Hyderabad: Four IAS officers in Telangana state and one IPS officer in Andhra Pradesh are in the race for the post of Private Secretary to minister of state for home affairs G. Kishan Reddy.
If the buzz in the corridors of power is anything to go by, the front-runner for the post is Dr Gaurav Uppal, who is presently Nalgonda district collector. Among the other probables whose names are doing the rounds are Mr Rajath Kumar Saini, presently posted as Bha-dadri Kothagudem collector and Mr Amrapalli Kata, who is presently posted with the GHMC and K. Ilambarithi, secretary, State Information Commission.
Sources told this newspaper that inquiries have reportedly been made with the officials to know whether they would be inclined to take up the post.
While it is unclear if any of them have replied in the negative, the MHA under new home minister Amit Shah may take the final decision this week.
While Mr Uppal and Mr Ilambarithi are 2005 batch IAS officers, Mr Saini is from the 2007 batch and Mr Amrapalli from the 2010 batch. It is learnt that two more officers are trying to grab the post.
Mr Gaurav Uppal has previously worked as private secretary to the then minister of state for railways Kotla Suryaprakash Reddy during the UPA regime and it remains to be seen if he would be appointed as PS to Mr Kishan Reddy in the NDA rule.
While the four IAS officers are already in the race, speculation is rife in AP bureaucratic circles that a 2005 batch IPS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre, Dr C.M. Thrivik-ram Varma, is also one of the contenders.
Once the appointment is made, it remains to be seen how quickly the officer is relieved by the Telangana state government, as the Centre is said to be in a hurry to appoint private secretaries to all ministers.
Some time ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had decided not to allow officials to serve as private secretary or as officer on special duty to a union minister for more than five years.
