Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh):
Complaint to Delhi
A complaint about a principal secretary (PS) has reached Delhi. But it was not related to any wrong deeds. The complaint was made because a powerful organisation was angry with the officer. The organisation has been assigned a job in a department because of pressure by Delhi. The organisation is demanding a huge amount of money for the work, and the PS is not in favour of giving it. The PS’s objection to giving the amount is harming the interest of the organisation. Initially, its members complained to the higher-ups in the government, but after their pleas failed to have any impact, they knocked on the doors of a powerful leader in Delhi. An advantage with the PS is that the minister of the department is also unhappy with the style of working of the organisation, so he is supporting the PS. There is a cold war between the department and the organisation. On the other hand, the government is keeping mum over the project because the decision on it was made following the pressure of a senior leader. Now, the organisation has become a bone in the throat of the government, which can neither spit it out nor consume it.
Officer’s Fear
An IAS officer posted in an important department wants to get transferred from there out of fear. The officers do not generally want to leave the position Sahib is holding. The officer met the head of state four times, requesting the Big Boss to transfer him from the department. In many other states, ED has acted against the officers posted in the department. Many officers working in the department are in jail, and many others are on the lam. So, the officer feels if he remains in the department for a long time, he will fall into the inquiry agencies’ net. On the other hand, several officers, keen to join the department, are waiting for the transfer of this officer for a posting there. The department is such that a transfer happens only after the head of state’s order. This is the reason that the officers wishing to join the department and the one intending to get out of it are approaching him.
In a bind
The government posted a senior officer to a place because it does not consider him worthy of anything. But times have changed, and the post the officer is holding has suddenly become important. The office where he is posted is required to do an important job. So, the department has become significant for all political parties.
Ergo, the department lying in isolation has hogged the limelight. After his posting to the department, the officer was unhappy and expressed his anger at different places, though he is still not happy. Sahib thinks lest there should be an error in the work related to a campaign. This is the reason that he has handed over the work to another officer of the department. The government has been neglecting this officer for a long time, but now, his importance has increased because of the campaign. In the past few days, he has received phone calls from some important people. This is the work on which the politicians will keep an eye, so the officer is worried, though his importance has increased.
Lucky fellow!
A collector is considered lucky in the corridors of power. The officer has always held important positions. Now, he is the collector of an important district. The officer was all set to be transferred in December, but just before the time of his transfer, the Election Commission (EC) announced that it would conduct SIR. Because of the announcement, the transfer of any officer cannot be done before February. To transfer any officer, the government must take permission from the EC, and the process of seeking the consent for shifting an officer during this period is so cumbersome that few would like to go through it. The government has been mulling over the transfer of this officer for the past six months. But every time Lady Luck favoured him, his name was struck off the transfer list at the eleventh hour of its release. It did not happen for the first time that fortune favoured him. In 2020, when the then government was changing, he was transferred to an important district. He continued to remain in the position that he got during the change of government. As he is not being transferred, the collector of another district is worried because he wants to join the important district.
Top job for a lady cop?
There are discussions in the corridors of power over intense lobbying for the transfer of some senior police officers. What is being discussed is that the government is ruminating over transferring some police commissioners along with some IG-level officers. The government is planning to appoint a woman officer as police commissioner either in Indore or in Bhopal. The woman officer previously held important positions in these two cities. After the police commissary system was implemented, it was decided that a woman officer should be made police commissioner in a city. So, the name of the woman officer figured in the discussions. The government has recently appointed some women collectors in districts. A woman IPS officer has been appointed as secretary to the Home Department. Now, in the police, too, the government is mulling over handing over this important position to a woman officer. Everyone appreciates the way of functioning of the woman officer. The political links of one of her family members are helping her get this position.
Ma’am’s ‘Danda’
A senior IAS officer is reigning in a department. People in the corridors of power are discussing her decisions. Madam has recently removed chartered accountants working for the department. There are jobs of auditing at different levels in the department. So, the work is given to the chartered accountants whose names are empanelled according to their capability. The job is considered important for those associated with the profession. Madam has stopped it. As well as stopping the audit work, she has also cancelled the process for appointing chartered accountants. There are reports that the decision has enraged those who are connected to auditing. They have expressed their views to her. But Madam never changes her decisions. So, the CAs are not getting any relief. Besides, there are several other decisions that caused flutters in the corridors of power.
