Dilli Ka Babu: Transfer politics goes hi-tech

The abrupt transfer of Panvel municipal commissioner Sudhakar Shinde has galvanised citizen groups in Kharghar and Panvel to seek his return. An online petition has been started with more than 1,000 signatories urging Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to reinstatement Mr Shinde.

Sources say that Mr Shinde, an Indian Revenue Service officer of the 2007 batch, was transferred to Ulhasnagar and replaced by Ulhasnagar municipal commissioner, Rajendra Nimbalkar. Most suspect that the babu who enjoys a reputation for acting against corruption was transferred in view of the upcoming PCMC polls.

Mr Shinde spearheaded a drive against illegal constructions, encroachment and defacement, during his less than six months’ tenure as commissioner. The online petition is the fastest way of gathering support for Mr Shinde, the babu’s supporters believe. Meanwhile, a Twitter campaign has also gained momentum.

And they are serious about their campaign, and plan to send the petition to the Prime Minister’s Office. But with growing citizen support for

Mr Shinde, many hope that the CM will accept the demand and rescind the IRS officer’s transfer order.

PMO to keep a tab on Uttar Pradesh
The PMO under Narendra Modi is the final authority in his government, almost a mini-Cabinet, in the sense of the tremendous power it wields. In Mr Modi’s highly centralised governance style, the PMO is the bridge between the PM and everyone else on matters of the government and its presence is felt everywhere.

Following the win in Uttar Pradesh and the appointment of Adityanath Yogi as chief minister, the PMO will continue to keep tabs on the state. Sources say that Yogi and his team will be under the supervision of the PMO directly. Nripendra Misra, principal secretary to Mr Modi and an old UP hand, apparently is the key person to monitor all the administrative happenings in UP.

Mr Mishra, it is being said, will approve all future appointments in the top administration in the state. Recently Mr Modi had warned bureaucrats in UP to ensure discipline and work efficiently. Veteran observers expect drastic changes in the outlook of babus in UP. And

Mr Modi’s man Mishra will ensure that the wheels turn smoothly for the new government.

Civil services Hit by shortage
There is growing concern in the government over the very large number of vacancies in the upper echelons of babudom. Now the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel headed by member of Parliament Anand Sharma has stated the same in a report submitted to Parliament. Though the report traces the shortage of IAS officers all the way back to 1951, the situation has now reached “alarming levels”, according to the high-powered panel.

Apparently, the report states that presently there are only 4,926 IAS officers against a sanctioned strength of 6,396 as per the civil list dated January 1, 2016. According to sources DoPT secretary B.P. Sharma explained the direct recruitment shortfall to two reasons — cadre review was done very recently, increasing the number of posts, and for 10 years, recruitment has been abnormally low.

The panel has pitched for increasing efforts to fill up the vacancies, either by utilising the additional capacity at the Mussoorie-based Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration to train more IAS officers or increasing the training capacity. This year the government will hire only 980 officers to fill up vacancies in the prestigious IAS, IFS and IPS through civil services exam 2017. It’s the lowest in the past five years.