Telangana ministers to stay away from duties

HYDERABAD: Ministers hailing from the Telangana region have decided to stay away from their duties due to political compulsions and the situation in the region. But explaining his own compulsions, chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy has insisted that they resume attending office from Monday for smooth functioning of the state administration. The ministers, who included Telangana Congress Steering Committee chairman K Jana Reddy and convener B Saraiah, met the chief minister at the latter’s camp office and explained their predicament. They  reiterated that they would not take up their duties again till the party high command made a favourable statement on Telangana.Talking to Express over phone, Saraiah said they had requested the chief minister to put off the SI recruitment test till Clause 14 (f) of the Presidential Order was deleted.The ministers, who also included P Sabitha Reddy, D Sridhar Babu, DK Aruna, R Venkat Reddy, P Sudershan Reddy and V Sunitha Laxma Reddy, met separately for about an hour before meeting the chief minister. Jana Reddy was the first who to come out of the meeting and drove straight to the residence of the committee’s another chairman and Rajya Sabha member K Keshava Rao. Later, Sabitha, Saraiah and others trooped out one after the other.J Geeta Reddy, K Venkata Reddy, P Shankar Rao and P Lakshmaiah, who had also resigned as ministers, did not attend the meeting.