In a very rare and unprecedented gesture towards the Congress government, led by Revanth Reddy, Narendra Modi-led Central government obliged him by extending the tenure of Telangana Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao. He will continue as the Chief Secretary of the government for another seven months.
To this end, the Center has approved the proposals sent by the Revanth Reddy government. K Ramakrishna Rao is an IAS officer of the 1991 batch of the combined Andhra Pradesh cadre. After the bifurcation of the state, he was assigned to Telangana by the Department of Personnel and Training. He took charge as the Chief Secretary of the government on April 30th this year based on seniority.
He is scheduled to retire on the 30th of this month. The government has appealed to the Center to extend his tenure. To this extent, Revanth Reddy himself wrote a letter on the 30th of the previous month. He requested for an extension of his tenure because of his immense administrative experience, policy decisions and ability to effectively handle administrative matters.
The Center agreed to this. His tenure has been extended for seven months. Accordingly, Ramakrishna Rao will continue as IAS till March 30th. It is a given that the government will continue to serve in the capacity of Chief Secretary. Usually, the Center obliges to extend the tenure of Chief Secretary or DGP for a period of three months and later three more months. In some special cases, it may extend even upto six months.
But, surprising everyone it is noteworthy that a seven-month extension has been granted at once. In the 10 years since the formation of Telangana, no other Chief Secretary has received an extension of tenure except Rajiv Sharma, who took charge as the first Chief Secretary in 2014.
Rajiv Sharma was given a six-month extension, but the Center did not issue orders at once. Orders were issued in two phases of three months each at that time. In contrast, in the case of Ramakrishna Rao, granting a seven-month extension at once has gained importance.
This decision is being discussed in political circles as a testament to Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s growing cloud with the Central government, at a time the Congress high-command, particularly Rahul Gandhi suspecting his loyalty towards the party. Observers believe that Revanth Reddy’s strong influence is the reason behind Ramakrishna Rao’s extension of tenure.