Two former Telangana chief secretaries are believed to have been in the running for the position of chairperson of the real estate regulatory authority in the state. Former chief secretary Somesh Kumar (Retd.IAS:1989:AP) and his predecessor S K Joshi (Retd.IAS:1984:TG) were among the bureaucrats who applied for the position of chairperson of the Telangana State Real Estate Regulatory Authority (TSRERA).
Many applications were received from former bureaucrats for the two posts of full-time members as well, sources said. To fill three positions at TSRERA, the Municipal Administration & Urban Development (MA&UD) department invited applications in January.
This is the first time since the enactment of the central RERA Act, 2016, that the Telangana government has taken the initiative to appoint a whole-time chairman and members. So far, the Chief Secretary has held the additional responsibility of chairing TSRERA, and the Director of Municipal Administration has held the secretary role. No members have been appointed since the constitution of the authority.
S K Joshi served as chief secretary for close to two years before he retired towards the end of 2019. His successor Somesh Kumar served for more than three crucial years until January 2023. It was during his tenure as chief secretary that the COVID-19 pandemic raged and the devastating floods of 2020 hit the state.
He obtained voluntary retirement from the Andhra Pradesh government, after being sent there following a High Court order which nullified his allotment to Telangana.
