Locking horns
Two close chums of a principal secretary have locked horns over commission. The officer is heading an important department, and both of his associates are dear to him. The PS has already got some deals done on behalf of others. The department where he is working now has many projects in which both his friends take interest. To get their work done, many people are contacting the duo, which has sown the seeds of bitterness between them. Both recently mounted pressure on the PS on behalf of someone for payment. One of the chums of the officer has good contacts with a probe agency, so the man has become active to entangle the other person in some cases. Nevertheless, the conflict between these two persons will have a serious impact on the officer. If any of them blows the lid off their deeds, many skeletons of Sahib will tumble out of the closet.
Kahin Khushi, Kahin Gum
Two big businessmen in the state are happy because of the dire strait that a big industrialist of the country is in. Both of them have heaved a sigh of relief. On the contrary, a retired IAS officer is feeling stewed. The two businessmen in the state feared that the country’s big industrial house might take over their firms. The action against the duo by probe agencies was considered as part of the plan to hand over their businesses to the most-powerful industrial house in the country. Now that the business house is in a dire strait, the two businessmen feel that the industrial house concerned will not pay attention to them. The retired IAS officer is, however, concerned about his money. Sahib has invested most of his income in the business group that is in the eye of a storm. This Sahib has a good connection with the business house which he had obliged when he was in power. This was the reason that he had invested most of his dough in this company. He thinks if the business house closes, he will be casseroled.
Might is right
A senior female IAS officer follows her own rules. She has recently been to an important department. Although she has accepted the responsibility, the officer clearly said she would not go to Mantralaya. She is heading a board. Most of the files are sent to the board. Therefore, the files, loaded in cars are either sent to her residence or are taken to the board office for clearance. The officers are fed up with carrying the files daily. As she is heading an important department, she has to make some decisions on policy-related issues. For this, holding meetings with officers is necessary, but she has refused to do that. She has clearly told her subordinates that she has hardly any interest in meetings. Ma’am has been transferred thrice for keeping away from work, but the government is enduring her wayward style of working.
Third collector
The influence of a central minister has again increased in the state. The state government had not been paying any attention to the suggestions made by him in the past few months. So, he reportedly got angry with the government. Now, the government has recently posted a third collector on the minister’s recommendations. A few months ago, the administration posted a collector to the minister’s parliamentary constituency on his advice. Similarly, another officer is working in a district because of the Union minister’s grace. Though the collector has made several irregularities, he has not been transferred. In a recent administrative reshuffle, an officer was appointed as a collector of an important district because of the minister’s recommendations. But the bureaucracy does not have good opinions about the officer who has been posted as collector. He is an easy-going type. So, the bureaucrats are concerned about how he will manage such an important district.
Keeping eye
Many officers are keeping their eye on an important department. A female principal secretary (PS) has been heading the department for a long time. Immediately after the retirement of an additional chief secretary (ACS), the PS has been given the additional charge of another department. There are yacks that the PS will soon get the charge of one of the two important departments. There are possibilities that any officer of the department the PS was heading may be shifted there. Against this backdrop, many officers are showing interest in the department concerned. It is said that an ACS is keen on joining this department for which Sahib is sparing no effort. Similarly, a PS is longing to go to the much-talked-about wing, so he is using his connections in the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). There are chances that the administration may post a low-profile officer there. For this, the higher-ups are mulling over the name of a PS.
Conflict of interests
A principal secretary (PS) of an important department and a deputy secretary have butted heads with each other over trivial issues. Both are direct recruits. As the PS does not want to take any responsibility of the department, he returns the files to the deputy secretary without signing them. Sahib, however, mounts pressure on the deputy secretary to do the work mentioned in those files. There was a heated exchange between them over an issue. The DS clearly told the PS to remove him from the department. The PS also holds the charge of another important wing from where he is making a lot of money through sneaky dealings. As he is not interested in the work of the other department, he gives the responsibility to the deputy secretary, but the problem with the latter is that the higher-ups in the administration are unhappy with him. For that reason, nobody is listening to his problems, though the PS is at fault.
