Overheard In Bhopal: Wait Is On, Minister Deceived, Talks About Transfer, & More; Read Below | FP Photo
Wait is on
A woman officer has been elevated after the voluntary retirement of an Additional Chief Secretary (ACS). But the promotion of an officer of the same batch depends on the extension of the Bade Sahib’s tenure. Together with the Bade Sahib, three officers are retiring in the coming months. The retirement of two officers will ensure the promotion of two Principal Secretaries. There are possibilities of the Bade Sahib getting an extension. In that case, only one officer of this batch has to wait for a longtime for promotion. Among the senior officers, only three are left for retirement this year. Afterwards, there will be just any senior officers to retire till March next year. If the Bade Sahib gets an extension, this PS may have to wait for another six months for promotion. But if the Bade Sahib finds some ways, it will be a different thing. Three officers of this batch are on deputation to the Centre. Else, other officers would have to wait for promotion.
Changes ahead
A fresh transfer list of IAS officers will be released after the assembly session. The list might consist of the name of an officer of an important department. After the formation of the government, a Principal Secretary (PS) was posted to the department. There were proposals for his transfer several times. But they had to be cancelled for some reasons. People in the corridors of power are again nattering about his shifting from the department. The higher-ups in the government are not happy about his style of functioning. The files sent to him are dumped on his table. Actually, the Sahib is indecisive. So, the cases sent to him remain unsolved. At the same time, he throws monkey wrench into many cases by making negative comments in the files. For this reason, the government is planning to shift the PS to another department. Many officers have set their eyes on the department because of its importance. A PS handling an important job may be sent to this place.
Minister deceived
A sharp-witted minister has been deceived in his own department. An officer has filched his share of carrots. The department the minister is handling has been assigned several projects. When the minister raised a few questions on certain issues, he was told that everything was going smoothly, and that his requirements would be taken care of. Thus, the minister was also confident of getting his share of his candies. But he gets little money made through offstage deals. A senior officer takes the lion’s share of the sweetener. Whenever the minister’s aides talk to the officer about it, he just gives them a piece of advice. The Sahib is trying to prove that he goes by the rule book. So, everything in the department is happening according to rules. The minister, too, is hesitating to say anything directly to the officer. On many occasions, files scarcely reach the minister, because the Sahib takes most of the decisions. The minister knows how he is being deceived, but he is unable to act.
MP’s Pushpa
A dialogue from Allu Arjun’s film Pushpa – Jhukega Nahin – has become very popular. The same thing is true about a Sahib holding an important position in the state. The government’s efforts to remove the Sahib have so far failed. A case was registered against the Sahib in a probe agency. But after the Sahib raised many questions over the inquiry, the issue has been swept under the carpet. Another inquiry has been set up against him. There are reports that he has gathered evidence about this inquiry, too. The chances of the inquiry reaching any conclusion are thin. Just a little time is left for his tenure in office. There are reports that his term will end in the midst of the fight between him and the government. But it is true that the government’s efforts to bring this officer under pressure have fallen through.
Efforts for posting
A divisional commissioner is going to retire. But before his retirement, several officers have begun to make efforts for posting in the division. A promoteé officer posted in Mantralaya intends to become the commissioner of the division. The officer has started lobbying for it. He is making efforts through a politician and a senior IAS officer. A directly recruited IAS officer is also keen to go to the division as commissioner. A few months ago, his name was suggested for the post of commissioner in a division. But because of some old disputes, his name was removed from the list of candidates. The officer has again become active wishing to become commissioner of the division. Nevertheless, it is not easy for him to get posting there. So, he is performing various religious rites to remove hurdles from the way of his becoming commissioner.
Talks about transfer
The higher-ups in the government are talking about the transfer of collectors of three districts. They are mulling over whether the collectors of these three important districts should be transferred or allowed to remain there for a few months more. There are talks about giving some other work to these collectors, because they have worked in the field for a long time, and create space for sending fresh IAS officers to the field. On the other hand, an important person feels these officers should be allowed to work in the field at least for now. These three districts are so important, that political factors play a more important role in posting officers to these places than administrative ones. At present, the government is comfortable with these officers, so the top bosses are holding discussions before transferring them from there. Nevertheless, the discussions indicate that there are possibilities of including one or two names among these three officers in the transfer list.