Chennai: When P. Rama Mohana Rao was hand picked by the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for the post of chief secretary, he superseded nearly half-a-dozen senior officers to emerge as the favourite.
And this is the second incident in the recent past where the chief secretary’s post has come under the scanner. According to sources in the secretariat, the government, in both the cases of K. Gnanadesikan and P. Rama Mohana Rao, acted in haste in promoting them to the post of additional chief secretaries to ensure that they can be elevated to the top posts.
After being relieved as chief secretary, Mr Gnanadesikan was placed under suspension pending an inquiry into certain charges allegedly linked to “beach sand mining”.
Prior to becoming the chief secretary, Rao was the private secretary to the then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa in the rank of additional chief secretary.
When he was made the CS, the officer in cloud overtook five of his batch mates (1985 batch) and also superseded a dozen officers who joined the state dating back to 1981 to 1984.
While Gnanadesikan, a 1982 batch officer overtook S. Skandan, C V. Shankar, Hemant Kumar Sinha and Leena Nair replacing no-nonsense Mohan Varghese Chunkanth, a soft spoken non-controversial officer who was transferred to Anna Institute of Management as its director, an insignificant post for an officer in the rank of chief secretary.
Rama Mohana Rao overtook more seniors including K Shanmugham, V K Jeyakodi and a few officers now serving with the Centre as the department secretaries.
“It is very sad that an officer in the rank of chief secretary, who is also the state chief vigilance commissioner being raided for unaccounted cash and this is a disturbing trend in the state”, former IAS officer M. G. Devasahayam said.
As on date, three serving IAS officers including Gnanadesikan, Atul Anand and Rama Mohona Rao are facing tough times in terms of suspension and I-T raids.
Rao’s meteoric rise raised eyebrows
P. Rama Mohana Rao, State Chief Secretary, had a meteoric rise and even rose to the stature of being called “shadow Chief Minister” as he called the shots when ailing J. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the Apollo hospital here.
Rama Mohana Rao’s rise in the corridors of power; his strong connection with those at the helm and how he was elevated to the position of Chief Secretary from being Secretary to the Chief Minister was indeed spectacular
He served as Jayalalithaa’s Private Secretary I till mid-2016. On June 8, 2016, in a surprise move, he was elevated as Chief Secretary superseding about 17 seniors and replacing K. Gnanadesikan (since suspended), a fortnight after Jayalalithaa’s AIADMK assumed office.
Mohana Rao, an MA in economics and M. Com in cost accountancy, hails from Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh. He commenced his career as Assistant Collector in 1987 and over the years held several positions in various other departments. He also holds full additional charge of Vigilance Commissioner and Commissioner for Administrative Reforms at present.
Though he had never been on central service, Rao, it is said, is a deep thinker and an excellent analyst who made significant contributions during his service as an IAS officer.
Rao to retire in Sept. 2017:
Rao, who is retiring in September 2017, took sabbatical from IAS to pursue higher studies in United Kingdom. He did his MA in economics from the University of Manchester, UK. His mother tongue is Telugu, but he can fluently speak in English, Hindi and Tamil.
Though he had never been on central service, Rao, it is said, is a deep thinker and an excellent analyst who made significant contributions during his service as an IAS officer.
