Members of Parliament, as lawmakers, have certain privileges. Likewise, officials have a defined set of protocols to be followed while dealing with their superiors, political bosses, and parliamentarians. In any case, babus should not be oblivious to the pecking order. Of late parliamentarians have started feeling the pinch of a few bureaucrats remaining unavailable to them. These officials often avoid calls by telling them that they are with say Minister KT Rama Rao or the Chief Secretary. A little bird told us that a parliamentarian gave an earful to a bureaucrat who is collector of two districts as the latter had chosen to avoid him repeatedly. The gyan the poor babu got the hard way was that parliamentarian comes even before CS and DGP, among others, as per rules. Should there be a conflict of interest, they can complain to the parliamentary privileges committee. A couple of times members of BJP complained that certain officials were inaccessible to them. What beats nettled netas is whether these bureaucrats are ignoring rules they know well or are they genuinely unaware of protocol and the pecking order.
Misplaced priorities of bureaucrats in focus
The public outrage and political storm of protests over the leak of TSPSC examination question papers have brought to the fore the misplaced priorities of several bureaucrats, whether serving or retired. While Janardhan Reddy, chairman of TSPSC, is facing the heat in the paper leak case, the corridors of power are discussing how he was no better in conducting HMDA e-auction. Then came the Intermediate students’ suicide issue. The pattern some circles see is that technology and Janardhan Reddy are poles apart. Another inside track is discussing how certain initiatives proposed during high-level TSPSC meetings had been ignored or put in cold storage. A little bird told us that in several meetings the Secretary of TSPSC and other officials had majorly spoken about the need to adopt UPSC standards for setting the question paper. Still, other worthies did not take it to its logical conclusion. Even when the idea of filling other posts first was pitched, it was brushed aside because Group1 is prestigious.
Shifting of Collector, finding replacementraise eyebrows
Babus are often sacrificed at the altar of political pressure, regardless of their merit and proven track record. Dr B Gopi, 2016 batch IAS officer and Warangal Collector, has been moved and asked to report to the General Administration Department (GAD). His peers have only good words for him and are surprised at his being displaced. The palpable cause of his transfer seems to political pressure. For, certain files related to key politicians had been kept on hold by an official to whom Gopi had assigned in good faith the responsibility of clearing the files. This did not go down well with the offices of aggrieved politicians. Gopi was replaced by P Pravinya, 2016 batch IAS officer and GWMC Commissioner, who took charge the same evening. Since GWMC Commissioners are being moved at the drop of a hat, people are wondering what will happen to ongoing civic works in the absence of focused tracking.
Awaiting posting, elevation,or reshuffle
These days Telangana presents a peculiar scenario where an increasing number of IAS officers are awaiting posting; state officials recently conferred IAS are anxiously hoping for visible elevation in their position; and others fed up with being stuck in their present position are hopeful of the much-anticipated reshuffle. Currently at least seven officers are waiting for posting: Shailaja Ramaiyer (1997), Hari Chandana Dasari (2010), Musharraf Ali Faruqui (2014), K Nikhila (2015), B Gopi (2016), Dr.E.Naveen Nicolas (2018) and Jalda Arunasri (2022). Those who had been conferred IAS recently are disgruntled that their role has not changed yet. Besides, scores of babus are hoping against hope for a reshuffle. The talk of ‘a major reshuffle on the cards’ began just ahead of the New Year. They hope at least by Ugadi things will fall in place.
Officials know whom to follow
Some time back there appeared to be some thaw following the long-standing rupture of ties between the Pragati Bhavan and the Raj Bhavan. However, it appears that Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan continues to act as per the preferences, if not directions, of the central government. It does not matter to the Governor that officials normally go by the directives of the state government. Be it protocol issue or whatever, whenever there is an
opportunity, the Governor targets the state government by giving specific directives to officials that raise questions of propriety. Following the leak of TSPSC question papers, the Governor sought a report from the officials concerned “within 48 hours”. It is a different matter that the officials concerned did not deliver on her directive. Previously she had asked for a report on the Jubilee Hills gang-rape case “within 48 hours”. The government did not give her that report either.
