Telangana Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan on Wednesday accepted the resignations of Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) chairman B. Janardhan Reddy and three members.
The resignations of R. Satyanarayana, Prof. Bandi Linga Reddy, and Karam Ravinder Reddy as TSPSC members have also been accepted.
They had submitted their resignations last month following the change of government.
The development came a day after Congress MLC T. Jeevan Reddy wrote a letter to the Governor, urging her to take a decision at the earliest on the resignations which had been pending with her for nearly a month.
The Congress leader wrote that a key election promise in the party’s manifesto was to fill two lakh vacancies in the government departments within a year of assuming power and it can’t be done without a full TSPSC board in place.
The Raj Bhavan, however, has clarified that there was no delay on part of the Governor in accepting the resignations.
It claimed that the entire process of acceptance of resignations was completed in one day with utmost diligence and in adherence to legal procedures.
“Contrary to any speculation or misinformation, there has been no delay on the part of the Governor in accepting the resignations submitted by the Chairman and three other members of TSPSC,” said a statement released by the Governor’s Press Secretary.
According to the statement, upon receiving the resignations, as per Business Rules, the Governor forwarded them to the state government for circulation of file, along with the remarks and the opinion of the Advocate General, through the Chief Minister after ensuring a thorough examination of the matter.
“It is imperative to note that the ongoing investigation by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) played a crucial role in the decision-making process. In light of this, the State Government reviewed the resignations and obtained the opinion of the Learned Advocate General and circulated the file to the Governor through the Chief Minister for acceptance of all four resignations on 9th January,” said the statement.
The Governor accepted all four resignations without prejudice to the ongoing investigations and any potential future criminal proceedings on January 10.
“The Raj Bhavan assures all people of the State in general and the unemployed youth in particular that every precaution has been taken to safeguard the interests of the unemployed youth in this process. The Hon’ble Governor remains committed to upholding the mandates of Constitution, principles of justice, transparency, and accountability, and this decision reflects the responsible handling of a matter that involves ongoing investigations,” it added.
TSPSC was rocked by leakage of question papers last year, leading to either cancellation or postponement of some recruitment exams. This has triggered massive protests by unemployed youth.