The Hindu : More than a transfer

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 01, 2002

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National

More than a transfer

By Harish Khare

New Delhi Nov. 30. The Vajpayee Government today found itself scrambling to announce the name of a new Personnel Secretary. S.S. Dawra, a 1967 IAS batch officer of Punjab cadre, succeeds the incumbent, Ajay Kumar Aggarwal, who retired today.

A routine affair? Not really. Thereby hangs a tale. It is a tale of Prime Ministerial authority being second-guessed by a relatively junior Minister.

Two weeks ago, the process of finding a successor to Mr. Aggarwal started. The man shortlisted for the key post was S.B. Mohapatra (Orissa cadre, 1967), currently Secretary in the Ministry of Textiles. The "file'' began its familiar journey, as per the established procedure. The Prime Minister signed it, the Deputy Prime Minister (who as the Union Home Minister is a member of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet) signed it.

The protocol required that the consent of the Minister concerned be taken, though the practice in recent years has been that the Minister who is losing a Secretary merely gets to be "informed.'' But in this case, the Minister for Textiles, Kashi Ram Rana, was consulted and he, in turn, gave in writing that he had no objection and was agreeable to Mr. Mohapatra's transfer.

Mr. Mohapatra's elevation became widely known within the bureaucratic fraternity. Congratulations were extended to Mr. Mohapatra and he, in turn, acknowledged them. He even attended many farewell functions.

Four days ago, Mr. Rana suddenly changed his mind and announced that he could not dispense with the services of Mr. Mohapatra. And, lo and behold, the Prime Minister finds himself unable or unwilling to remind his Minister that he (Mr. Rana) had given his consent.

Add to it the fact, the bureaucrat concerned was being "pinched'' for a Ministry over which the Prime Minister himself presides. More important, Mr. Vajpayee seems to be totally unbothered that he had already signed the Mohapatra-for-Personnel "file''.

Incidentally, it was only six weeks ago that Mr. Dawra took up his new assignment as Secretary in the Ministry of Urban Affairs. This morning he was told he would be going to `Personnel'. What has flabbergasted the senior bureaucratic circles is that Mr. Vajpayee has given in to a political lightweight Minister. "It would have been somewhat understandable if Mr. Vajpayee had deferred to a senior Minister like Mr. Advani, George Fernandes or Jaswant Singh. But Mr. Rana? It is totally inexplicable,'' observed a senior official.

More than the fate of one officer, the botched transfer perhaps reflects the state of the play in New Delhi's power equations. In normal times, Prime Ministerial word is to be taken seriously by one and all, including the Prime Minister himself.

But, then, perhaps these are not normal times.

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