Bidding for politics
An officer in Chief Minister’s Secretariat is keen on contesting the ensuing assembly election. Ergo, he has begun to take feedback about himself from different corners. Since he cannot express his desire to the Chief Minister, he is trying to convey his wish to the head of the state through officials and politicians. Besides, he is in touch with the people of the area in Malwa region from where he wants to try his luck.
Besides, the officer is trying to tell, through some people of that region to the chief minister, that he should be given ticket for the assembly election. However, when his colleagues came to know of this desire of his, they began to do a send-up of this officer who is known for mild manner and for keeping a low profile. The BJP MLA of the area, from where he wishes to contest the election, has come to know of the officer’s intention. The complaints against the MLA, who suddenly got the party ticket in the last assembly election, are several. Accordingly, he fears lest the officer should get the ticket!
Sale Sahib!
A brother-in-law of a Principal Secretary (PS) is ruling the roost in the department. One can get anything done through this kin of the PS. There are many officers to get their work done through this Sahib. Yet, the number of people getting their work done through his brother-in-law is more.
The brother-in-law of the PS does a private business: It is said about this officer that the suppliers of the department that the PS looks after become business partners of his brother-in-law. Though there are many complaints against this PS who has earned lots of money, he always gets plum posts. Grapevine has it that since some officials got angry with this PS he wants to shift from this department before anything unusual happens.
Who will bell the cat?
No officer is able to muster enough courage to conduct an inquiry into the irregularities committed by an official. The file concerned with the inquiry has been lying with the Principal Secretary for more than a month. In fact, both the minister of the department and the PS do not want to take any action against this official. Besides, the PS does not want to talk to anyone about it. Since this official is always at the beck and call of the senior bureaucrats, he does not face any action, despite committing irregularities.
Even if he had been suspended after pressure from the Chief Minister’s Office, he was not only reinstated but had also had the inquiry stalled. Also, he has wooed the commissioner who has recently been transferred to the department and begun to lobby for plum posting. Since he has the whiff that the departmental inquiry may get into his way of plum posting, he is making all efforts to stop that.
Angry
A female minister is in spat with the officials of her department. Since she got angry with an officer, she returned all the files to the department. A few appointments and transfers were to be made, and the minister made some recommendations for it, but ignoring the minister’s advice, the officer made all the transfers on his own. He even did not send the file back to the minister, and when she came to know of it, she got infuriated.
Accordingly, several notes were exchanged between her and the officer. It is heard that the matter had reached the Chief Minister who advised them to end the dispute through dialogues. There is nothing new in the barney between the minister and the officers on various issues. Which is why, he wants to shift from this department, but every time he makes efforts for it, something unpredictable gets into the way of his transfer.
No action
The officers and the staff of a department are unhappy with an Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) who has been recently shifted there. Since the department is considered important, the former ACS never used to stop any file. However, the new ACS, instead of taking action, writes a note on the files: Under consideration. The ACS told the officials that delaying a work is better than getting into trouble by disposing of a file in an election year.
The most important trait of this ACS is that he neither does any work on anyone’s recommendations nor does he say ‘no’ to it. The minister of the department concerned has also come to know about this quirk of that officer. However, the problem with the minister is that the Chief Minister does not take him seriously. So, he, too, remains close-lipped about the officer.
Adieu to Bhopal?
An IAS couple of the Principal Secretary (PS) rank is planning to go to Delhi, bidding adieu to Bhopal. Both have begun to make efforts for it. One of them has already been transferred twice for his getting involved in one dispute or another. But he has been gnashing his teeth since he was transferred after a dispute with another PS. Still, his yarn of tiffs does not end. After his posting to a new department he had again had a fight with an IPS officer.
Fed up with their belly-aching against each other, the government has shifted both of them. So angry is the PS, known for his straightforwardness, after his transfer that he does not want to work for the state government anymore. His wife, too, is not on good terms with the minister of the department that she is working for. She, too, gets into row over various issues. Known for their honesty, the IAS couple wants to bid adieu to Bhopal.
