By Shankar Raj*
Hyderabad: After the Election Commission of India (ECI) summarily shunted out key bureaucrats in Telangana for not being fair or neutral, the same charges are now on the table of the ECI.
Many bureaucrats say that the ECI ran in haste and was not neutral. Take the example of the former secretary in the finance department TK Sreedevi who took charge of the commercial tax department just three days before the EC’s assessment visit.
Also read: Telengana: Officers shunted out as money flows in
The IAS officer took to social media platform X to indirectly question the logic and justification for her transfer. “How can an officer who has taken charge 3 working days before the visit of CEC (chief election commissioner) to the state be held responsible for the performance of the department? Just asking,” she posted on her handle.
According to the Commission’s orders, officers found to not fulfil their duties were told to step down and hand over charge to their juniors with immediate effect. It also told the chief secretary not to give any post to the officers till the election was over on December 3.
A senior officer was quoted in the media as saying: “Sreedevi was not even given full charge of the department by the time the commission’s orders came. How can they point out any laxity on her part?”
Others pointed out that the commercial tax and transport departments have no role in implementing the model code.
“The primary role of the commercial tax department has been collecting GST. Freebies can’t be distributed by this particular department. This needs some deliberation,” said an officer.
Many senior bureaucrats said they are getting ‘sandwiched’ between the State Government and the Centre even while discharging their duties. Many officers said they become ‘soft targets’ for politicians to complain against them when they implement government schemes and reach targets set by the party in power.
“In the past one year, some politicians wrote letters against the bureaucrats making “baseless” allegations to the Centre and Department of Personnel and Training. We follow the government’s instructions, and appointments are made by the government. The State Government has the advantage of getting schemes implemented through the officers before the elections to make electoral gains. It happens in every state. State officers have no option but to follow the orders,” a District Collector was quoted in the media.
Former Special Chief Secretary BP Acharya said politicians often make allegations against officers which goes a few notches up during the elections as they use it as a tool to control them.
“Officers should not only have to be neutral but also appear to be impartial. Sometimes, past reputation comes into play. But, the opposition parties use complaints as a tool to settle scores with the governing party,” Acharya said.
*Shankar Raj is a former Editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs.
