The government has solicited the intervention of former Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, who is the vice-chairman of the State Planning Board and has warm relations with IAS officers in the State, to settle the ongoing battle among the top bureaucracy here.
The issueFor nearly a fortnight now, the media have been rife with reports about bureaucratic infighting — Chief Secretary E.K. Bharat Bhushan on one side and senior IAS officer Raju Narayanaswamy and the IAS officers’ association on the other.
On Friday, the Opposition gave notice in the Assembly for an adjournment motion to discuss the ‘paralysis’ that had gripped the Secretariat as a result of this infighting.
“There is some unpleasantness,” Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said in reply to the notice. Mathew T. Thomas of the Janata Dal (Secular), who gave notice for the adjournment motion, alleged that Ministers were playing a role in the infighting in the bureaucracy. He said the charge was that the Chief Secretary had injected his personal prejudice in the performance evaluation of some of the officials, overruling the assessment of reporting officials and even Ministers. The IAS officers’ association had complained about the Chief Secretary to the Chief Minister.
Charges denied“I have received the representation of the association,” the Chief Minister said. “Minor friction has occurred. But there is no ‘paralysis of governance’ as you allege… The way the issue was turned into a media controversy will constitute a breach of the code of official conduct. Additional Chief Secretary K.M. Abraham has been asked to conduct an inquiry into how this happened.”
Following the Chief Minister’s explanation, Speaker G. Karthikeyan denied permission to adjourn the listed business of the House to discuss the topic. Leader of the Opposition V.S. Achuthanandan announced a walkout of the Opposition members in protest against the government’s disinclination to permit the adjournment motion on the issue.
