Hyderabad: Collectors as catalysts of growth

Hyderabad: The re-structuring of the state administration from Secretariat to village level has begun. The restructuring was initiated on Sunday night by transferring 50 IAS officers as the Telangana Government wants that the District Collectors should play a key role in development under the new Panchayat Raj Act and the Municipal Act that were brought into force last year.

The two Acts give immense power to the collectors to reshape every village and urban local bodies in the development aspect. From now onwards, Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar will directly monitor district administration and review the status of developmental programmes in every district from time to time, said a senior official.

In fact, the Chief Secretary seems to have left his imprint on the changes that were made late on Sunday night. It is learnt that round two of the rejig of officials was also on cards. Some more senior-most officials are likely to be transferred and posted in different departments. Principal Secretary to MAUD Arvind Kumar is likely to be given the task of preparation of new Revenue Act.

Secretary to Roads and Buildings Sunil Sharma and Commissioner, College and Technical Education Naveen Mittal may be shifted to MAUD. Senior bureaucrat Shashank Goel's name is likely to be recommended to the Chief Election Commission for appointment as the Chief Electoral Officer. Among other changes on the cards are change of GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar and some district collectors.

The officials said that Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister KT Rama Rao had announced that funds will be released to every district on a monthly basis for municipalities to ensure that the collectors take up developmental schemes in every municipality from next financial year.

On the other hand, the Government is planning to relieve Chief Secretary Somesh Kumar from additional charge as Revenue in-charge. He has already been relieved from the additional charge of Irrigation department following the appointment of Chief Electoral Officer Rajat Kumar a Secretary, Irrigation. This would now help Somesh Kumar to focus more on the overall administration of the state, official sources said.