Hyderabad: J. Geetha Reddy, one of the senior-most Congress MLAs, has been appointed the chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee. Dr Reddy’s appointment was announced by Speaker S. Madhusudana Chary on Thursday evening in the Assembly.
She would serve as the chairperson for one year. This is for the first time a woman legislator will be heading the all-important Legislature Committee that scrutinises the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) submitted to Legislature.
The PAC consists of around 30 members drawn from both the Assembly and Legislative Council. As a matter of convention, the panel is always headed by a legislator from the main Opposition party.
The PAC chairperson’s post had fallen vacant twice during this term of the Assembly due to demise of two Congress senior MLAs P. Kista Reddy and Ramreddy Venkata Reddy.
Elected to the Assembly for the first time in 1989 from Gajwel segment in Medak, Dr Reddy became a minister in the Channa Reddy Cabinet. She also served in the Cabinets of Nedurumalli Janardhana Reddy, Kotla Vijayabhaskara Reddy, Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, K. Rosaiah and N. Kiran kumar Reddy, for more than 10 years. She contested for the Assembly six times and won four times. Dr Reddy held many portfolios, including Industries, Tourism, and Women’s welfare.
