New Delhi: Ever since the BJP wrested Rajasthan from the Congress last December, mass transfers of administrative officials, even at the district-level in the state, have riled up the bureaucracy, with the matter even reaching the door of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
What has particularly raised eyebrows is the frequent transfer of certain officers, with some being moved multiple times within a span of just two to three months. In one instance, officers were reassigned twice for the same post within a mere 10-day period.
The Rajasthan government, led by chief minister Bhajanlal Sharma, has so far put out 13 lists of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers, 11 lists of Rajasthan Administrative Service (RAS) officers and seven lists of Indian Police Service (IPS) officers relating to transfer and postings.
Over the past 11 days, 221 RAS officers and 50 IAS officers have been transferred, while around 700 RAS officers have been transferred over the past two months. The government has also reshuffled officers at the district level.
Further, there have been allegations of newly-elected MLAs recommending transfer and postings of officers. The transfer of several officials in one district has created a row, with the opposition Congress alleging that officials belonging to one particular caste are being targeted.
Speaking to ThePrint, BJP’s state general secretary Motilal Meena said the transfers were “happening under normal routine process”. “The department of personnel is making these decisions. There is nothing new in this,” he added.
A BJP leader, who wished to not be named, however, said that “officers with a political image are being sent away from the capital. And new people are getting opportunities”.
The controversy has now reached the PMO, with state government sources saying that the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) has asked for a list of all officers transferred in the last three months to apprise the PMO.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at a meeting with newly-elected MLAs on 6 January, had advocated for a proper policy while transferring officials and asked party men to desist from recommending transfers and postings, according to BJP sources.
“Officers don’t belong to any government and elected representatives should maintain a cordial relationship with bureaucrats for better output,” the PM had said, reminding BJP MLAs that former three-time Rajasthan CM Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had never engaged in the politics of transfer of bureaucrats in his time.
ThePrint reached the Rajasthan CMO via phone calls. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
Officials who have worked closely in the Rajasthan administration also do not consider such mass transfer exercises to be good for the state and the morale of the bureaucracy.
A former chief secretary of the state, on the condition of anonymity, told ThePrint: “Transfers are made so that an officer of one’s choice can be brought in and the work can be done according to one’s wish. Due to this, the system starts working with a similar thinking. This has become a political tradition and every government does the same. But the way the present government is trying to control things, even at the district level, will weaken the democratic system.”
Another Rajasthan-cadre bureaucrat said that “since the CM is new in administration, he is under pressure to perform and build his team”.
“Often, he is under pressure from his own colleagues which leads to several transfers and postings. However, this has now become a joke in the state, with one officer being transferred again and again or one post getting three different officers in one month. The functioning of the government is getting affected,” he added.
Political analysts believe that whatever is happening in Rajasthan has the imprint of BJP’s Delhi leadership.
Analyst Om Saini told ThePrint that “Rajasthan has got its CM by a slip (referring to Bhajanlal Sharma’s selection by the BJP high command in Delhi). Modi’s bureaucracy model is being copy-pasted here”.
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Some controversial transfers
Three staff members of Deputy Chief Minister Diya Kumari and two staff members of the other Deputy CM Prem Chand Bairwa have been transferred within three months.
After Kumari took over her post on 16 December, Rajasthan-cadre officer Gopal Singh was appointed as special assistant. He was, however, replaced by Jagveer Singh in February, who was again replaced on 22 February by Lalit Kumar, an officer in the erstwhile Ashok Gehlot and Vasundhara Raje CMOs.
Similarly, Bairwa’s administrative staff was changed twice within 10 days — first RAS officer Rajendra Singh Rathore was given charge as special assistant, but then Bhagat Singh Rathore took over from him within nine days.
According to the transfer lists, some IAS officers have been transferred twice in the past two months. These include Prithvi Raj, Shakti Singh Rathore, Omprakash Bunkar, Jasmeet Sandhu, Gaurav Goyal, Suresh Ola and Vasudev Malawat.
On 13 February, 2006-batch IAS officer V. Saravana was made secretary in the state department of science and technology, but on 2 March, he was posted as secretary & commissioner in the department.
IAS officer Bhawani Singh Detha was transferred twice in a month while IAS officers Krishna Kunal and Mahendra Soni were also transferred twice. Kunal replaced education secretary Naveen Jain, who was transferred to another post.
A source associated with the state education department told ThePrint that the former secretary was a dynamic officer and efficient administrator. “He was transferred only because he was appointed during the Gehlot government,” he said.
RAS officer Deva Ram Saini, who was Officer on Special Duty to Gehlot for 15 years, was also transferred twice in a month. In the 2 February transfer list, he got the post of additional divisional commissioner in Banswara, while in the list that came at the end of February, he was made the registrar in Swami Keshwanand Rajasthan Agricultural University.
IPS officer Shyam Singh was given different postings in a month’s time. Similarly, Bhuvan Bhushan Yadav was appointed as DCP of east Jodhpur but was shifted within six days as the police superintendent of Sikar.
For the additional superintendent of police’s (ASP) post in Banswara, three officers have been transferred in the last 12 days — Prabhu Dayal Dhania took over charge as ASP on 2 March but was transferred on 4 March and Banwarilal Meena took over as ASP. The government then transferred Banwarilal and deputed Rajesh Bhardwaj in his place.
‘Witch-hunt’
A list of transfers in Churu district also made news. Here, former leader of opposition Rajendra Rathore had lost last year’s assembly election from Taranagar seat. It has now been alleged that BJP MP from Churu seat, Jat leader Rahul Kaswan, was behind Rathore’s defeat and now officers from the Jat caste are being changed at several places.
Sources in the BJP told ThePrint that a few officers had complained about “witch-hunt of officers from one particular community (caste) in one district due to defeat of the (former) leader of the opposition”.
Congress state president Govind Dotasra alleged that “during BJP government, transfers and postings of officials have taken place after viewing their caste and there is a clear trend of transfer of Jat community officers”.
Former Congress MLA Krishna Poonia, too, said that “in Churu district, officials were transferred due to the influence of Rajendra Rathore, who lost the election, and he sent his list for transfers”.
In Taranagar, RAS officer Sandeep Choudhary was suspended as sub-divisional magistrate and 10 other officers are reportedly awaiting postings.
According to Congress sources, “BJP leaders who lost elections have been taking revenge against officials”.
About the charges, BJP’s Meena said: “The Congress during its tenure even transferred peons and drivers. Our government has not transferred officers on caste lines. They have been transferred for administrative purposes.”
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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