KCR govt issues new ordinance exempting 28 corporations from ‘office of profit’ rule

The move by the Telangana government would help elected representatives appointed as chairmen of these corporations from not getting disqualified under the law.

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The Telangana government on Wednesday issued a new ordinance exempting 28 corporations from Office of Profit (OOP) law. The move by the state government would help elected representatives appointed as chairmen of these corporations from not getting disqualified under the law.

Under the Telangana Payment of Salaries and Pensions and Removal of Disqualifications (TPSPRD) Act, 1953, any MLA or MLC holding an office of profit faces disqualification.

The new amendments brought in through an ordinance of the Act would help the Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to offer chairman posts to those discontented party leaders who could not be accommodated in the state cabinet, reported ToI and TNIE.

Disqualification under the OOP worked on the premise that a legislator might be susceptible to influence from the government and thus will not be able to discharge their constitutional mandate. The OOP is a position that brings the office bearer financial gain, advantage or a benefit.

A few of the chairman posts that have been exempted are the Musi Riverfront Development Corporation, Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority, Yadadri Temple Development Authority, Vemulawada Temple Development Authority, Official Languages Commission and Sheep, Most Backward Classes Corporation, Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Corporation, Telangana Sports Development Authority and Goat Cooperative Society Federation.

The chairman positions enjoy a cabinet minister rank and will help KCR offer these posts to those who had defected from the Congress to the TRS after the assembly polls in 2018. Apart from Sabitha Indhra Reddy, who defected to the TRS from the Congress, no other leader had made it to KCR’s cabinet.

Speaking to ToI, M Padmanabha Reddy with the Forum for Good Governance pointed out that these corporations depended on the government for financial support and did not require a chairman to head them. Even if appointments are made, those appointed should be experts in the field and not a politician.

Several senior leaders including former minister Kadiyam Srihari, Nayani Narasimha Reddy and Tummala Nageswara Rao are expected to be nominated as chairpersons of key corporations, reported TNIE.

The former deputy speaker of the Assembly, M Padma Devender Reddy is also reportedly under consideration for the nominated posts. The names of Bigala Ganesh Gupta, the Nizamad Urban MLA, and Wardhannapet (SC) legislator Aroori Ramesh are also under consideration due to their caste affiliations.