Rajya Sabha official’s ‘termination’ sparks whisper campaign

NEW DELHI: An office order issued by Rajya Sabha secretariat announcing the termination of a contract one day after it had already ended triggered a whisper campaign against former additional secretary in the secretariat A A Rao.
Rao’s term ended on August 31 after he turned down an offer to stay in office as Officer on Special Duty attached to the RS secretariat. However, a day after his contract ended, the secretariat issued an office order saying his contract had been terminated, setting off talk of dismissal on grounds of “non-performance”.
The language of the order, however, was corrected by Rao after he pointed out that the contract could not have been terminated if it had run its course. Shortly after, the secretariat issued a fresh notification clarifying that Rao’s contract was not terminated, but that he had relinquished charge after completing his tenure.
During his tenure, Rao, a close associate of Vice President Venkaiah Naidu, had taken a deep dive into the RS history, anchoring studies and reports on its functioning from the time it came into existence.