02 January 2014, 04:29 PM IST
Governments come, and governments go. That's right and proper for a democracy. But should government bureaucrats also keep coming and going from one place to another before they've barely completed 18 months on the job?
A TOI report has shown that 68% of IAS officers remain in one posting for an average period of 18 months or less. The finding was based on a study of the executive record sheets of over 2,000 babus who had completed 10 years or more of service as of November 2013.
Ashok Khemka, the IAS officer from Haryana has become nationally famous for his attempts to scuttle the questionable land deals struck by the nation's son-in-law, Robert Vadra, and DLF, allegedly with connivance of the state government, which has earned him the wrath of his political masters who have chargesheeted him.
Apart from Khemka, there are many other officers who've been put on the babu merry-go-round of being transferred from place to place, largely because they prove to be 'inconvenient' – i.e., refuse to turn a blind eye to all manner of illegalities taking place in their jurisdiction – to the local political boss.
Vineet Chaudhury, a 1982 batch officer from Himachal, holds the all-India record by having been transferred 52 times in 31 years. The poor guy's head must be spinning around, thanks to being whirled round and round all over the country.
Too-frequent transfers play havoc with the personal life of the officer concerned, what with new schools having to be found for kids, and new jobs for spouses in the case of two-career families. Apart from such personal considerations, frequent transfers undermine the strength of what used to be called the 'steel frame', the administrative machinery which is responsible for the day-to-day functioning of the country. Short-term postings undermine the efficacy of administration, as officers get shifted from each place before they can get fully to grips with local problems and bottlenecks, particularly with regard to welfare schemes such as NREGA.
How can this merry-go-round of frequent transfers – which is put into motion because of political vindictiveness – be slowed down? The threat of transfer to a back-of-beyond posting is the stick that netas hold over the heads of bureaucrats, and it's not a danda which MLAs and MPs are likely to give up voluntarily, by passing suitable legislation to ensure the duration of postings is rationalised and not subject to the whims of vengeful politics.
Perhaps the best antidote would be to give politicians a taste of their own transfer medicine. If politicians can create a merry-go-round of transfers for honest officers, perhaps voters can create a similar merry-go-round for dishonest politicians. How? By starting a social media movement in support of the voters' right-to-recall of corrupt and inefficient MLAs and MPs.
Too many of our netas are giddy with the heady effect of power. Voters should make them even giddier by having the right to chuck them out of power if they don't perform.
The right-to-recall would make for an appropriate merry-go-round – or revolving door – for errant politicos. Will you lobby to help set it in motion?
jug.suraiya@timesgroup.com
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