Hindu Vivek Kendra
A RESOURCE CENTER FOR THE PROMOTION OF HINDUTVA
   
 
 
«« Back
 

'Brainwashed', IAS officers in drier

Author: Pranesh Sarkar
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: February 4, 2016
URL:   http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160204/jsp/frontpage/story_67409.jsp#.VrK2DebXbbl

Hirak Raja keeps rebellion at bay by using only one form of punishment: brainwashing.

When his scientist announces he has discovered Jantarmantar - the machine that will brainwash the recalcitrant - a thrilled Hirak Raja asks: Mogoj dholai? (Brainwashing?)

Gobeshok (scientist):Thik tai

E emon kol

Jate raj karjyo hoye jaye jol.... (Indeed. This is a machine that makes governance simple.)

Hirak Raja: ... Eto obishassho! (It's unbelievable!)

From the 1980 film, Hirak Rajar Deshe, by Satyajit Ray

Calcutta, Feb. 3: Unbelievable but mogoj dholai (brainwashing) appears to have leaped from the silver screen to the steel frame of Bengal.

Twelve young IAS officers who were recently trained for three months in Delhi have been kept away from the usual posts in the districts apparently because of suspicion that they might have been brainwashed in the capital by the BJP-led government.

Usually, the first full-fledged postings of IAS rookies who have completed their probation and training are as sub-divisional officers or SDOs who head the civil administration in the sub-divisions.

The SDOs play a key role as they are in constant contact with elected representatives and targeted welfare recipients. More important, each SDO acts as the returning officer of two Assembly segments on average - a role that makes them invaluable at a time the elections are knocking on the doors of Bengal.

But the 12 IAS officers from the 2013 batch have been administratively quarantined, so to speak, in a safe-zone post called officer on special duty (OSD), a sterile designation without any specific role. OSDs cannot become returning officers either.

Officially, government sources cited lack of experience in handling elections as the reason for keeping the young IAS officers away from the SDO post for the time being.

"The officers' lack of administrative knowledge could cause problems in the run-up to the polls," a senior Bengal government official said, adding that they would be posted as SDOs once the elections were over.

Some other bureaucrats, however, said this could not be the sole reason as "a period of 15 days" was "good enough" for IAS officers to familiarise themselves with the election assignment. "Perhaps, the ruling establishment is not sure how the new officers will work during the elections after the three-month stint under the BJP-led central government," an official said.

Sources in Nabanna, the secretariat, pointed out that chief minister Mamata Banerjee had opposed the Centre's decision to call these 12 officers to Delhi for the training. The sources said the leadership felt that the officers were taken to Delhi as part of the Centre's " mogoj dholai (brainwashing)" plan.

The young officers had reached Bengal in August 2015 after the mandatory two-year training, mostly in Mussoourie. All 2013-batch IAS officers, including from other states, then went to New Delhi to be trained as assistant secretaries in various ministries.

The officers returned to their respective states in mid-December. On January 28, the 12 officers in Bengal were posted as OSDs.

Now that the officers are back, the chief minister is apparently hesitant to place them as SDOs, especially because of their prospective role as returning officers in the Assembly segments.

As returning officers, the SDOs will have the authority to receive and dispose of complaints on violation of the model code of conduct and law and order.

"I am not surprised that the ruling party would not place an officer who is yet to earn its faith in crucial posts ahead of the elections," said a retired bureaucrat.

Another serving official insisted administrative experience was the sole reason but unwittingly drew attention to another factor.

"Many district magistrates have said a new SDO will not be able to discharge poll-related duties as they have to deal with local political leaders with whom they are not familiar," the official said.

Veteran officials pointed out that the contact with local leaders was an important issue. Young officers, brimming with brio and pumped up with idealism, usually refuse to kowtow before satraps and are known to have enforced rules without fear or favour. The zeal may dim later but when they start out the officers cannot be taken for granted.

In fact, officers are not expected to be familiar with political figures when they take decisions related to the conduct of elections. "This is the reason observers from other states are placed to oversee the elections," an official said.

Others picked holes in the contention that lack of experience would be a handicap. They pointed out that at least 40 new block development officers (BDOs) were posted just before the panchayat polls in 2013.

"The BDOs are the returning officers for panchayat polls.... If they can manage, why can't IAS officers?" asked an official.

The young IAS officers will also lose precious months from the two-year stint as SDOs during which they were supposed to pick up lessons that will stand them - as well as the state - in good stead throughout their career.

In fiction and in the shadowy world of espionage, undercover operatives are supposed to be kept in isolation until debriefing establishes that close contact with the enemy has not made them double agents.

Bengal can now be proud that its young officers are being put through the paces associated with James Bond and his ilk.
 
«« Back
 
 
 
  Search Articles
 
  Special Annoucements