Twitter
Advertisement

Congress-NCP Maharashtra government staffers trying hard to keep their positions

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

The previous Congress-NCP-led state government may have been routed at the hustings by the electorate. But despite the change in regime, the old power structures may continue, with personal secretaries and staff of previous (Congress and NCP) ministers lobbying hard to ensure they are accommodated in the present dispensation.

Personal secretaries (PS) and officers on special duty (OSDs) of outgoing ministers are making the rounds of ministerial probables to get into these powerful posts in their staff instead of being repatriated to their parent departments. Personal assistants (PAs) of previous ministers too are trying to latch on to the newly elected legislators and likely ministers.

"Everybody is trying to get in," admitted a PS of a Congress minister of state, who met a BJP leader recently to request him to take him on his staff after he was sworn in. "The competition is very intense as there are indications that the size of this cabinet may be smaller than preceding ones. It's almost like 10 people lobbying for one position," he said.

Appointment of these staffers is the prerogative of the chief minister and respective ministers. A minister can choose any Class-I officer from the state cadre as his PS. This covers officials holding deputy collector and additional collector designations, among others. The OSD is usually junior to the personal secretary.

However, these officials are cagey about the likelihood of the "Modi pattern" in the appointment of babus after the election of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government being replicated even in state.

After coming to power, the government had decreed that officials who had served on the staff of Union ministers in the Congress-led UPA government could not be appointed on the same posts.

"If this pattern is repeated in Maharashtra, we will have no option but to stay out," the official lamented. However, another official, who was a PS to a cabinet minister, pointed out that it would be prudent to absorb experienced officials in ministerial offices. "It will be a difficult situation if both the minister and the PS are new and inexperienced. There is likelihood of them being misled by the bureaucracy in official work and parliamentary procedures," he said.

An aide of a senior BJP leader pointed out that while some personal secretaries and staff of ministers had emerged as virtual gatekeepers for their bosses, there were some who knew the workings of their departments like the back of their hand. These officials would be helpful in case of ministers with little administrative experience, he added.

Interestingly, with the washout of Congress and NCP in the Lok Sabha polls indicating that a similar drubbing could be in store during the assembly election, some ministers had ensured good postings for their staff or reverted them to their parent departments.

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement