Babus never retire but rise on to higher things. Depending on where they stand in the pecking order, a plum assignment after retirement is almost de jure these days. In Punjab, babudom is currently abuzz with talk of several high-ranked Indian Administrative Services officers who have already got prestigious jobs lined up for when they retire. According to sources, financial commissioner Romila Dubey, who has sought early retirement, has been appointed chairman of the state Electricity Regulatory Commission. Interestingly, her husband A.K. Dubey, an ex-IAS officer, heads the Punjab Election Commission. There are others too, babu-watchers say, who though they retired some months ago are in line for rehabilitation. R.P.S. Pawar is likely to be appointed chairman of the state scheduled caste commission, and will replace, you guessed right, another retired IAS babu Naranjan Singh.
Clearly, in Parkash Singh Badal’s dominion, jobs for the boys (and girls) is a powerful lure for high-ranking civil servants provided they don’t fall out with their political masters.
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The tug of war
Not surprisingly, the bitter tug-of-war between Karnataka governor H.R. Bhardwaj and chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa has put the state’s babus under pressure. Right now chief secretary S.V. Ranganath is caught in the crossfire. According to sources, Mr Bharadwaj had sought files from Mr Ranganath to examine an application seeking permission to prosecute the chief minister for alleged corruption. However, it is learnt that Mr Yeddyurappa has directed his officials to “go slow” in responding to requests from the governor’s secretariat. Apparently, despite this “directive”, a secretary from the industries department sent a file relating to details on mining to Mr Bharadwaj’s office, and was severely reprimanded. Unfortunately, Mr Raghuram may face disciplinary action if he fails to abide by the governor’s directive. But doing so would earn the ire of his political master. The babu clearly is in an unenviable position.
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Murky deals
There were red faces at the ministry of external affairs when two senior diplomats made headlines for all wrong reasons. Close on the heels of Anil Verma, hauled back from London on the charge of domestic violence, came reports about UN-bound Alok Ranjan Jha who misbehaved with a co-passenger on board a flight to New York. He too was promptly transferred back to Delhi. Following an internal inquiry, it now appears that Mr Verma indeed was guilty of assaulting his wife. Mr Jha’s career too seems to be grounded for now. Both babus were high-fliers, destined for the upper echelons of the foreign service, before they crash landed.
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/content/dilip-cherian
