15 per cent of the TS Assembly size of 119.
Sources said Mr Rao would likely induct either A. Indrakaran Reddy or Jogu Ramanna, both former ministers, from Adilabad.
From Karimnagar, the choice would be between Koppula Eswar or former minister Etala Rajendar.
Sources said Vemula Prashanth Reddy from Banswada in the erstwhile Nizamabad district could get the berth and from Mahbubnagar district the race was between Kodangal MLA P. Niranjan Reddy, who defeated the TPCC working president Revanth Reddy, or Srinivas Goud of Mahbubnagar.
From Nalgonda district, Mr Rao is considering inducting former minister Jagadishwar Reddy and giving a chance to MP Gutta Sukhender Reddy in the second round of Cabinet expansion which would be after the Lok Sabha elections.
Sources said that Khammam and Ranga Reddy districts would be given representation only in the second round. From Warangal, Mr Rao is considering Palakurthy legislator E. Dayakar Rao.
From Hyderabad, the race is seen as being between former ministers T. Srinivas Yadav and T. Padma Rao. One of them would be given a Cabinet berth and the other would be elevated as Deputy Speaker.
There is speculation that Mr Rao was of the opinion that he would not induct any other MLA from Medak district as he himself is from the district.
Around 32 existing departments have been purportedly clubbed with 18 other departments as part of a departmental reorganisation exercise in Telangana state.
An official said that since the Constitutional provision is for only 18 Cabinet ministers, the officers have tried to club related departments to limit the number to 18. However, this could be further downsized based on the number of ministers inducted.
However, reports say that Chief Minister K. Chandras-ekar Rao is likely to induct only nine members into the Cabinet and in that case, it may change the whole complexion of departments.
Draft proposals from chief secretary S.K. Joshi and chief adviser Rajiv Sharma, after receiving inputs from other IAS officers, have been sent to the Chief Minister’s Office, but a final decision will be taken by Mr Rao in consultation with his Cabinet colleagues.
A senior official said that cabinet formation will hold the key to the departmental reorganisation, irrespective of citations in the proposal.
The agriculture department is likely to see maximum departments being synergised. Marketing, co-operation, food processing, procurement, seed development and civil supplies may be clubbed into one department. Other departments will see similar changes.
The Chief Minister had earlier said that different departments distributed among various ministers will be clubbed or removed for efficient administration. But the official said no department was removed, they have only been clubbed.
With the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, while the number of IAS officers decreased, the number of departments remained the same. Even though the authorised strength of IAS officers for the state is 208, the working strength is 130. Around 60 IAS officers are available at the secretariat level.
Considering the shortage of officials, especially at senior levels, the Chief Minister took up the task of reorganising the departments. An official said that the exercise will be undertaken once ministers are inducted into the Cabinet and allotted portfolios. However, since the chief minister is likely to induct only nine ministers, the reorganisation draft proposal may see significant changes.