The extension of the term for the second time of Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra by the State Government will demoralise the cadre as the entire chain of promotion gets blocked, that too, when sufficient eligible officers are available for promotion by this action of the Government. It promotes a culture of ‘Yes Men’ in the Government, said Ashok Nanda of Loksamukhya in a letter to CM Naveen Patnaik.
Nanda said such practice of giving extension to top bureaucrats in the Union Government has set bad precedents and cited a few cases.
“The incumbent Cabinet Secretary, Rajiv Gauba, an IAS officer of 1982 batch from Jharkhand cadre, was scheduled to retire on August 30, 2021 after serving for two years, but was given a year's extension to continue in the top post till August 30, 2022 and again he has been given a second extension. Earlier, PK Sinha, appointed as Cabinet Secretary by the Modi Government in 2015, received as many as three extensions, which saw him serve in the post till 2019, making him the longest serving Cabinet Secretary in history,” he said.
He further wrote, NC Saxena, a retired 1964 batch UP cadre IAS officer, who had a distinguished career and served as Member of Planning Commission of India and Member of National Advisory Council said in case of extension of Ajay Bhalla who got extension in the job of the Home Secretary, "I'm not in a position to comment on the merits or demerits of Ajay Bhalla's case in particular, but this Government is known to favour officers who toe its line and have a particular ideological shift. They want officers who are yes men."
Nanda said a Division Bench consisting of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Bavaire marked on the extension of Sanjay Kumar Mishra, a 1984 batch IRS officer who got extensions for the top job at the Enforcement Directorate as "We appreciate that he is doing good work. But you cannot continue with him till all these cases are over. The task of Enforcement Directorate is very important. You cannot leave it to one individual to complete it."
It is obvious that the Government of Odisha has taken permission from the Government of India before giving such extensions. People who have exceptional talents or techno managerial knowledge and who cannot be easily replaced can be given extension in rare cases. Besides, your Government is already utilising the services of retired IAS officers who retired in the rank of Chief Secretary as advisors, he said and urged CM Patnaik to appreciate his concern and take needful action.
