A few days after Principal Secretary Dr Umakant Panwar has taken the voluntary retirement, the power corridors of the State are abuzz with speculation of many other IAS officers following suit in the coming days.
With the people privy to the working of the State administration lending credence to the swirling speculations of a host of IAS officers being inclined to opt for voluntary retirement, it is being asked how the administration would run in the State which is already grappling with IAS crunch.
While the bureaucrats engaged in guessing who are the officers in the quit line wrinkles of worry are deepening on the brows of the Ministers who heavily depend on competent bureaucrats to run the Ministries.
Things look particularly serious as most of the officers who are supposed to be on the quit mode are holding plum posts in the State bureaucracy thanks to the generous initiatives taken by the previous regime.
Tongues wagging in the power corridors, many say that the department of personnel and training (DoPT) keeping them under its radar is what is making them to quit to avoid getting embroiled in litigation.
However, the observers are ruling out the possibility of such a reason having made Dr Panwar to take VRS. After being appointed as the first chief executive officer (CEO) of Uttarakhand State Centre for Public Policy and Good Governance (USCPP&CG) — an institution supposed to be similar to NITI Ayog, Government of India — had told his close confidantes that he needed more time to pursue his study. Notably, he is doing PhD on energy sector.
He had also said that he had been waiting impatiently for the day he would put in his papers, praying to be relieved of the mammoth responsibility he had been shouldering for long.
Importantly, as part of its much-flaunted anti-corruption and anti-tax dodging drive, the state government is all set to tighten the noose around the companies which have been doing unauthorised banking and depositing. It is also learnt that the state government has firmed up a foolproof policy with the help of RBI and local intelligence unit (lIU) to bring to book such errant companies. Besides, the economic offence wing (EoW) which has remained functional in the state is being given further teeth. It has already started breathing down on the necks of such companies as it has lodged FIR regarding two cases of economic offences and started investigation.