DGP Dwaraka Tirumala Rao issued a memo instructing 16 IPS officers to report to his office at Mangalagiri daily, and be in the waiting room.
Published Aug 16, 2024 | 11:05 AM ⚊ Updated Aug 16, 2024 | 11:27 AM
The incumbent TDP regime has undertaken a major rejig of AIS personnel postings in Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu seems to be playing Jenga with a difference: he has All India Services (AIS) officers instead of the building blocks.
Ever since the TDP rode to power on an anti-YSRCP wave in June, Naidu has been shuffling officials.
On 12 August, DGP Dwaraka Tirumala Rao issued a memo instructing 16 IPS officers to report to his office at Mangalagiri daily and be in the waiting room. The memo also asked the officers to sign an attendance register daily at 10 am, and when they leave after “work”.
The 16 IPS officers have no specified work other than to wait. “They (the IPS officers) are also instructed to be readily available to attend to any urgent work assigned by the undersigned (DGP Rao),” the memo read. The 16 IPS officers included three DGPs, IGs, and DIGs each, and seven SPs.
The action raises questions on whether this is the “red book” effect. Andhra Pradesh minister for IT and TDP scion Nara Lokesh, during election campaign, referred multiple times to a ‘red book’ he used to record names of bureaucrats who allegedly targeted TDP during YSRCP regime and openly threatened action against them.
The memo issued to 16 IPS officers awaiting posting
There are two different opinions on the issue. One section saw it as Naidu exacting revenge considering the officers’ ‘proximity’ to former Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy. The other section saw it as a just move against the officers’ unabashed partisan functioning in the past five years.
Former IPS officer RS Praveen Kumar belongs to the first camp. The former Telangana BSP president termed the events in Andhra Pradesh unusual.
“I have never seen something like this in my 26 years of service. Even constables are not subjected to this kind of behaviour,” he exclaimed.
He stated that the memo appeared like an act of political retaliation. “Andhra Pradesh politics has gone to the point of no return,” he said, adding that the officers have been caught in a political crossfire.
In fact, the state of affairs in Andhra Pradesh has been unusual for the past five years. “The AIS officers conducted themselves like YSRCP agents despite having the constitutional protection to remain non-partisan,” PV Ramesh, a retired IAS officer opined.
A former special chief secretary to the Government of Andhra Pradesh, Ramesh stated that some of the 16 IPS officers were deeply entrenched in politics. “Coming to the office without a posting is not a punishment. Government employees must work,” he stated.
Adding that some AIS officers should face disciplinary action for their blatant partisanship, he opined that they should be held accountable.
Something is terribly wrong with @APPOLICE100 . Last month there was a criminal case on two DGP rank officers. Now not less than
16 #IPS officers have been made to wait for regular posting for so many days!And now this memo of DGP further rubs salt on the wounds. It says these… pic.twitter.com/F3YHtMWpxx
— Dr.RS Praveen Kumar (@RSPraveenSwaero) August 15, 2024
LV Subrahmanyam a former IAS officer also expressed displeasure over the conduct of several AIS officers during the YSRCP rule. “Unusual situations demand unusual solutions,” he said.
“They stooped to such low levels of misconduct that the whole state was shocked. They even disregarded the high court’s direction. There is no justification to trust them with a posting again,” he stated.
He added that some of the AIS officers deserved termination. Further, he alleged that the 16 IPS officers were pressuring investigating officers to give them a clean chit. “The DGP’s orders to have them show up at the office is indirectly restoring respect for the rule of law in the state,” he added.
Interestingly, Subrahmanyam was transferred across departments after he served a show-cause notice on one Praveen Prakash for “misconduct and insubordination.” The former principal secretary of the general administration department and CMO was one of the AIS officers without a posting. However, he retired voluntarily.
The All India Services Rules do not specify the period an officer could be left without posting.
Whether Naidu’s game of Jenga is a course correction or growing totalitarianism, the truth remains that only the players change while the fame never stops.
“AIS officers should in principle remain politically neutral,” retired IAS officer EAS Sarma stated. However, he found fault with officers who compromised on neutrality for selfish gains.
“During their earlier tenure, TDP too encouraged AIS officers to favour them. Political leaders should treat the officers with dignity and a broad mind,” he said and added that the government was hurting the integrity of the AIS.
Praveen Kumar echoed Sarma’s sentiments. “They should initiate disciplinary action based on verifiable evidence. This is not the way to discipline any erring officer,” he said, adding that it was unbecoming of a seasoned politician like Naidu to behave in such a manner.
Meanwhile, former IPS officer VK Singh presented a different view. “There is no policing in Andhra Pradesh. The police are being used as a private army by all parties in power,” he commented. He added that the people would suffer unless the civil society took up the matter.
Andhra Pradesh’s current affairs could not be viewed as a one-off incident. AIS personnel reshuffle has become common each time a new party wins power.
In Telangana, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s regime transferred over 40 IAS officers in June 2024. Similar instances of AIS reshuffle occurred in Karnataka after the Congress took over in May 2023.
The rumble over AIS reshuffling in Andhra Pradesh is not unprecedented. However, it raises questions about the non-partisanship of AIS officers and the bad sportsmanship of Indian politicians.
(Edited by Majnu Babu)
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