Andhra's 'first' IAS officer proves 'unaccomodative', returns to Centre
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Principal Secretary ranked Aramane Giridhar, at present the secretary to the Andhra Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC), is going on a central deputation as joint secretary to the Cabinet Secretariat. As the Commission has not made any recruitments, it is believed that Giridhar felt he was merely whiling away time in his current deputation.
Back in 2014, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, after forming his new bifurcated Andhra government with heady ideas, thought of beginning his new administration with officers like Giridhar.
Giridhar, a 1988 batch officer, was the first IAS officer to express his willingness to work in Andhra Pradesh following the bifurcation of the state, cutting short his central deputation.
At the time, Giridhar was joint secretary to the Union Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, with key responsibilities. He was entrusted with the supervision of the KG- D6 block held by Reliance Industries.
He also played a key role in decisions related to gas pricing which pitted him against his own minister. The decisions, taken when Jaipal Reddy was Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural gas, led to Jaipal being shifted to another ministry relieving Giridhar off his responsibilities in intra-ministry changes.
The IAS officer created waves in the UPA administration when he opposed many decisions of his boss Veerappa Moily, which he alleged unduly favoured several private companies.
CM Naidu, who witnessed Giridhar’s fight with Moily, appointed him to the Andhra CM’s office as the principal secretary - with the responsibility of coordinating the construction of the state’s new capital, Amaravati.
Their association, however, was short-lived. Giridhar, as is his wont, noticed something amiss in the Naidu government’s dealings with Singapore companies.
In any case, Giridhar did not have the chance to do much work at the APPSC, as the commission had not made any recruitments. Two days ago, the Commission had initiated the process for recruitment for a few engineers, but it seems like too little too late, as the Centre has already appointed Giridhar to the cabinet secretariat on a vital assignment.
