NETA NATTER | A Nudge For Staff Netas: Get To Work

In a first-of-its-kind move, the state government has sent a strong message to employees who are more into union sloganeering than actual work. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has reportedly decided to take a tough stance against ‘union leaders’ neglecting their duties. Three such employees from the treasury department, known more for their presence at protests than in office, have been hit with a penalty — loss of three increments. The finance department issued orders holding them accountable for consistently skipping official work in favour of union activities. The decision has sent shockwaves through the Secretariat corridors, where such actions against union leaders were once unthinkable. While the government remains employee-friendly, insiders say it’s drawing a line between activism and administrative irresponsibility. “This is a warning shot,” said an official. “Rights are respected, but governance comes first.” The message is clear: Public service cannot take a back seat to endless union meetings and banner politics.

It’s Back To The Future... City

In a quirky twist to the ambitious ‘Future City’ project, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is reportedly not amused by officials wanting the “future” to run from the city’s past. The CM’s dream project — a massive urban hub planned over 30,000 acres along the Srisailam highway — is his pet vision. Determined to execute it on schedule, Revanth wants every official involved to work from Mirkhanmet, the heart of Future City. But officials, citing “logistical convenience,” have been scouting for office space in Hyderabad’s core areas, close to the Secretariat and ICCC, where CM’s frequent review meetings take place. Revanth reportedly got wind of the backdoor search and made it clear: no more excuses. If the government wants to show it’s serious, the team must sit where the future is — not where the coffee is closer. “How can you build a new city sitting in the old one?” a source quoted him as saying.

Everyone Gets To Farm A Story

Fertilisers are what help crops grow better. With the crop season underway, a plantastic battle has begun playing out in Telangana between various political parties. Jumping into this is the state BJP’s brand-new president, N. Ramchander Rao, who in a well-compost manner, has been casting out statistics on urea stocks, insisting that the Centre delivered way more fertiliser to the state than farmers could ever need. The Congress government is likely playing hide the fertiliser and seed doubts in farmers’ minds to uproot support to the BJP by blaming the Centre for the shortages, is the furrow he has begun ploughing. The BRS, meanwhile, has been cultivating its own base citing complaints of severe urea shortage while the ruling party says the entire topic has some deep-rooted issues.

ACB, Where’s The Cash, Huh?

There is something to be said about the Anti-Corruption Bureau supposed to strike fear among those who are either corrupt, or heading in that direction. But sometimes it lets much water pass under the bridge as appears to be the case with retired irrigation engineer-in-chief C. Muralidhar Rao arrested in a case of vastly disproportionate assets case. The ACB raids came two years after his retirement from service but no cash stocks were found, and the word doing the rounds is that Rao managed to transform the moolah he reportedly amassed while in service into immovable properties and to his son Abhishek Rao’s business. The question that is being asked in “knowledgeable” circles is the two-year wait by the ACB to check on Rao’s assets, and the reasons for such delayed action.

Gaddam, Prem War Gets Deeper

Battlelines are not easy to cross and some are best left alone appears to be the stand taken by the recently appointed minister Gaddam Vivek Venkatswamy who has studiously stayed away from the Mancherial Assembly constituency, represented by Prem Sagar Rao, another Congress MLA who too was aspiring for the post that Vivek eventually got. After taking charge as minister, Vivek toured all the Assembly constituencies in the erstwhile Adilabad district except Mancherial, prompting some to say that the new minister was playing kabaddi just touching the lines of Rao’s constituency and not actually entering the turf, which Rao declared as his after he was denied a ministerial berth. Such as been the animosity between the two that Vivek skipped a meeting attended by Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, ministers D. Sridhar Babu, Damodar Rajanarasimha, and Jupally Krishna Rao at Mancherial the other day and kept himself busy with a few programmes elsewhere.

Babu Games At AP CMO Draw Attention

Strange are the ways of bureaucracy. One refuses to relieve an officer following orders from the CM-led general administration department, and another goes after the CM to ensure the transfer actually takes place. This strange game played out in AP following excise minister Kollu Ravindra’s request to have an officer from the revenue department posted to excise. Orders followed from the GAD, but senior bureaucrat G. Jaya Lakshmi has held off from implementing it. With the issue stuck, the AP CM’s principal secretary M. Ravichandra who reportedly refused to intervene when the minister complained about delay, turned to his boss to get the job done. But Ravichandra’s pursuit of the matter with the CM has not sat well with several ruling party leaders who want Ravichandra, being CM’s principal secretary, to be more proactive and attend to political and administrative needs than to chase a transfer.

Special Pujas To Protect Jagan’s Vehicle

Bullet-proofed vehicle it may be, but YSRC president and former AP chief minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy personal SUV, it turns out, needs all and any protection it can get. With Jagan planning his Padayatra 2.0, his supporters including women arrived at his Tadepalli residence recently and performed rituals by breaking huge pumpkins in front of the SUV to ward off any evil that may befall the vehicle, and ensure safety of their leader. Coming after the vehicle was involved in an accident and a police case of a death of a person, the rituals Jagan’s supporters said were much needed.

Pawan Turns Hindi Poster Boy

AP Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan, has once again raised many eyebrows with his apparent discovery of the importance of Hindi. The actor-turned-leader who once championed Telugu with the fervour of a freedom fighter has now become Hindi’s newest brand ambassador as was witnessed at a recent public appearance. There Pawan Kalyan called on everyone to learn Hindi, and that it should be considered the national language. But this has not gone down well with his detractors in other parties who have been taking pains to point out that the AP Deputy CM’s new found appreciation of Hindi has everything to do with him becoming an ‘adopted son of the BJP’ with a likely starring role in the future.

Patrudu Gets The Job Done For Son

Ayyanna Patrudu, the AP Speaker, the other day showed that he is not just good at keeping things humming in the Assembly but on the ground too. In a markedly different role at a free medical camp for people suffering from varicose veins organised by his son Chintakayala Vijay in Narsipatnam, Patrudu assumed direct management responsibilities to address the overwhelming turnout of individuals seeking medical care. For over two hours, he was seen going around managing crowd movement, guiding patients to the appropriate doctors, and ensuring that the camp ran smoothly and efficiently.

It’s A House. It’s An Office. It’s A Problem

A guest house. And an irrigation department office. Both in the same compound in Amalapuram. But with a single entrance to get into the complex. Problems began after joint collector T. Nishanti, an IAS officer, who has been residing in the guest house, barred entry from the lone compound entrance leaving the irrigation staff to bumble and fumble their way into their office from the rear of the compound, pushing their way through overgrown bushes and shrubs. Complaints from the employees that this is not the kind of gatekeeping expected from an IAS officer is yet to open the one door they want opened for them.

Contributions from Pillalamarri Srinivas, L. Venkat Ram Reddy, N. Vamsi Srinivas, Neeraj Kumar, Mouli Mareedu, Sampat G. Samritan, Laxmi Pranathi, Aruna, Vadrevu Srinivas