The Secretariat, considered as the nerve centre of the State administration, is now turning into a battleground with the officers and employees, who are supposed to have got a raw deal in the form of the Tuesday's transfer order, getting united to flex their muscles to force the Secretariat Administration (SAD) to rollback the order.
Notably, SAD had made a major reshuffle in the State Secretariat on Tuesday which saw transfers of 226 officers, including 13 Joint Secretaries, 17 Deputy Secretaries, 33 Under Secretaries, 50 section officers, 97 Reviewing officers and 16 assistant reviewing officers. Observers said the aggrieved officers and employees preparing to go for a full-blown agitation might send alarm bells ringing in the Administration.
"However, it is surprising that though left with no other option but to cling to their existing jobs, they are throwing a dare to the State Government, risking harsh steps in its wake," says one of the observers.
Sensing beforehand that the employees might pressure the bureaucrats to change things in the order through the political leaders they are close to, SAD had asked the employees who figured in the list to join their new duties immediately without waiting for their relievers to arrive. It has also issued a warning, saying that if they fail to join the new departments their salaries might be withheld to be followed by disciplinary actions sans any show cause notice.
Talking to The Pioneer on Wednesday, the president of the secretariat association Deepak Joshi said that the transfer order is biased in favour of a few in blatant contravention of the transfer norms. "Some discrepancies have struck us after we have gone through the transfer order. As per the rule, one who has served in a particular department cannot be brought back to the same department unless and until he completes five years after being transferred. Another rule says that the employees who have completed three years in a particular department at a stretch can be transferred to other departments. Both these rules have been trashed to favour a few," he added.
An official in the finance department said that there is a norm of an employee being allowed to stay in the finance department for five years. "Besides, the officials are transferred on a rotation basis so that the departmental works continue smoothly. The transfer order have shifted a large number of section officers of the finance department. In this scenario, it would be seen how the new section officers would understand the nature of the works they are to do," he said.
The corridors of the secretariat are now seeing the aggrieved officials venting their anger and warning the state government of a stir. They are disclosing that they are trying to contact their mentors who wield influence in the political arena of the state. Many of them are getting inspired while recollecting the transfer of then chief secretary in 2012 after some secretariat employees had articulated anger openly against then state government with Vijay Bahuguna at its rein.
Now, curious eyes are trained on the principal secretary SAD Anand Vardhan who issued the transfer order with questions being raised how he would tackle the aftermath of the order. Many say that in case he buckles under pressure it would prove tough for SAD to streamline things in the secretariat.
The employees have reasons to bear grudge against SAD which has been consistently trying to discipline them while taking one step after another. At first, the biometric attendance system was put into force to track when they turn up and depart. It was followed by an order to outsource the home guards and some other categories of employees. Again it was followed by putting into force a rule to make the employees sport I-cards with the colour of the ribbons varying from category to category. Now, the re-jig exercise has made many of them to erupt in open resentment.
Against the backdrop of the demand of the rollback of the transfer order being raised, the officials say that under no circumstances would they go for the rollback