Karnataka's Soraba taluk gets 16th tahsildar in 5 years

SHIVAMOGGA: Shivamogga district's Soraba taluk, which was once represented in the legislative assembly by former CM S Bangarappa and now by his son Kumar Bangarappa of BJP, has seen 15 tahsildars in five years and is set to welcome a new officer this week.
The incumbent, Dr Mohan Bhasme, a Grade I officer, has now been transferred to Dharwad. This comes amid objections raised by Karnataka State Government Employees' Association president CS Shadakshari over frequent transfer of officials in Soraba. No officer here has had a stint longer than 14 months.
Grade 1 officers reluctant to work in Soraba, says Kumar Bangarappa
Sources said KAS officer Shivananda Rane, a Grade I officer, has spent the longest 13-month tenure. The shortest yet has been of a probationary officer who was here for barely two months. The now-transferred officer had taken charge just three months ago.
Soraba, which has 2 lakh population, is about 90km from Shivamogga town and 375km from Bengaluru. The town is a political shorthand for a mercurial Bangarappa, who broke away from Congress more than once to float his own outfit and returned to the parent party years later, without causing any dent to his popularity or winning chances in elections.
Kumar Bangarappa told TOI that many KAS officers appointed as Soraba tahsildars are Grade II officers or probationers and there have not been many officers from Grade I. "Therefore, I had requested Karnataka revenue minister R Ashoka to intervene in the matter seeking appointment of only Grade I officers for our taluk. It appears no officer of that rank shows any inclination to work here and trots out several reasons to duck a Soraba posting," he said.
In all these years, only three KAS officers appointed as taluk administrative head were from Grade I. "They, too, were transferred for personal reasons," he alleged.
However, his brother and political rival Madhu Bangarappa of Congress blamed Kumar's style of administration leading to frequent transfer requests. He told reporters in Shivamogga that officers were not willing to work in Soraba because of the legislator and the KAS officers nurse secret apprehensions of frequent transfers if posted to the town, he alleged.
Kumar denied any role in either transfers or in appointment of officers as Soraba tahsildars, contending that he has not written a single letter to the government over postings. He said no officer posted to the taluk - barring tahsildars - has been transferred at this frequency. " How can anybody criticise my style of administration," he said.