Hyderabad, Sept. 15: Nowadays, journalists find it more difficult to gain access to bureaucrats than ministers. One such inaccessible babu is the APSCHE chairman, Mr K.C. Reddy, who holds fort in the swanky office in Masab Tank. Mr K.C. Reddy, who has powerful connections, calls the shots in the higher education sector and the minister and other senior officials just follow suit.
One has to merely step into the APSCHE office to feel Mr Reddy’s power. It looks more like a corporate firm than a government office. The centrally air-conditioned office has attendants clad in safari suits. Such finesse is not even seen in the Chief Minister’s office. Mr K.C. Reddy is known to be very close to the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy, and the APSCHE secretary, Mr M.D. Christopher, the Chief Minister’s nephew.
With rapid expansion of higher education in the state, including the setting up of 14 new universities and numerous professional colleges, the APSCHE office is always as busy as mush as a beehive. However, journalists who visit the office are rarely given any information on the developments. Only Mr K.C. Reddy is authorised to speak to the media, but he is always too busy to find time to meet the journalists. Earlier, Mr Christopher used to brief the media on day-to-day developments, but he has become mum after the controversy evoked by his comment about "creamy layer" in OBC reservations for higher education courses.
With that source drying up, the reporters have no option but to seek an appointment with Mr K.C. Reddy. They wait for hours, twiddling their toes, only to be told that he cannot meet them. Senior scribes often grumble about the one man show in the APSCHE and wonder why it could not afford to appoint a PRO to brief the media, despite being flush with funds.
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