How Srilakshmi landed in soup
Hyderabad: Yerra Srilakshmi, a 1988 batch officer of the Indian Administrative Service, is the first of the Andhra Pradesh bureaucrats to be arrested among those who are facing probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Srilakshmi hails from West Godavari district and is the wife of M Gopikrishna, IPS officer who is currently IG CID in the General Offences Wing.
The senior bureaucrat, who had splendid record as the Collector of Nellore district took over as the Secretary of Industries and Mining Department in 2004 after Y S Rajasekhar Reddy took over as the Chief Minister and she continued to be at the helm of affairs in the department till 2009.
She was one of the top bureaucrats who enjoyed the confidence of the Chief Minister, Y S Rajasekhar Reddy as well as the ministers concerned. But the services she had extended allegedly benefiting either directly or indirectly the Obulapuram Mining Company has landed her in the trouble.
She was said to be instrumental for the issue of GO no 151 ( June 18, 2007) granting mining lease for a period of 20 years involving an extent of 68.5 hectares in Anataragangamma hills in Anantapur district to the mining baron, Gali Janardhana Reddy.
The term 'captive mining' which found a mention in the note file sent for approval was found missing in the final draft of the GO.
As per business rules and practices, all the facts that are part of the note file should invariably find their mention in the final order. It was considered as a deliberate omission.
An Assistant Secretary of the department was placed under suspension in connection with the episode. Besides this, the first applicant deserved priority in consideration of mining leases.
But the case of an applicant who had approached the ministerial authorities well before Gali Janardhan Reddy was set aside to favour the latter.
The Supreme Court stayed the mining activity in Bellary district and wanted the government to demarcate the lease area on the inter-state border. It should have been taken up as a joint exercise by the Revenue Department and the Survey of India.
News Posted: 29 November, 2011
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