Juggling between 7 roles, will Yeturu get a breather?

Jaipur: IAS officer Bhanu Prakash Yeturu, as of today, has become the ‘almighty’ in the Vidyut Bhawan. Although the 2003 batch IAS Yeturu is currently a secretary-level officer, he is discharging the additional charge of ACS and Principal Secretary positions as well.

As of today, Yeturu is discharging the responsibilities of seven posts, which are Secretary Energy, Chairman Discoms, Chairman Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, Chairman Urja Vikas Nigam, Managing Director Jaipur Discom, and MD Urja Vikas Nigam.

Originally, Yeturu had the responsibilities of two posts Chairman Discoms and MD Jaipur Discom, and the remaining five posts have been handed to him as additional charges. Owing to ACS Alok being on leave, his charge of Secretary Energy, Chairman Vidyut Prasaran Nigam and Chairman Urja Vikas Nigam, have been handed to Alok. Thereafter, on Friday, May 3, the DoP handed the additional charge of two more posts to Yeturu since MD of Urja Vikas Nigam NC Bansal retired and MD of Jodhpur Discom Omprakash Kasera left for election duty.

According to administrative experts, this is the first case where one officer has been burdened with the additional charge of five posts. Experts also stress that burdening one officer with so much work and responsibility is neither prudent nor practical even when the work done by officials on these posts is extremely important.

When Yeturu returned to the Rajasthan cadre in October 2021 after spending 3 years on Home State deputation, the then government transferred him five times in two years. Moreover, when there are half a dozen senior officials adept and experienced in handling works related to the Energy Department, in that case, the reason for handing all the responsibility as an additional charge to Yeturu is beyond comprehension.