The mass transfers effected by the new government have sent the entire bureaucracy into a tizzy.
Senior IAS officer Sanjay Agarwal was fast asleep when he got the coveted posting as principal secretary to the chief minister. By the time he read about it in the next day’s newspaper, his posting had already been cancelled.
Another principal secretary rank IAS officer Majid Ali was posted to the energy department, but the order was withdrawn before he could join. In the week that followed, he got two more postings before he could finally settle down in the co-operatives department.
IPS officer Javed Akhtar was recently posted as IG, PAC, but a week later he was sent as IG, Gorakhpur zone. He had worked there for three days when he got another order posting him as IG, Agra zone.
These are just a few examples of the faltering manner in which the fledgling Akhilesh Yadav government has handled the state’s official machinery. The mass transfers effected by the new government have sent the entire bureaucracy into a tizzy. Over 1,500 officials have been transferred since Akhilesh took oath as chief minister. As many as 259 IAS officers have been transferred, including district magistrates (DMs) of over 40 of the 75 districts. As many as 32 DMs were shunted in a single day last month.
Apart from the transfers, it is the cancellation and modification of a large number of orders which reflects the conflict at the top levels of decision-making. “Now many officials prefer to wait for five to seven days before joining their new posting as there is always the uncertainty of the transfer order being cancelled or modified,” said a senior official.
“Such uncertainty is definitely not good for governance,” says former UP director general of police KL Gupta. Though he says mass transfers are expected with the change of government, he agrees that the volume this time is much higher than in previous regimes.
A senior political analyst says the confusion is mainly due to the various power centres in the government. “It has become clear that Akhilesh does not have complete power or authority to run the show the way he wants to,” he says, adding that most of the major decisions are being taken by Mulayam Singh Yadav. Besides, other senior leaders, like Shivpal Yadav and Mohd Azam Khan, have emerged as alternative power centres. “It is difficult to keep everyone in good humour. Hence, there is a tug-of-war over key postings,” says the analyst.
“This confusion is sure to take a toll on the state’s development as also on the officials’ morale,” says a retired bureaucrat.
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