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Uttar pradesh
State can only bully, Centre has the final say |
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Uttar pradesh
THE almost 17-month-old Akhilesh Yadav government’s tenure in Uttar Pradesh can be divided into two phases — pre-Durga Shakti Nagpal suspension and post-suspension. For the first time the suave and media savvy Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has repeatedly lost his cool in public view, refused to take questions and spoken bitterly about bureaucrats and media alike since the controversy erupted. Comparing the regime of BSP supremo Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav, bureaucrats (off the record) point out that during her regime there was open unadulterated autocracy. Only a handful of officers ruled the roost. The present regime has some “super-bureaucrats” who call the shots, which is equally tyrannical but has been done with a packaging of “return of democracy”. It is a fact that the IAS Association had remained defunct for five years. The then Chief Minister Mayawati had refused to give a date to grace its functions, and hence, IAS and IPS week celebrations were not held.
Breathing life The Akhilesh government revived the IAS Association and the Chief Minister attended all ceremonial functions, including a cricket match between officers and politicians. But the manner in which he has openly come out against the association for backing Durga Shakti has shaken the IAS officers’ faith in his democratic credentials. Last week, Akhilesh laid claim to reviving the association and reminded it of BSP rule when IAS officers had to remove their shoes before entering the Chief Minister’s office. He asked the association members why they had not reacted in a similar fashion when a Principal Secretary-rank IAS officer had died mysteriously during Mayawati’s tenure. His comparison of IAS officers to a bunch of unruly schoolchildren who needed to be taught a lesson by their teachers and parents was highly inappropriate. Speaking at a public function to felicitate meritorious children, he justified the action against Durga Shakti, saying: “Sarkar mein bhi kuch aisa hae, adhikari agar galat kaam karega to dandit hoga.” Statistics, however, speaks otherwise. As per the IAS association’s data, over 100 such suspensions in 20 years puts Uttar Pradesh at the top of the list in punishing errant schoolchildren-like officers of the elite services. Hundred out of the 105 suspensions in Uttar Pradesh had to be withdrawn after no real evidence of the officers’ wrongdoings could be put on record. A whopping 60 per cent of such suspensions took place during the Mayawati regime. Not to be left behind, 35 per cent have been suspended during the Samajwadi Party (SP) rule.
Arm-twisting Reflecting on his post-Durga outbursts against IAS officers, many are wondering if the IAS Association had been revived only to sing paeans? Is it not the role of an association to support its members if it is perceived that the due process of law has been ignored in a certain case? Does freedom of expression under a democratic regime exclude the right to give critical feedback? Citing the pressures exerted on bureaucrats after Durga’s suspension, an officer says that the acting Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan was in a spot as he heads the association. In order to make him prove his loyalty to the government rather than the IAS Association, the government issued a press note making him describe as “misleading” the news that the UP IAS Association was part of the All India IAS Officers Association delegation scheduled to meet Union Minister of State for Personnel V Narayanasamy in New Delhi on August 1. The statement of party ideologue Ramgopal Yadav, asking the Central government to withdraw all IAS officers as the SP government can manage with provincial civil services officers has not gone down well with the state cadre. “This is a violation of the federal character of the state. Surprisingly, it is being made by a politician from Uttar Pradesh and not from Nagaland or J&K,” an officer remarks. Describing another ideological difference between the manner in which bureaucrats are treated by the BSP and SP regimes, an officer made an interesting observation. Mayawati wants her policies and programmes to reach out to her most marginalised vote bank. For this, she strategically empowers her officers and closely monitors them so they deliver. On the contrary, the SP’s core supporters want least governance as they are well equipped to take care of their interests, bending a few rules here and there. This explains why there have been fewer review meetings, and officers at the district level complain of long delays in sanctions of projects, even ones with financial allocations. For instance, despite the sanction of Rs 1 core and approval from the Chief Secretary and Commissioner Rural Development for setting up the social audit cell to monitor MNREGA, it took the finance department 15 months to release the money. Sources say 70 per cent of the money coming from the Central government under various schemes is being diverted to the 10,000 villages being developed under the Lohia Integrated Village Development Scheme.
Manipulating figures However, following the national outrage at Durga’s suspension, the state government is in damage control mode. The Chief Minister yesterday went on a surprise visit to Lohia village in Sonia Gandhi’s Rae Bareli constituency. He ordered the suspension of two food department officials for not ensuring distribution of food grains under the PDS and transferred the district basic education officer for dereliction of duty. Last week, the government had released selective crime figures of 2011 and 2012, attempting to show that crime was not significant worse than during Mayawati’s rule. What the official release conveniently overlooked was the kinds of crime in which the jump has been phenomenal, like the 13.02 per cent increase in riots, 307.26 per cent increase in dowry cases and 7.58 per cent hike in cases of domestic violence, suggesting an unsafe environment for women. Incidentally, the state also tops the list in crime against minors. The implementation of the populist schemes promised in the party’s manifesto of 2012 remains the government’s top priority. However, even here examples of poor governance are rampant. In June, at least 85 laptops meant to be distributed among class XII students at Gola town of Lakhimpur Kheri were damaged when rainwater leaked into the room where they were kept. At Shahjehanpur, another flagship programme, “Kanya Vidyadhan”, has run into trouble, with some girls complaining of the cheques bouncing. Due to the Durga controversy, another major problem before the Akhilesh government has momentarily taken the back seat. A violent protest by pro-reservation supporters has been going on in Allahabad since July 26, which has the potential to snowball into a threat for the government. Under pressure from the anti-reservation lobby, which the SP is currently wooing to fulfil its national aspirations, the government pressed the Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) to abruptly withdraw the recently introduced three-tier reservation system, largely perceived to benefit a certain sub-caste of the OBCs. The decision was announced on July 26 and pro-OBC reservation supporters have been protesting for its withdrawal since, targeting cars and property of SP leaders. Describing the withdrawal as a betrayal by the government, the agitators are in no mood to relent. Such a notion gaining ground among the OBCs has a huge political implication for the SP, which is nursing national aspirations and banks on the support of this core section.
