New Delhi: Former director general of police M Mahendar Reddy was on Thursday appointed as the new chairman of the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC).
The state government also appointed five new members to the controversy-ridden TSPSC following the approval from Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan. They are retired bureaucrats Anita Rajendra and Amit Ullah Khan, Professor N Yadaiah, Y Ram Mohan Rao, and Palavai Rajani Kumar, and they can hold the office for a term of six years or until they attain the age of 62 years, said an order issued by Chief Secretary Santhi Kumari.
Reddy, 61, a 1986-batch IPS officer, served as the DGP and head of the police force in the BRS government for five years from November 2017 till his retirement from the service in December 2022. He was the city police commissioner of Hyderabad before his promotion.
The new Commission has a herculean task of conducting free and fair recruitment to fill vacancies in government departments. Reddy is known for his no-nonsense nature and sincerity in succeeding in tasks given to him. After his retirement, he had been staying away from public glare.
Alleged mismanagement of the Commission and incidents of question paper leaks had led to the Group-1 exam being cancelled twice, along with several other Group-2 exams. More than 50 arrests, including those of who worked for the TSPSC, had exposed the functioning of the earlier Commission.
A special investigation team probe is also underway. All this caused massive outrage among over 32 lakh unemployed youths who aspired to government jobs and prepared hard for the exams.
In the run-up to the November 2023 elections, the Congress party had promised to fill 2 lakh government vacancies within a year of assuming power. The party also released a job calendar, according to which the government would issue job notifications in phases starting February 1, 2024, and complete this process on December 15, 2024. The party had also promised to scrap the existing Commission and revamp it to conduct exams in a foolproof manner.
The previous Commission, headed by retired IAS officer B Janardhan Reddy, had tendered their resignation soon after the change of government. While the resignations were not approved by the governor until January 10, citing the need for review and legal opinion in the wake of an ongoing investigation, a search committee led by chief secretary A Santhi Kumari recommended the name of the former DGP from over 50 applications for the post. A total of 371 applications were received for all posts from retired bureaucrats and academicians.
