Hyderabad: Senior IAS officer and special Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar has become a key officer in the TRS government. He has handled all responsibilities given to him by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. No other senior IAS officer has handled as many departments as Mr Kumar. Now, he is slated to be given additional responsibility of the revenue department even as Mr Chandrasekhar Rao prepares to introduce the new Revenue Act.
Presently, Mr Kumar heads the Excise and Commercial Taxes sections of the revenue department. The TRS government has recently shifted the special chief secretary of the revenue department, Rajeshwar Tiwari, who headed the revenue, registrations and stamps sections and handed over these departments to Mr Kumar as well. In addition to these responsibilities, he is also the Chief Commissioner Land Administration (CCLA) and the chairman of RERA as well.
When Mr Kumar worked as GHMC commissioner, he was given the nickname “Chief Minister of Hyderabad” by some political leaders and bureaucrats. The popular `5-per-meal scheme in GHMC was introduced by Mr Kumar when he was the GHMC commissioner.
He has been enjoying the confidence of the Chief Minister for some time now. As secretary of Excise and Commercial Taxes department, Mr Kumar had proven his ability to generate more revenue than the projected target. In the Commercial Taxes department, he handled the issues related to GST carefully soon after the pan-India tax was introduce and tried to get maximum revenue by also collecting long pending arrears.
Mr Kumar, in his long service, has never faced any controversy. Keeping all this in view, Mr Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to hand over the responsibility of implementing the new Revenue Act to him. The Bill will be introduced in the ensuing Budget session of the Assembly. The CM is very keen on bringing about the new Revenue Act that is being seen as a step to eradicate corruption in the department.
