At odds
The minister, principal secretary and commissioner of a department are singing different tunes. They do not see eye to eye. The minister has a deep disliking for the PS and the commissioner both. The PS and the commissioner are also not ready to work in tandem. Obviously, the departmental work is suffering. The department was badly exposed during the recent visit of a Central team to the state. The team was here to assess the drought situation. When the senior officers probed bit deeper, they realised that the department was being run solely by the departmental officers. The draft they proposed for the presentation before the Central team was cleared as it is. Due to the tussle between the three top functionaries, neither policy decisions are being taken, nor the ongoing schemes are being run properly. The departmental officers are doing what pleases them. Instead of communicating with one another, the three top men just issue instructions to the departmental officers. The minister has not convened any meeting of the senior officers for the past several months. Once in a while, he does make perfunctory enquiries about the department. He spends most of his time in his constituency.
In-charge
A secretary-level officer, who has just managed to extricate himself from the throes of a controversy, is trying hard to get the charge of an institution under the administrative control of the department he is posted in. Presently, the principal secretary of the department is holding the charge. The secretary recently requested a senior officer to help him. The senior, however, warned him that was courting trouble. The secretary is also trying to convince the PS to give up the charge, arguing that it was too insignificant a responsibility for an officer of his rank. He wants that the PS should volunteer to transfer the charge to him. The former, however, is not amused. The chief minister, it is said, is very upset with the secretary and that is why no Babu is willing the take the risk of entrusting another responsibility to him.
Exit
There is no love lost between an officer of the principal secretary-level and the government. After a review of the functioning of the department headed by the PS, the chief minister came to the conclusion that things were far from satisfactory, the reason being that neither the minister nor the PS is taking any interest in work. The PS is preoccupied with complaining about the lack of resources in the department and is widely perceived to be a non-performer. A recent event organised by the department also led the CM to the conclusion that the department is not functioning as it should. The chief minister does not have much reason to blame the minister as he is mostly busy in discharging his political responsibilities but the PS may have to face the music. The government is preparing a list of good-for-nothing officers, who are proposed to be sidelined in the last year of the government’s current term. The PS figures in the list and that has only served to increase his frustration. Naturally, his performance is bound to suffer.
Eyeing
There seems to be no end to the travails of a minister caught up in a criminal case. The more he tries to extricate himself from the tangle, the more he gets sucked into it. One of his colleagues is doing his best to ensure that the minister’s troubles do not end and a situation is created in which he is forced to resign. The other man is interested in the department held by the besieged minister. He has been trying to get hold of it for the last four years but every time something or the other comes in the way. He knows that if the minister caught up in the legal tangle goes, he would be the biggest claimant for the department headed by the former. In his earlier stint as the minister of the department, he had made tons of money. He is unhappy with his present department, where the opportunities for making money are few and far between. Whenever the minister makes a proposal that he hopes would fetch him some cash, the officers put roadblocks in his way. Now, the minister is hinging his hopes on a change in his department.
Bad patch
The collector of a district is passing through a bad patch – what with one controversy after another chasing him. He is being blamed for mishandling a demonstration, due to which things went out of the hands, embarrassing the government. The collector was also pulled up by his seniors during the recent visit of the Central team to the state to assess the drought situation. The officer has also failed to build a rapport with the people’s representatives of the district. A minister has also complained against him. The collector may be shown the door if things continue this way. He was in controversies during his earlier posting in another district too. Clearly, fortune is not favouring him in the initial phase of his career.
Attempt
An officer who is in the good books of the high and the mighty was hopeful that he would get the command of a district immediately after his elevation to the IAS. However, that did not happen. Two years down the line, he is still waiting for collectorship. Unhappy and disappointed he is now willing to settle for any position of consequence. A gentleman, who is wields considerable influence in the corridors of power is also batting for him. But the top bureaucrats are not inclined to posting him as collector and that is why; despite being in the good books of the politicians, he misses the bus every time. A person close to him recently recommended his case to the chief minister and managed to extract an assurance that his wish would be fulfilled soon. But the officer has had enough of assurances. His dreams lie shattered and he has even stopped smiling. While he was all praise for the government after his appointment to the IAS, he now flies off the handle at the very mention of the name of the BJP.
