Becoming a district collector is often considered a core attraction for young people joining the Indian Administrative Service, but the tiny Rajanna Sircilla district in Telangana is proving to be a challenge most IAS officers dread to take up. Rather, it is fast becoming like a nightmare. IAS officers avoid heading the Sircilla district administration, as this role has come to be viewed as a punishment post. So much so that senior officials prefer a low-profile position in the secretariat to becoming its collector due to extreme political pressure and mounting legal complications.
The primary reason for the reluctance is the intense political scrutiny due to which successes are credited to political bosses and failures bring widespread criticism.
Virtually, Sircilla has been a high-profile constituency represented by BRS party working president and former minister K.T. Rama Rao. The district also includes the Vemulawada constituency, represented by government whip Aadi Srinivas.
Collectors often find themselves caught in the crossfire between a powerful opposition like the BRS and an assertive ruling party like the Congress. As a result, while ruling Congress leaders like Sircilla Assembly constituency in-charge K.K. Mahendar Reddy and Aadi Srinivas seek to assert their authority, BRS leaders question every administrative move.
But what has permeated fear in the minds of bureaucrats is the tenure of previous collector Sandeep Kumar Jha (IAS:2014:TG). Jha was known for his aggressive styles, crackdowns on land encroachments, and public spats with political heavyweights.
Rama Rao disliked Jha and called him a Congress activist in a collector’s garb. This strong political stance was taken on the basis of a simple incident of removal of a tea stall featuring the MLA’s photo. But Jha’s image really suffered a blow when the Telangana High Court summoned him and made him stand in court until evening. The matter related to a compensation issue involving a local woman.
The collector was finally transferred ostensibly for protocol violation during National Flag Day.
After Sandeep Kumar Jha, M. Haritha (IAS:2013:TG) was posted as the first female collector of the district on September 29. As she was earlier serving as a special secretary, she was unhappy about being moved to a district-level role, and within just 24 days of taking charge, Haritha went on long-term child care leave.
It is learnt that after receiving High Court notices shortly after joining duty and the pressure exerted on her by local politicians prompted her to step aside.
The result was as was expected: after multiple leave extensions, the government finally transferred her. She is now posted as secretary to the Telangana State Public Service Commission.
Since Haritha’s departure in October last, the additional collector (local bodies), Garima Agarwal, has been managing the district administration.
As per the latest government orders, Garima has been directed to continue as the in-charge collector. There is a strong possibility that the government may eventually give her full-scale responsibility in the face of the senior officers’ unwillingness to take up the Sircilla challenge.
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