Babu quits in protest

These days it is not unusual for Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers to change horses midstream. The private sector, especially in recent years, has become a potent attraction for many a babu. But eyebrows were raised recently when an IAS officer in Uttar Pradesh reportedly put in his papers because of frequent transfers. Raju

Sharma, a Uttar Pradesh cadre officer of the 1982 batch, and currently with the state Revenue Board has opted for voluntary retirement apparently upset over being transferred thrice within barely two months.
Observers see politics behind Mr Sharma’s rapid transfers and cite instances of Mr Sharma having rubbed his political masters the wrong way. According to sources, Mr Sharma in his stint as principal secretary for higher education in Uttar Pradesh had a falling out with his minister Rakesh Dhar Tripathi over a bill for establishing five private universities. He was promptly moved out to the Revenue Board. It may also well be a coincidence, sources say, but Mr Sharma was among a group of babus who had led a highly publicised campaign to identify corrupt IAS officers in the state.
While Mr Sharma waits for the government to accept his resignation, he can still take heart in the support he has received from alumni of his alma mater St. Stephen’s College. Learning about Mr Sharma’s decision, a group of Stephanians, including retired and serving bureaucrats, have dashed off a bristling missive to Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar on the issue. But whether this will have any impact on the powers that be remains to be seen.

***

Game of politics
The shortage of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers in Maharashtra may have actually helped chief minister Ashok Chavan to score a point over his political rivals. The state has recently requested the Centre to allot 15 more IAS babus for the next five years. But since a cadre review is not due until 2012, it is likely that the shortage of IAS officers will continue for some time. But in a state where identity politics plays an increasingly important hand, Mr Chavan has used the opportunity to promote state cadre officers as collectors, a post usually held by IAS babus. In the latest reshuffle in the bureaucracy, Mr Chavan ensured that most of the collectors were from the state cadre. According to sources, the newly reshuffled babus, including Chandrashekhar Oke, Nirmalkumar Deshmukh, A.L. Jarad and Chandrakant Dalvi, hail from the state cadre who’ve been promoted to the IAS.
Mr Chavan is now hoping to reap the political benefits of this sons-of-the-soil strategy. While it might make him popular with the state cadre babus and other Marathi manoos, this move is not likely to gain Mr Chavan support of the IAS fraternity in Maharashtra.