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Somesh Kumar appointed chief advisor to Telangana CM

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Somesh Kumar appointed chief advisor to Telangana CM

The Telangana government has appointed retired IAS officer and former chief secretary Somesh Kumar as chief advisor to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Somesh Kumar has been appointed as the chief advisor in the rank of a Cabinet minister.

Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari issued a Government Order in this regard on Tuesday.

Somesh Kumar’s appointment came three months after he took voluntary retirement, weeks after he was shifted to Andhra Pradesh following a court order.

Somesh Kumar was removed as Chief Secretary of Telangana after the High Court quashed his allotment to that state.

On January 12, he had reported to Andhra Pradesh government as per orders of the central government. He had subsequently called on Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy.

He was not given any post on his request as he was also not interested to continue in service though it ends in December.

Somesh Kumar, who had served as Chief Secretary of Telangana for three years, was considered very close to Chief Minister KCR.

Telangana High Court on January 12 had set aside the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), allocating Somesh Kumar to Telangana in 2016.

The same day Department for Personnel Training (DoPT) of the central government relieved him from the state government of Telangana and directed to join the Andhra Pradesh government within two days.

CAT’s Hyderabad bench had passed an order on March 29, 2016 allotting Somesh Kumar to Telangana.

Following bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh into two separate states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014, the Union government had re-allotted IAS and IPS officers working in the undivided state to the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh and the newly created Telangana state.

Somesh Kumar, an IAS from the 1989 batch in Bihar, was allotted to Andhra Pradesh by the DoPT.

However, Somesh Kumar had moved the CAT and secured an order staying his allotment to Andhra Pradesh cadre. Since then, he continued in Telangana and became Chief Secretary in 2019.

DoPT had filed an appeal in the High Court challenging the stay order of CAT, Hyderabad branch.

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DoPT relieves Telangana CS Somesh Kumar after HC order

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DoPT relieves Telangana CS Somesh Kumar after HC order

The Union Department for Personnel and Training (DoPT) on Tuesday relieved Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar from the state government, hours after the Telangana High Court quashed the IAS officer’s allotment to the state cadre.

The relieving orders will come into force with immediate effect. Somesh Kumar has been directed to join the Andhra Pradesh government latest by January 12.

The order was issued a few hours after the High Court set aside the order of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), allocating the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer to Telangana in 2016.

A division bench of Chief Justice Ujjal Bhuyan and Justice Surepalli Nanda allowed the writ petition filed by the DoPT seeking suspension of CAT order.

CAT’s Hyderabad bench had passed an order on March 29, 2016 allotting Somesh Kumar to Telangana.

Counsel for Somesh Kumar has made a request to the court to keep order in abeyance so that an appeal can be filed.

The High Court had reserved its order in July and it was pronounced on Tuesday.

Following bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh into two separate states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in 2014, the Union government had re-allotted IAS and IPS officers working in the undivided state to the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh and the newly- created Telangana state.

In this process, Somesh Kumar, an IAS officer of the 1989 batch, was allotted to Andhra Pradesh by the DoPT.

However, Somesh Kumar had moved the CAT and secured an order staying his allotment to Andhra Pradesh cadre. Since then, he continued in Telangana and became Chief Secretary in 2019.

The DoPT had filed an appeal in the High Court challenging the stay order of CAT, Hyderabad branch.

Meanwhile, Somesh Kumar called on Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao. They believed to have discussed the High Court order.

Somesh Kumar is likely to file an appeal against the Telangana High Court order.

Telugu360 is always open for the best and bright journalists. If you are interested in full-time or freelance, email us at Krishna@telugu360.com.

Telangana begins exercise to address ‘Podu’ lands issue

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Telangana begins exercise to address ‘Podu’ lands issue

The Telangana government on Tuesday begun the exercise to address the issue of “Podu” lands, or lands in forests tilled by tribals, with a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar discussing the modalities.

Following the recent decision of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to launch an action plan to settle the disputes over Podu land, the meeting decided to receive the applications from the third week of October.

The meeting of Somesh Kumar with the heads of the departments concerned to decide on the modalities of action plan discussed the details like model of application process to be followed, committees at various levels and issues to be included in the application such as forest boundary coordinates, and participation of the citizens for the conservation of forest.

It is proposed to conduct meetings with district Collectors, Division Forest Officers, Conservators of Forests and others.

