Vasundhara Raje transfers more than 600 officials in pre-poll shake-up

Jaipur: Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje has set the field before the state Assembly elections in December and her proposed state-wide tour from August 4.  In a major shake-up of bureaucracy, Ms Raje has transferred more than 600 police and administrative officers of all-India and state services in a week’s time. On Friday, four IAS, 34 IPS and 93 RAS were transferred.

Ms Raje has gone on transfer spree, as the window of opportunity for transfer will be closed soon when the Election Commission (EC) begins revision of the electoral list from July 31. It is expected to go on for over a month. By that time, the model code of conduct would come into effect restraining the government from removing any official without prior permission of the EC.

Though the EC only asks for the shifting of employees who have been in a particular place or seat for more than two years before elections, almost every district has got a new superintendent of police and district magistrate. Apart from 653 employees, including 40 IAS, 109 IPS, 209 RAS and 295 RPS, the government has transferred thousands of employees in education, police, health and panchayat raj departments.

With so many transfers done in a hurry, the government bungled up the exercise because it could not figure out which officer should be placed in which department or area. As a result, Jaipur municipal commissioner Ravi Jain got shifted thrice in a week. In the first list on June 20, he was transferred to the post of director, agriculture, on the second list on July 24, he was appointed commissioner school education and in the latest list on Friday, he was made commissioner, department of information and public relations.