Though whistleblower Indian Forest Service officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi has finally got the nod from the Uttarakhand government to join the Delhi government, his brush with the authorities continues. The much transferred and harassed babu, who exposed an alleged forestry scam in Haryana, has been fighting harassment from the government.
Now in a much-needed fillip to the crusading babu, the Central Information Commission (CIC) has asked the Intelligence Bureau why its report on the alleged harassment of Mr Chaturvedi cannot be made public, as argued by the bureau.
Mr Chaturvedi had approached the CIC alleging violation of his human rights following denial of a copy of the report to him.
The IB is exempted from the transparency law, but the commission took the line that since portions of the report are already in the public domain, there should be no delay in supplying Mr Chaturvedi with a copy. It has further stated that if the IB cannot furnish the report, the ministry of environment and forests should do so. The CIC order is being seen as a major relief to Mr Chaturvedi in his battle against corruption.
Haryana’s transfer hit-list The Jats may have fallen silent after the Haryana government passed a reservation bill for the agitating community, but there is a lot of disquiet not just among other communities in the state, but also the state’s bureaucracy. The Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government has resorted to large-scale transfer of officials in the aftermath of the violent Jat agitation. This, sources say, is unusual since in the past such frequent transfer of IAS officers were infrequent, usually when the government changed.
Ever since the Khattar sarkar came to power in 2014, it has kept babus on their toes through frequent transfers. Apparently, the state government is issuing a “transfer list” every week, though it is always dubbed as “routine administrative matters”. Those transferred include many IAS, IPS and state civil service officers. Following the Jat agitation, the government transferred at least 10 senior IPS officers. In this state of flux, however, Gurgaon has finally got an additional commissioner after five years! Amit Khatri, a 2011-batch IAS officer, has been moved to Gurgaon from Rohtak, which was the epicentre of the Jat quota agitation. And so it goes.
J&K feeling the pinch The political uncertainty in Jammu and Kashmir is hopefully over with the BJP-PDP alliance back on track after tottering on the brink of collapse for more than two months. The demise of PDP patron and state chief minister Mufti Muhammad Sayeed created a governance void in J&K. Equations further changed after governor N.N. Vohra took over the reins and began to streamline the administration. Now as the deadlock over government formation has ended, there is more cheer in babu corridors.
There will be plenty on Mehbooba Mufti’s plate when she takes oath as chief minister on April 4, given how work has piled up in the absence of a government. Babu-watchers hope that the incoming government will act swiftly to solve the shortage of some 60 Indian Administrative Service officers in the state. This deficit has led to several senior babus holding two or even more charges.
Last year the state government had sought repatriation of all officers of the J&K cadre from the Centre to end the administrative crisis. For all its efforts only three IAS officers — Dheeraj Gupta, Navin Choudhary and R.K. Goyal — returned. Sources say that eight IAS officers of J&K have managed to remain in Delhi.
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