Low-Profile Officer; Big Honour; Gall And Wormwood; Changing Times & More

Low-profile officer

Many officers remain worried about their rehabilitation after retirement and make efforts for it. But maintaining a low profile has benefited a retired additional chief secretary (ACS). After retirement, he has been rehabilitated to a place where he also got an extension for another year. There are reports that a person holding an important position has played a crucial role in it. Actually, this important person likes the officer whose quietude and style of working have impressed many. The important person has handed over a special project to the officer. He himself monitors the work. The project reports are sent to the Centre. People say as long as the politician is in power, the officer will work with him. The Sahib is also considered close to the BJP’s mother organisation. This is the reason why his rehabilitation remained hassle-free.

Who’s boss?

Nobody knows who is the actual head of a money-spinning department where there were lots of din over a few recent transfers. An officer played a crucial role in executing the transfers. There are reports that the commissioner of the department is working according to this officer’s wishes. The officers have been transferred to the department to suit the Sahib’s will. He even changed the proposals for transfer made in the office of the minister of the department. The changes he made raised a stir. Different groups work in the department. Because of the officers, the relationship between the minister and the commissioner is getting sour with each passing day. The commissioner may be in trouble because of the mess in the department. The axe may fall on him any day. But the commissioner is opposed to being transferred from there.

Big honour

An officer has received an honour just before his retirement. After the voluntary retirement of an Additional Chief Secretary, the name of the officer has moved up in the IAS cadre list. Being senior, the officer taking VRS was a member of the Civil Services Board. Besides the Chief Secretary, a senior IAS officer is appointed as a member of this Board. Because of opting for VRS, the retiring ACS has been appointed in place of the member. For any IAS officer, becoming a member of the Board because of seniority is a matter of honour. The Board takes the decisions on the cases related to the IAS officers. A member of the Board remains important.  Because he is going to retire soon, he may not remain important for a long time. The Sahib wants rehabilitation, for which he is pulling out all the stops, but it is not easy to get this work done in the present government.

Gall and wormwood 

The present posting has become gall and wormwood to an officer who has always held important positions. He wants to go to a key department. After the new CS took over, he expected a posting of his choice, for which he had initially made efforts, but the success eluded him. There are reports that the Sahib is again trying for a better posting, and that he wants to go to the commercial city in the state. Talks about the transfer of an officer from the commercial city are going on. If the Sahib is transferred, he may go to that place. But because the corridors of power are echoed with many stories about the Sahib, it is going to be difficult for him to get an important position.

Changing times

An officer deputed to the Centre as the staffer of a minister is repeatedly changing himself. Once this minister was in state politics. During that period, the Sahib was the collector in a district and close to the politician. Then the people used to say the officer was more loyal to the politician than the BJP leaders were. Times changed, and the leader went to the Centre. So Sahib’s attitude changed. When the time came, he kept a distance from the leader to save his collectorship. The officer was so scared of losing his collectorship and of being shifted to the loop line, that he even avoided getting photographed with the leader. The situation changed again. When he lost his collectorship, he went to the union minister. Now, the Sahib is praising this leader, and his colleagues are talking about the sudden change in his behaviour.

Down in the mouth

An IAS officer and an IPS officer, who have become the collector and the superintendent of police of a district, are feeling dejected. The IPS officer expected his posting in an important district. As he is on good terms with the higher-ups in the government, he was sure of getting it. After an incident, he was sent to the district on the grounds of caste equations. He is unhappy, for the district is too small. The Sahib is confident of getting posted to a big district in a few months. Similarly, though the IAS officer is happy about being the collector, he is disappointed, for the district is too small. Actually, when the officer was working in a department in Mantralaya, he was upset with his seniors, but instead of the present place of posting, he wanted to go to some other district. Yet he is satisfied. At least, he got the designation of collector, for many of his about-to-retire colleagues are yet to get the collectorship.