Telangana Education Commission Chairman Akunuri Murali resigns

Akunuri Murali stated that he was resigning to his post, as the Telangana Education Commission has completed the task of submitting a comprehensive report on the situation of public and private education in Telangana, along with its recommendations.

Hyderabad: In an unexpected move, Akunuri Murali, the Chairman of the Telangana Education Commission (TGEC), tendered his resignation on Friday, May 22.

In his resignation letter addressed to Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao, he stated that he was submitting his resignation as the Commission had completed the task of submitting a comprehensive report on the situation of the public and private education sector in Telangana, along with its recommendations.

He thanked the state government for providing him with the opportunity to serve as the chairman of the commission.

Akunuri Murali worked as the District Collector for Jayashankar Bhupalpally district and also as the Director General of Telangana State Archives. He served as the Managing Director and Vice-Chairman for Telangana Seed Development Corporation and as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP).

He has also served as the Director of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) in the undivided Andhra Pradesh.

His major contributions and achievements included developing the first community contracting methodology in the country, which was used to execute infrastructure projects in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

He was instrumental in initiating Self-Help Groups (SHG) on a large scale, with the aim of improving the rural livelihoods of poor households.

He was instrumental in mobilising 10 million poor women into SHGs through two World Bank-supported projects, APDPIP and APRPRP, in the undivided Andhra Pradesh. He was also instrumental in mobilising 10 million workers under MGNREGS in the undivided AP.

Akunuri Murali played a pivotal role in the face-lifting of 31,000 government schools over a three-year period in the undivided Telugu state.

After an illustrious career in government administration as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, Akunuri Murali had resigned from his post during the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government and joined politics.

He, along with former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer RS Praveen Kumar, had joined the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) but went different ways after the 2023 Assembly elections. While RS Praveen Kumar joined the BRS against which he had actively campaigned before the Assembly elections, Murali was appointed the chairman of the Telangana Education Commission.

It needs to be seen if this is the end of his journey or a new beginning for another role.