The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), it appears, has a penchant for being in the news for all the wrong reasons. After facing a public backlash on the garbage issue, the civic body has been rapped by the Urban Development Department for taking a unilateral decision to repatriate the BBMP’s Chief Conservator of Forests (CCF) to his parent department. The department has quashed the repatriation. According to sources, the BBMP’s Additional Commissioner (Administration) issued an order on October 11, 2012, repatriating Chief Conservator of Forests Brijesh Kumar. This, after the Standing Committee for Personnel and Administrative Reforms recommended to the Commissioner repatriation of the official citing financial burden and pointed out that his post was not a sanctioned one.
Mr. Brijesh Kumar, who assumed charge in the BBMP on May 17, 2012, challenged this order in the Urban Development Department, as his tenure was to be for one year.
While the BBMP has only two sanctioned posts in its Forest Department of the rank of Deputy Conservator of Forests, one post was upgraded to CCF to accommodate Mr. Brijesh Kumar, who headed the horticulture, forest and lakes wings.
However, the standing committee recommended the repatriation on August 6, 2012 citing financial strain. The standing committee’s recommendation was pending in the Commissioner’s office. After Rajneesh Goel took charge as Commissioner, he accepted the committee’s recommendation and directed the Additional Commissioner to issue the repatriation order. Mr. Brijesh Kumar was directed to hand over charge to his junior officer. Sources close to Mr. Brijesh Kumar said the official was being unnecessarily targeted as he had brought to light several irregularities and misappropriation of Rs. 21 crore. “Though he had apprised the Commissioner of this, no action was initiated against the erring officials. He is now facing the repercussion of his actions,” they said.
Several councillors have often pointed out that officials on deputation were draining the BBMP’s resources, given their higher pay scales. Compared to the other departments, the pay scale of the BBMP is low.
The financially starved civic body has made several attempts to repatriate officials who are in the BBMP on deputation to their parent departments. These attempts have often failed mainly because of political pressure. As a result, the officials on deputation continue to enjoy their plum posts in the BBMP. When contacted, Mr. Goel said he would abide by the government’s decision in the matter.
