Aging babudom in Gujarat will reel under retirement blows

As many as 14 IAS officers of Gujarat cadre, including chief secretary Dr Varesh Sinha, will retire before the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, which are expected to take place in April or May. The spate of retirements, an average of two bureaucrats per month, will put further stress on the state’s administration, which is already working with merely 70% strength of babus at the top levels.

1978-batch IAS P Panneervel, additional chief secretary (ACS) of labour & employment department, will retire at the end of September, kicking off a series of retirements in the next seven months.

Dr Sinha, who took over as chief secretary this February, will superannuate in April after a 15-month-term at the helm of the state’s bureaucracy. Before that, RJ Patel, who was promoted from state civil services, and is posted as deputy municipal commissioner of Surat, will retire in October.

Amitava Bhattacharya, IAS of 1980-batch, currently posted as chairman of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) in New Delhi, will superannuate in December. The sanctioned strength of IAS in Gujarat is 297, as against which the existing cadre strength is just over 200. However, the number of officers available is much lower as quite a few officers are on central deputation. 

Officials say the spate of retirements will further strain the remaining officers.

“Many officers are already holding more than one charge due to severe shortage of IAS officers in Gujarat. Additional charges held by officers are bound to go up as more officers retire,” said a senior bureaucrat.

January will see retirement of half a dozen IAS officers, including union commerce secretary SR Rao, the man behind Surat’s transformation from a plague-hit city to one of the cleanest in the country.

Maheshwar Sahu, ACS of industries department, who has been closely involved with organizing of the last three Vibrant Gujarat Summits, Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority CEO Dr Ranjit Bannerji, and commissioner of commercial tax Haribhai Patel, are the other officers superannuating in January.

SA Golakia and GJ Champaneri, both posted as secretary (appeals) in revenue department, will also retire at the end of January. Vinay Vyasa, who was recently posted as MD of Gujarat State Civil Supplies Corporation after a long stint as commissioner of geology & mining, and Surendranagar collector PH Shah will retire in February.

DH Brahmbhatt, secretary of agriculture & co-operation department, will retire in March, followed by JD Bhad, joint secretary of social justice & empowerment department, in April.

Gujarat’s administration may receive a temporary fillip by fresh recruits or IAS officers returning to the home cadre, but officers concede that there is a long road ahead. “Gujarat is normally allotted four - five fresh IAS officers every year.

Even if the state government requests for three or four additional officers every year, it would take 10 years to fill the gap,” said another senior official.