BHUBANESWAR: Within hours of his retirement as Director General of Police, Abhay was re-appointed as chairman of the State task force for matters relating to narcotic drugs, a position which did not exist till Friday. A formal notification and terms of reference for this task force is yet to be brought out.
Odisha government’s benevolence to superannuated officers is not new. Re-appointment of officers, particularly from All India Services, has become a regular affair in the last 10 years during which not less than a dozen chief secretaries and directors general of police (DGPs) have been rewarded with plum posts.
Abhay, who will be in the rank of Chief Secretary, may be tasked with coordination with various departments over drug de-addiction and other issues.
However, he is not the only IPS officer to have been rewarded after retirement. The practice started in 2007 when Gopal Chandra Nanda was appointed to the Staff Selection Commission. Later, several other top police officers were rehabilitated by the government.
This includes appointment of former DGP Amarananda Patnaik as member, State Administrative Tribunal (SAT).
Similarly, former DGP RP Sharma who took voluntary retirement was brought in as a member of the Lokayukta while Satyajit Mohanty, who retired as DGP, Home Guards, was rewarded with the plum posting of chairman of Odisha Public Service Commission (OPSC).
Rehabilitation of retired bureaucrats is equally prevalent in the State. At least, four chief secretaries and two senior IAS officials have been appointed as State Election Commissioner.
Those appointed to the post after retirement include Aditya Prasad Padhi, Rabi Narayan Senapati, Ajit Kumar Tripathy and Sanjib Chandra Hota.
This apart, former chief secretary Asit Tripathy was appointed as the chairperson of the Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) and advisor to Chief Minister. Tripathy’s posting as WODC chairman was a first for a retired bureaucrat and it had evoked strong reactions across political parties.
The list does not end here. Senior retired bureaucrat R Balakrishnan was also appointed as an advisor in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).
Several Class 1 officers mostly from IAS are being reappointed for a particular period and granted extension time and again.
Besides, 20 retired class 1 officers were also appointed as consultants in the Water Resources department. However, consolidated information is not available for all the departments.
Such appointments have come in for sharp criticism from Opposition BJP and Congress members. Santosh Singh Saluja of Congress alleged that the government is paying the retired officers for the work they did for the ruling dispensation.
A senior BJP leader also criticised the government for the re-appointments and alleged this leads to sycophancy.