The State Cabinet on Wednesday dumped the two feuding IAS officers in the Agriculture Department, Raju Narayana Swamy, Principal Secretary (Agriculture) Agriculture Production Commissioner; and Biju Prabhakar, Director of Agriculture.
The two have been removed from their respective posts, but the vindictive nature of the Cabinet decision was evident as they were not given alternative posting. Teekaram Meena, the incumbent Principal Secretary (Finance Expenditure) has been appointed as the new Principal Secretary (Agriculture). He would hold additional charge of Agriculture Production Commissioner. The Cabinet significantly did not name a new Agriculture Director.
The two bureaucrats were involved in a spat, with Mr. Narayana Swamy accusing the Director of overstepping his mandate and exerting pressure on junior officials to clear irregularities in appointment and sanction of funds and Mr. Prabhakar accusing his senior colleague of attempts to frame him in corruption cases. The issue figured in the Assembly this morning in the form of a notice for an adjournment motion by the Opposition, which staged a walk out protesting against the Speaker’s refusal to grant the notice.
The Chief Minister had defended the Agriculture Minister on the floor of the house, stating that his colleague was capable of handling the feuding officials. However, as the Cabinet decision showed, the Agriculture Minister V.S. Sunil Kumar preferred to show the door to the two since their feud threatened to slow down the pace he had established in promoting agriculture development in the State.
In another decision, the Cabinet shifted D. Balamurali, currently Tourism Additional Director and KTDC managing director to the Commercial Taxes department as joint commissioner. The incumbent Tourism Director P. Balkiran has been given additional charge of KTDC managing director.
