He takes over as DG&IGP from ST Ramesh; was holding the post of DGP CID before being elevated
He takes over as DG&IGP from ST Ramesh; was holding the post ofu00a0 DGP CID before being elevatedThe State government has pulled the curtain down on three months of drama by appointing Neelam Achuta Rao (1976 batch IPS) as the head of the state police force. Rao will take over from S T Ramesh, who was currently heading the post on temporary basis since February this year.
Rao held several key posts including city police commissioner and was holding DGP CID post before he was elevated to DG&IGP. However, sources in the home department said that his appointment is a move by the government to hit two birds with one stone.
As directed by the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), the government needs to appoint a DGP at the earliest. Secondly, the state government does not wanted to depute senior IPS officer Guruprasad as DG&IGP, since he approached the CAT questioning the government move on this issue, which embarrassed the government.
Rao is set to retire by November this year and the government wanted to give him a chance since he is non-controversial compared to the other contenders. This also makes former City Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari the next strong contender along with DGP A R Infant.
Appointment to the prestigious post became controversial with several DGP rank officers, including Bidari, asking to be considered as per the new guidelines of the UPSC. Guruprasad immediately moved the CAT, Bangalore, which gave an interim direction to the government not to consider the UPSC direction. The Government then filed interlocutory application in the SC seeking permission to follow the UPSC guidelines.
Bidari's move has blocked Guruprasad, who challenged the former in the CAT citing service rules, from becoming the state head. Since the controversy on this issue erupted, the state government, which was intended to make Bidari as the state police head, went on the back foot for sometime. However, with Rao's appointment for a few months now, Bidari's chances of becoming DG & IGP are bright, as the other strong contender Infant is not a favorite with the BJP ruled state government.
