New Delhi: Till 2021, Praveen Prakash, a 1994 IAS officer, was on the heart of each decision-making in Andhra Pradesh because the chief secretary to the then Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy. Along with being within the chief minister’s workplace (CMO), as secretary of the overall affairs division (GAD), civil servants believed that Prakash wielded energy in contrast to different officers within the state.
4 years later, that impression price Prakash a profession within the Indian Administrative Service.
He informed ThePrint that when the federal government in Andhra Pradesh adjustments in 2024, Prakash discovered himself and not using a publish as CM N Chandrababu Naidu left 15 officers and not using a single one.
“I discovered this very humiliating as a result of as an IAS officer, there is no such thing as a goal if you’re stored and not using a publish,” he mentioned. “I couldn’t come to the Heart as a result of the identical impression prevailed there too – that I’m too near Jagan Mohan Reddy and revel in an excessive amount of energy as his principal secretary. So I utilized for VRS (voluntary retirement) after 21 days and it was granted.”
However days later, amid stress from his household to return to the army, Prakash determined to reap the benefits of the choice to withdraw his VRS software inside 90 days — an software he claims was threatened with “critical penalties.”
“When my need to return to army service was communicated to the federal government, I used to be informed that I might face extreme penalties if I returned,” he mentioned. “I used to be informed that being allowed to retire was the minimal punishment I may obtain.”
However Prakash mentioned he didn’t perceive what he was being punished for. He says his case and the way his profession was “destroyed” displays a bigger drawback of the politicization of India’s forms.
“My grievance from each Jagan Mohan Reddy and Chandrababu Naidu is that they assume we’re YSRCP or TDP staff,” he mentioned. “As IAS officers, we’ll work for them so long as they’re the chief minister. We’ve nothing to do with them as occasion presidents or leaders… They see us as occasion members of the opposing camp.”
Mr. Reddy heads the YSR Congress Social gathering (YSRCP) and Mr. Naidu heads the Telugu Desam Social gathering (TDP).
Prakash mentioned IAS officers are risk-averse by definition. “As a risk-averse individual, I by no means take the danger of aligning with one CM as a result of I do know that governments change each 5 years, particularly in southern states,” he informed ThePrint.
Prakash, as soon as a well-known IAS officer, has now returned to his residence state of Uttar Pradesh. He lives in Noida and works as a chief advisor in an edtech firm.
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“I used to be refused the place of central lawmaker.”
Mr. Prakash was appointed as Mr. Reddy’s principal secretary in 2019 after serving as Andhra Pradesh Resident Commissioner in New Delhi for 2 years.
“Being the resident commissioner of the southern states of Delhi is like being the ambassador of a rustic,” he mentioned. “When the CM begins, you’re his go-to individual for every part,” he added, explaining his friendship with Naidu when he was the CM earlier (2014-2019).
“I used to be his go-to individual when he was opposing the prime minister and when he was holding conferences in Delhi,” he mentioned. “On Might 23, 2019, he informed me he was returning to energy and needed me to be head CMO.”
Nevertheless, though Mr. Naidu misplaced the election, Mr. Prakash managed to move Reddy’s CMO.
“Initially, I needed to battle the notion by Jagan Mohan Reddy that I used to be too near Naidu,” he mentioned. “He informed me I obtained by means of every part.” Lakshman Rekas (Line) I labored like a TDP worker, not a civil servant. ”
“It took me a while to persuade myself that I used to be only a civil servant, however then there was an understanding between us rapidly,” Prakash mentioned.
Though Prakash was anticipated to wield monumental powers as chief secretary, he mentioned he had nonetheless knowledgeable Reddy that he needed to maneuver on to a different project in 2021. “I had been CMO for over two years and felt that the rewards of what I may provide in that place have been diminishing,” he defined. “I needed my juniors to achieve that have as effectively.”
Initially, Reddy was reluctant to let him go, however ultimately agreed, saying that today, the publish of chief secretary to the chief minister and that of principal secretary to the CM are concurrent. In 2021, Mr. Prakash was appointed because the Secretary of Faculty Training.
Throughout this time, he was additionally rejected as a central agent by the central authorities authorities because of an opaque 360-degree analysis, he informed ThePrint.
“I work as joint secretary for city affairs and earlier took cost of Swachh Bharat duties. My ACR (Annual Confidential Report) as JS was an ideal 10,” he mentioned. “However I used to be denied central deputation solely due to the impression that the ability was in my head as chief secretary.”
“I had informed the authorities many instances that I may work as a joint secretary on the Heart even when my batchmates have been working as deputy secretaries simply to point out my need to work, however I used to be not allowed central deputation,” he added.
“The distinction between PCS (state civil service) staff and All India Service (AIS) staff is that if the latter faces any drawback within the state, they’ll come to the Heart, however all doorways are closed to me,” he mentioned. “So, if I’ve a grievance in opposition to the state management, I even have a grievance with the Heart. They didn’t help the AIS officers.”
He mentioned the 2019 controversy wherein Prakash allegedly eliminated the then Andhra Chief Secretary LV Subrahmanyam, who was an officer within the 1983 unit, after issuing a show-cause discover citing procedural deficiencies, served to persuade the Delhi institution that Prakash was being too pretentious about himself.
Nevertheless, that is an allegation that Prakash has denied for a few years. “I solely carried out the CM’s directions. I used to be not the supply of the choice,” he claimed.
“The impression that we have been working for politicians took a toll on me,” he reiterated, claiming {that a} Kanpur Institute of Expertise graduate may have had a really profitable profession in know-how.
It’s mentioned to be a bent shared by each Reddy and Naidu. “Even Jagan Mohan Reddy sacked a number of officers when he got here to energy and Naidu did the identical,” he added. “This has made life very tough for IAS, IPS (Indian Police Service) officers.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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