As the smell of poll defeat pervades the corridors of power, top babus are turning rebels with a cause, pressuring Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to act against errant ministers. Urban Development Secretary Sudhir Krishna who complained against Finance Minister Chidambaram for criticizing his English insists his plea be forwarded to the PM despite Chidambaram’s explanation. Former Health Secretary Kesav Desiraju who was shunted out from the ministry allegedly over objections to the reinduction of tainted Medical Council of India chief Ketan Desai too wants justice. The bureaucracy is insisting on following the “rule book’’, while some junior officials have become bold enough to ignore orders. “It is a fact that officialsare turning defiant or becoming very much rights conscious. It is as if the officers have sensed that a regime change is imminent,’’ said an IAS official acting as the OSD in a major ministry.
Krishna, a 1977 batch IAS officer, has insisted that minister Kamal Nath should forward his complaint to the PM to take a call. Kamal Nath has. “Whether the PM will take action against Chidambaram or not is a different matter. But nobody could even think of such a complaint and that too against a powerful minister till recently,’’ said an IAS officer who belongs to Krishna’s batch.
The 4,700-member strong IAS Officers’ Association has also taken up the issue. “The association is of the view that the PM should act to protect the morale of the officials who are being treated badly by the ministers,’’ an executive committee member. “We will be meeting this week to decide the next course of action,’’ he said.
Mostly in the Ministry of Finance and the Home Ministry, officials are defiant of executing orders from the top. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence officials confirmed that there was pressure from the government to proceed against a corporate conglomerate considered close to BJP Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi. Although the company was served notice for the alleged imports over-valuation, DRI sleuths made it clear that they will follow the rules.
“Everyone, including the ministers and the babus are playing survival games. The officials are keen to project themselves as neutral as the tenure of this government comes to an end. It is important for their survival if they are to get plum postings from the next government,’’ said a former retired Secretary of one of the social sector ministries under UPA.
While that may be true, some officials are using this period of transition to their advantage. Some are even shunning their responsibilities by citing excuses.
In such a case, the DoPT had asked 50 officials to attend an `Inter Service Workshop on Best Practices’ held at Dehradun. The ‘inter service workshop’ had been a pet idea of the UPA-II and was meant to improve coordination among ministries. The DoPT had written to all ministries to send Joint Secretary level officials to the Indira Gandhi National Forest Academy (IGFNA) for a week’s training to improve cooperation among departments. Despite the circular, no official has responded. The ministry had to extend the date of application, but to no effect.
“We were told to make arrangements for 50 officials. But only 19 turned up,’’ an official with the Academy told SS over phone. He said that two others backed off at the last minute citing “silly’’ excuses including a “sudden cold and cough’’.
According to him, when asked about the absences, DoPT officials told him that “these sort of things’’ happen during the end of the tenure of a government.