The Bharatiya Janata Party in Andhra Pradesh might be making occasional attack on the Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy government in the state on various issue, but the fact is that its central leadership still treats the chief minister as its valuable friend and gives importance to his requests.
Particularly Prime Minister Narendra Modi regards Jagan as a good partner, despite the fact that the ruling YSR Congress party is not a part of the National Democratic Alliance. He gets Modi’s appointment even at the short notice.
Whenever there is a financial crisis in the state, Modi has obliged Jagan’s request for a liberal financial assistance and relaxation in borrowing limits.
So, despite the BJP in the state crying foul over the financial position, Jagan is able to manage the situation, thanks to the support from Modi.
The latest instance of Modi’s regard for Jagan is the way he has given six month’s extension to the service of chief secretary Sameer Sharma by another six months. He was supposed to retire on May 31 and now, he would continue for another six months.
In fact, Sameer Sharma is already enjoying an extended tenure. He was supposed to retire from service on November 30, 2021 on attaining the age of superannuation. But following a request from the chief minister, the Centre granted a six-month extension in service to Sharma till May 31, 2022.
On April 12, Jagan wrote to the Centre requesting extension of the Chief Secretary’s service for six months beyond May 31. In the normal circumstances, it would not be grated, as the maximum extension to be given to any IAS officer would be six months, that too, in two phases of three months each.
And the Department of Personnel and Training communicated the same to the state government. But Jagan wrote a letter directly to Prime Minister seeking further extension of service of Sameer Sharma.
Modi instantly obliged the request and on his recommendation, the Union Department of Personnel and Training communicated the Centre’s decision to the state on Friday, granting a second extension for a further six months relaxing Rule 16 (1) of the All India Services (Death-cum-Retirement Benefits) Rules, 1958, by invoking Rule 3 of AIS (Conditions of Service-Residuary Matters) Rules, 1960.