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State can only bully, Centre has the final say
LONG before 28-year-old Durga Shakti Nagpal cleared the civil services examination and was allocated to the Punjab cadre in the 2010 batch, the Constituent Assembly had decided on having an all-India service of officers to run the country without any bias. A few years later, in the 1950s, the Government of India followed it up with the Act and subsequently caste in stone a set of rules as an impregnable armour for the IAS, against the whims of political masters. Durga was originally allocated to the Punjab cadre, but was transferred to the UP cadre in August 2012 following her marriage with fellow IAS officer Abhishek Singh. She was suspended on July 28, 2013, from the post of SDM Noida, allegedly for stopping illegal sand-mining from the bed of the Yamuna. The secretary of the Central IAS Officers Association, Sanjay Bhoos Reddy, has petitioned the Central government, seeking her reinstatement. The UP Government cannot really do anything to harm her career, other than harassing her with frequent postings — a tool often used by Chief Ministers to post out non-pliable officers. The Ministry of Personnel, directly under the Prime Minister, controls the 4,400-strong IAS cadre in the country. The rules lay down the period of suspension and the reasons in writing. The Centre has the final say on matters of suspensions and disciplinary proceedings, if any. The All India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1969, allow for the suspension of IAS officers under certain circumstances. The 58-page rules, complete with annexures, carry a crucial line when detailing the suspension of IAS officers and their punishments. It says: “Between a state government and the Central government, the opinion of the Central government shall prevail”, meaning that the Ministry of Personnel headquartered at the North Block in New Delhi will decide on Durga’s fate. If the state government decides on a punishment, it has to refer the matter to the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), under the same ministry. When Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, seeking that Durga be dealt with fairly, she had addressed the right quarters. However, the Centre cannot take suo motu notice of frequent transfers, or when officers are put on “awaiting posting”.
Fighting the system Almost two decades ago, IAS officers GR Khairnar and KJ Alphons single-handedly demolished thousands of illegal constructions in Mumbai and Delhi, respectively, earning the wrath of the political bosses and even the underworld don, Dawood Ibrahim. The duo was backed by the media and courts. Comparing Durga with them would be erroneous, but a young woman IAS officer standing up to take on Chief Minister Akilesh Yadav’s henchmen is probably what Sardar Patel had envisaged when he favoured retaining the elite British created service after the Independence. The genesis of anger among the IAS fraternity is best explained by looking at recent history. In 1949, the Ministry of States, tasked with unifying the princely states with the Union of India, took up the issue of a common service. VP Menon, who was then Secretary in that ministry, explained it in his acclaimed book, “The Story of Integration of Indian States”. The book says: “It was soon realised that the parochial outlook and regional loyalties inherited from the erstwhile states were to be exorcised from the administrative services. It could be done by extending the cadre of All India Service to the Unions
(amalgamation of small princely states till the reorganisation of states in the 1950s).” KJ Alphons, a man who has seen many a political storm, is now a politician in his home state of Kerala, and backs the idea of an all-India service. “This is the only way to unite the country. I will advise the IAS and IPS officers to stop being doormats to political masters and not take the easy way out by being bystanders.”
Durga’s suspension came as a surprise to her former colleagues in Punjab. A young officer recollected how a quiet-natured Durga, then SDM Mohali, was tasked with work at the oath-taking ceremony of the newly elected BJP-Akali government at Chapar Chiri near Mohali in March 2012. The officer, requesting anonymity, said: “She was quiet but firm. She was a stickler for rules.” MG Devasahayam, former Haryana cadre IAS officer, questioned the manner of suspension. “Rules state an IAS officer can be suspended only if the charges levelled would finally lead to major punishment such as dismissal or removal from service,” said Devasahayam, who was the Deputy Commissioner of Chandigarh in the 1980s. Born in June 1985, Durga belongs to a middle class family. The Ministry of Personnel lists her domicile as Delhi and her details in records show she did her BTech in computer sciences from Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Delhi. She passed out in 2007 and secured the 20th rank in the civil services examination in 2010. She has served in the IAS for three years. Her colleagues say she is confident, sharp, and a quick learner.
What the service rules say
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