Why an Andhra IAS officer waited 120 weeks for a posting

D. Muralidhar Reddy, a relative of former CM Jagan Mohan Reddy and former finance minister Buggana Reddy, had no post since the change of government in 2024, until this weekThe Chandrababu Naidu administration, in an order issued on Monday, assigned roles to nine IAS officers waiting for a posting for the past several weeks in Andhra Pradesh. For one of these officers, it ended a waiting that had lasted an astounding 120 weeks—about two years and four months.D. Muralidhar Reddy, an IAS officer of the 2006 batch, has been without a posting since June 2024—i.e. since the Telugu Desam Party (TDP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government stormed to power, trouncing the Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party (YSRCP). He is now finally posted as secretary, tribal welfare department, relieving M.M. Nayak, from the full additional charge of the post.Reddy was among the around dozen IAS and two dozen IPS officers who were kept without postings, in the second half of 2024—the months following the change of government in Andhra Pradesh. This was likely the result of a strong perception in the state and power corridors that several of these officers were operating closely with former CM Jagan Mohan Reddy and other senior YSRCP leaders. Some allegedly functioned according to the previous government’s diktats, “regardless of rules and procedures”.The number of these waiting officers was gradually reduced later, but they were mostly assigned not-so-prominent or loop-line jobs. However, the wait continued for Reddy as well as for Yerra Srilakshmi, a 1988 batch officer, who had served as special chief secretary, municipal administration and urban development (MAUD), under the Jagan administration. Attached to the general administration department (GAD) days after the power transfer, she also awaited a posting since June 20, 2024. Srilakshmi is one of the IAS officers accused in Jagan’s disproportionate assets case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) charged that Srilakshmi, as secretary of industries and commerce from 2007 to 2009, misused her office to grant Obulapuram mining leases to firms of former Karnataka minister Gali Janardhana Reddy and others. Arrested in November 2011 and lodged in a Hyderabad jail until October 2012, when she was released on bail.In December 2020, Jagan appointed her as secretary of MAUD, where she went on to serve as principal secretary and special chief secretary. TDP leaders accused her of aiding Jagan in destroying the Amaravati capital project. Srilakshmi, sources say, even sought deputy CM and Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan’s intervention to secure a posting but to no avail. Senior most in the cadre, Srilakshmi was finally rehabilitated by Naidu in the last week of June. She was appointing special chief secretary in GAD, just four days before her retirement on June 30.In Reddy’s case, however, there was no probe—vigilance, departmental or otherwise—for the Naidu administration to justify denying him a post for over two years. A promotee from the state civil service, he served as vice chairman and managing director of the Andhra Pradesh Medical Services & Infrastructure Development Corporation (APMSIDC), and chief executive officer of the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP), before being attached to GAD in June 2024.Notably, Reddy, who hails from Kurnool, is related to YSRCP government’s finance minister Buggana Rajendranath Reddy, and distantly even to Jagan. Reddy, sources say, met Naidu a few times over the past two years, seeking a posting, but “the officer had to wait because of the negative perception created about him by one or two officers earlier serving in the CM’s office”.Just as he was resigning to his fate, the posting order came to Reddy. INDIA TODAY sought the response of chief secretary G. Sai Prasad to why IAS officers in Andhra Pradesh are frequently kept without a post for weeks or months, even as CM Naidu holds Collector’s conferences every three months, attended by all IAS officers, and talks about improving efficiency and best utilisation of resources. His response was awaited at the time of writing.Some officers rue the situation, saying that while some are kept without a post for no official reason, others are burdened with additional charges.Subscribe to India Today Magazine- Ends