After coming to power in Andhra Pradesh with a massive mandate in May, YSR Congress party president and chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had appointed nearly a dozen advisors to the chief minister’s office in various fields.
While some of these advisors for the chief minister were those who played a key role in the YSRC in the last few years and helped Jagan win the elections in their own way, there are some others whose services are really needed for the state because of their expertise in their respective fields.
Each advisor was given the cabinet rank with salary and perks amounting to nearly Rs 4 lakh per month, besides all the paraphernalia. Since they are appointed as advisor to the chief minister, their tenure was fixed to be co-terminus with that of the chief minister.
However, very soon Jagan is learnt to have realised that there is hardly any work for some of the advisors and they might turn out to be white elephants for the state exchequer. Moreover, there are others with whom Jagan is not happy.
So, the Jagan government on Thursday issued an order cutting down the tenure of all the advisors to him to a period of two years.
“If Jagan really needs the services of any advisor, he can give them extension of term for another two or three years. Otherwise, he might drop them and not continue the posts. Or, he might appoint a new set of advisors, as he is planning to replace the existing cabinet with a new set of ministers after two and a half years,” a source said.