Lieutenant governor, chief minister power tussle makes Pondicherry unfavourable destination for babus

PUDUCHERRY: Caught in the power struggle between Lieutenant Governor (L-G) Kiran Bedi and Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, IAS officers are reportedly opting out from serving in Puducherry. While two IAS officers have already moved out, two others have requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to shift them to other states.

Port Department Secretary Arun L Desai IAS took voluntary retirement after allegedly facing trouble with the L-G, who is said to have pressurised him to toe a different line from that of the elected government over port dredging issue.

Another IAS officer M R M Rao, who was Secretary of Fisheries Department, went on deputation to Telangana after facing similar trouble on fisheries matters, sources said. Meanwhile, R Mihir Vardhan, Secretary of PWD and Social Welfare, has requested the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for a transfer to Goa.

Similarly, P Parthivan, Secretary of Rural Development, Fisheries and Port, has now requested to be relieved from duties in Puducherry, sources said. Meanwhile, District Collector Sathyendra Singh Dursawat has proceeded on a long leave and also requested for a transfer to Delhi.

The officers said they do not want to get entangled in cases and enquiries spinning out of the fight between the CM and L-G. An officer alleged that they were being harassed by the L-G to score points over the Chief Minister.

After the CBI filed an FIR against G Narendra Kumar, the Development Commissioner-cum-Education Secretary, who is also the Chairman of CENTAC, and former Health Secretary B R Babu (just retired) on a complaint from the L-G, all senior officers are reportedly refusing to handle health and education issues.

Narendra Kumar had refuted the charges in a missive to the Chief Secretary and then proceeded on leave. He said in the letter that the CBI had wrongly named him as an accused in the FIR for the undersigned role as ex-officio chairman of the CENTAC, while the FIR actually relates to the health department.

He said he was Education Secretary from February 17 to May 18. “I and my family are under severe trauma due to these false allegations and the subsequent misinformation campaign that has wrongly defamed me and severely dented my blemishless record of honesty and excellence in public service for 28 years,” he said. Under these circumstances, the officer prayed for being relieved from holding these subjects.

Reluctant to join duty

Even IAS officers posted to Puducherry were said to be reluctant to come to the Union Territory.
Mukesh Prasad, an IAS officer transferred from Delhi to Puducherry, refused to come to the UT and obtained a stay order from a Delhi court.

“The post of a Super Time Scale IAS officer lies vacant, but no one wants to come to Puducherry to serve in this war-like situation,” said a source adding that no one wants to risk career in Puducherry by getting caught between the two camps.

Reportedly, even senior Puducherry civil service officers, who are serving in other states on deputation, are refusing to rejoin Puducherry administration.

A S P S Ravi Prakash, who is serving in Andhra Pradesh, and George K Maram, who is serving in Manipur, are not interested in returning.

Pressure tactics?
Officers think the L-G is using pressure tactics on secretaries to target ministers such as Malladi Krishna Rao (health) and M Kandasamy (welfare)