A simmering feud between two senior officials in the Agriculture Department has come out into the open, threatening to slow down the administration and land the government in troubled waters.
Principal Secretary and Agricultural Production Commissioner Raju Narayana Swamy and Director of Agriculture Biju Prabhakar have locked horns with each other, leaving the political leadership groping for a solution to the snowballing row in the department.
While Mr. Swamy accuses the director of overstepping his mandate and exerting pressure on junior officials to clear irregularities in appointment and sanction of funds, Mr. Prabhakar accuses his senior colleague of attempting to frame him on trumped up charges.
The latest trigger for the spat is the visit of an expert team from Israel to the State to train officials and farmers on hi-density farming for mango, avocado and lichi.
Alleging that the visit had violated visa norms, Mr. Swamy has called for the file on the sanction of funds for the training. Denying the charges, Mr. Prabhakar asserts that the team which was in India had been invited to Kerala to share their expertise and no money had been sanctioned for the programme.
The decision to appoint an Assistant Director in the department as General Manager in charge at Horticorp is another irritant that has added fuel to the simmering feud between the officials.
Mr. Swamy alleges that the appointment did not conform to norms and was done to curry favour with the political establishment.
“As Principal Secretary, I have every right to call for files relating to decisions in the department.”
Questioning the conferment of IAS on Mr.Prabhakar, he has threatened to move the office of the Prime Minister and the court against the ‘politically influenced’decision.
Mr. Prabhakar, in turn, complains that the APC was trying to trap him in a Vigilance case. The Director has reportedly moved the Chief Secretary with a plea to be relieved of the post. “In the circumstances, I do not wish to continue as Director,” he told The Hindu .
Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar said the ugly tiff between the two officials was making things difficult, at a critical time when several major initiatives had been launched to improve the agricultural output.
“The situation cannot be allowed to drag on. Both of them have been told to stop washing dirty linen in public and settle their issues,” he said.
