Dilli Ka Babu
Transfer blues
Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit is upset with Union home minister P. Chidambaram over the “unilateral” transfer of IAS officers. While the ministry of home affairs (MHA) has ordered the transfer of 27 officials, what has upset Ms Dikshit is that the transferred babus include her principal secretary M.M. Kutty, industry secretary Chetan B. Sanghi and Delhi Jal Board CEO Debashree Mukherjee. With Delhi Assembly elections coming up next year, Ms Dikshit’s concern is heightened by the fact that five senior aides are due to retire this year, including chief secretary P.K. Tripathi.
Unfortunately, the MHA babus are in no mood to retract the transfer orders. Apparently, these babus have already overstayed their deputation periods and the parliamentary standing committee on personnel, public grievances and law and justice has come down rather harshly on officials who “misuse the provision of deputation”. It seems Ms Dikshit may have to take her battle to retain her babus to a whole new level.
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Strategic move
West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee has long grumbled about the scarcity of IAS officers in West Bengal. For months after becoming the chief minister, she refused to let go of IAS officers from the state cadre on Central deputation. So eyebrows were raised when recently Ms Banerjee allowed Anil Agarwal, secretary, animal resource development, and a 1981 batch IAS officer, to leave the state on Central deputation.
According to sources, by allowing Mr Aggarwal to leave, Ms Banerjee is actually setting the stage for health secretary Sanjay Mitra to become the additional chief secretary. It is no secret that many view Mr Mitra, who is reportedly close to Ms Banerjee, as a future chief secretary. Had the chief minister not used the opportunity provided by Mr Agarwal, Mr Mitra would have had to wait until October to assume the post of additional chief secretary when his senior, Dipankar Mukhopadhyay, retires.
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Open-hearted
Rural development minister Jairam Ramesh is a considerate man. Although he has not given up a part of his ministry’s budgetary allocation to strengthen panchayati raj institutions, he has opened the ministry’s doors to IAS officers who’ve been victims of kidnapping by Maoist insurgents.
According to sources, Mr Ramesh has taken two IAS officers, T. Vijay Kumar and R. Vineel Kumar, under his wing. While Mr Vijay Kumar, who had been the Maoists’ victim back in 1993, is now a joint secretary in the ministry, Mr Vineel Kumar is Mr Ramesh’s private secretary. Mr Vineel Kumar was kidnapped and subsequently released by the insurgents last year. Observers are placing bets whether Sukma collector Alex Paul Menon too may get a recruitment call from the mantri.
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