Like in any field, in babudom there are some who develop such consummate skills in executing their jobs that they become irreplaceable and stand out as the man for the job anywhere across the globe. Not one but three countries – that’s what Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, has covered in one go. It started with the UK trip, then to US, and later to Canada. The corridors of power are abuzz with jealous comments about this globetrotter bureaucrat who gets to go on foreign trips more than anyone else.
There are many bureaucrats who long to visit other countries, but somehow Jayesh alone gets the approval from the Chief Minister. Back this time with 40,000 jobs in his kitty, Jayesh exults: “I have been to multiple domestic and international roadshows accompanying Minister KT Rama Rao, but the outcomes of our most recent trips are unprecedented. The respect and recognition Telangana enjoys today makes our hard work all so rewarding.”
The man for the job anywhere
across the globeOpposition parties in Telangana, taking up cudgels in an unusual area, are likely to target the BRS government over its ‘bias’ against bureaucrats who are Dalits or hail from religious minority groups. Several such officers have been awaiting posting for long and some of them are not sure of getting posting even before the government goes for elections. Armed with this vital bit of information, opposition parties have started digging into the composition of bureaucrats awaiting posting in terms of their caste, religion, and gender. For newbies, Eatala Rajender had criticised that there were no Dalits in the Chief Minister’s Office and immediately Rahul Bojja was inducted. Opposition parties that have been critical of bureaucrats of late intend to magnify this issue for scoring brownie points.
Trigger for troll
traffic over tweet
“One man’s meat is another man’s poison”, goes a maxim.
Chief Minister’s Secretary Smita Sabharwal must have realized this the hard way. She had posted a tweet on the success of Mission Bhagiratha in contradistinction to media reports on how Nashik’s women risk entering deep wells to collect drinking water. This tweet was amplified by BRS social media handles, including those of convenors. To counter it, opposition parties’ followers started their attack.
In the ensuing social media bombardment, the troll traffic on Smita’s handle increased. Smita responded by exclaiming: what offends them — development and progress?! It looked like BJP was attacking them more as she concluded her tweet, saying: “It is between you and your God anyways”.
Gag order and licence to speak
It is an open secret that bureaucrats in TS have been conditioned to stay clear of newshounds. Babus have been following the order, issued a few years ago, in letter and spirit. That is, they never talk to media persons unless advised. A little bird told us that recently officials had to be cautioned in no uncertain terms that the gag order was very much in vogue. For, the powers that be sensed increased interaction of some babus with the media.
So, all babus were nudged to strictly stay away from scribes. However, when a top minister was pointedly asked about media persons being denied entry into the Secretariat, the Minister said: “Media persons can meet officials outside the Secretariat”. Well now, the larger question is: Will officials follow the standing gag order or go by the licence to speak issued orally by the Minister?
5:00 pm is no longer closing time
The newly constructed Telangana Secretariat has complicated matters for babus and their staff at all levels. Previously, when Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao used to function from Pragathi Bhavan, be it departmental reviews or cabinet meetings, most of the officials and staff in other departments were not stretched to their limits. For, only bureaucrats of the departments concerned went to Pragathi Bhavan, while those of other departments were relatively free. However, these days the Chief Minister has been coming to the Secretariat and holding meetings.
There is no way officials and their staff can go home at or after 5:00 PM. For, KCR usually comes to the Secretariat in the evenings. Bureaucrats and their staff can afford to leave office only after KCR calls it a day. Right from top level babus to attenders, they all have the same feeling: We are no longer free to go home at the stroke of 5:00.
-Yours truly