There has been a row over these between the tribals and the Forest Department, and disputes in some places have led to clashes between tribals and forest personnel in recent months.

Following appeals from elected public representatives, the Chief Minister on October 9 directed the officials to launch an action plan to settle the issue.

He made it clear that once the podu land issue comes to a logical end, the officials should take all measures to ensure that even an inch of forest land is not encroached and there should be an end to the land grabbing in the forest areas.

The Chief Minister said the state government would not hesitate to take any stringent measure to protect the forests in the state. He said if need be, an all-party meeting would be convened as part of finding a solution to the podu lands issue and he would demonstrate and practically show with evidence to the leaders on how forest land is being encroached upon.

He instructed the officials to prepare guidelines to appoint the Forest Protection Committees in the state. The CM said the Podu cultivation which is taking place in the middle of the forest would be shifted to the edge of the forest areas and land would be allotted.

Telugu360 is always open for the best and bright journalists. If you are interested in full-time or freelance, email us at Krishna@telugu360.com.

Telangana Chief Secretary tests positive for Covid

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Telangana Chief Secretary tests positive for Covid

Telangana Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar on Wednesday tested positive for Covid-19.

The top bureaucrat was found infected hours after he held a video conference with District Collectors and other officials to review the pandemic situation in the state and issued directions to double the number of Covid tests and vaccinations.

The Chief Secretary, who spends a busy day holding review meetings at his office at the state Secretariat, felt unwell during the day. He underwent Covid-19 test, which turned out to be positive.

The IAS officer, who took first dose of Covid vaccine three days ago, revealed that he tested positive and though there are no symptoms, he has isolated himself at home.

He has cancelled all his meetings and decided to stay away from official work for few days.

Somesh Kumar has suggested that if anybody among those who met him in recent days finds any symptoms of Covid, they should get themselves tested for the virus.

The state has been witnessing a surge in Covid-19 cases for last few weeks. The daily count on Tuesday jumped to nearly 1,500.

Telugu360 is always open for the best and bright journalists. If you are interested in full-time or freelance, email us at Krishna@telugu360.com.

KCR’s ‘Man Friday’ shifted from GHMC

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KCR’s ‘Man Friday’ shifted from GHMC

Somesh Kumar, an IAS officer from 1989, batch has been safely shifted from  GHMC as the commissioner and special officer. He was posted as the  principal secretary, tribal welfare department.  He is probably one of the few  IAS officers, who enjoyed enormous political clout in TRS establishment after bifurcation and attracted unprecedented criticism for his proximity to the political bosses.

The shifting of  Somesh Kumar took place at a time when the Congress, BJP and TDP were demanding his head for the alleged removal of settlers read Andhras from voter list of GHMC in lakhs.  All these parties have represented to the Election Commission of India about the removal ‘hostile’ settler-voters along with some  from migrant communities, in order to reduce the negative vote for the ruling party TRS in the ensuing GHMC elections. Following the complaints from these parties, Election Commission has deputed a twelve-member inquiry team led by CEO of West Bengal. The transfer of Somesh Kumar assumes significance when the team has been scrutinizing the voter-list and veracity of deletion of names of the voters.

Somesh Kumar is generally seen as an officer very close to the power that be. It is said that he was the architect of the socio-economic survey conducted by state government, which was alleged to have been planned to locate the persons of Andhra origin. A column was included in the survey that seeks to know the ancestral district of residents of Hyderabad. This column had created unusual uproar  both in Hyderabad and Andhra Pradesh. The attempt to find out the ancestral origin attracted criticism even at national level as well. It was perceived by everybody as an attempt to eliminate the names of Andhras (settlers) from the voter list. Finally, the GHMC had to delete the ancestral district column. However,Somesh  Kumar remained.  Opposition attacked him as an officer working like the member of Pink Party.

Somesh Kumar, many allege,  worked hard to facilitate the easy win for the TRS rather than improving the life of citizens in Hyderabad. His tenure in GHMC will remain as period devoid of any noteworthy achievement, however, remembered as politically most controversial.

His attachment to TRS government is so strong that he even challenged the central government’s decision to allot him the state of Andhra Pradesh in the division of All India Service Officers. He has been waging a legal battle against the allotment  to stay put in Telangana  and has been remaining in TS on a stay from the CAT.

 

 

 

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