Hyderabad:Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Saturday chaired meetings of selection committees to fill long-vacant posts in the Telangana Human Rights Commission (TGHRC), Telangana Information Commission (TGIC), and Telangana Lokayukta. Leader of the opposition K. Chandrashekar Rao, who was invited for the crucial meeting, skipped it.The meeting was attended by Speaker Gaddam Prasad Kumar, Council Chairman Gutha Sukender Reddy, and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. According to official sources, the committee shortlisted candidates for the key posts and has forwarded the recommendations to Governor Jishnu Dev Varma for final approval. Top contenders for the CIC post include Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari, who is set to retire this month, and G. Chandrashekar Reddy, principal secretary to the Chief Minister.The commissions have remained non-functional for years, largely due to inaction by the BRS government, which failed to appoint successors after the retirement of incumbents. The TGIC has been without a chief information commissioner (CIC) since August 2020. Buddha Murali, an information commissioner, held additional charge until his retirement in September 2022. Since then, the post has remained vacant, as have been the posts of information commissioners. The TGHRC too has been without a chairman and members since December 2022 following the retirement of Justice G. Chandraiah. Similarly, both the Lokayukta and Upa Lokayukta posts have been vacant since December 2023. The last appointments were made in December 2019 during the BRS regime, following a High Court directive.The administrative vacuum has led to a severe backlog of over 18,000 appeals and complaints pending with the TGIC, while the TGHRC has 2,700 complaints and an additional 12,000 pending cases awaiting disposal. With no appellate authorities in place, officials across departments have reportedly been denying information to applicants, further compounding delays and eroding transparency.
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