:: Dilip Cherian

A diplomatic standoff

Dilip Cherian

Augest.02 : There is an air of consternation at the reluctance with which the current incumbent at India House in London is packing. Or, more correctly, at the news that he may not even have called in the movers. To say that this is a full-blown diplomatic brouhaha may, of course, be an exaggeration. But the word is that Shiv Mukherjee, the current high commissioner, insists that Pranab Mukherjee had promised him two years more in London, albeit at a time when Mr Pranab Mukherjee was foreign minister. Now that his replacement has been announced, he apparently still insists that he wants to stay on, though wanting to stay on can’t be publicly pronounced.

Of course, external affairs minister S.M. Krishna will have none of this. He has already announced Nalin Surie as Mr Shiv Mukherjee’s replacement. In this kind of delicate standoff, nobody’s quite sure whether the credentials that have also been presented are in any danger of lapsing. Is this then just some kind of residual turf war? Will the moment pass? Whether it is just a sweet summer longing for London madness that accounts for the delay in Mr Shiv Mukherjee starting to wrap up his establishment is still to be known. In any case, we should all know pretty soon if all this is just a bit of a bother, about delayed baggage.

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Damage control?

The Left Front government in West Bengal is getting tough with its babus as part of damage control after its worst electoral performance. A new diktat has been issued to ensure that babus earn their promotions rather than get them in the normal course. From now on senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) and Indian Police Service (IPS) officers will have to satisfy some stiff conditions before they can hope for a promotion.

A senior babu will now have to earn "outstanding performance" at least thrice in the last five years of his tenure. Those who do not meet this criterion will find themselves at a dead-end, with their juniors getting promoted. Recently two babus, Asit Baran Chakraborty and Satish Agarwal, were denied promotion to the post of additional chief secretary and director-general of police respectively on this count.

The diktat has, naturally, not gone down well with babus, and may even speed up the continuing exodus of babus from the state. Already two senior babus — Sabyasachi Sen, industries secretary, and P.R. Baviskar, a 1985 batch officer and chief executive of the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority — have departed. While Mr Sen has gone on deputation to the Centre, Mr Baviskar has proceeded on a two-year study leave!