UP govt faces a barrage of transfer requests

The transfer session might be over but Chief Minister’s office and Samajwadi Party’s headquarter are flooded with requests from party leaders seeking transfer of government officials on “medical grounds” leaving officials grappling with this situation - literally. Flummoxed at the in flow of such a large request a senior official quipped: “It seems over 50 per cent of the government employees are either sick themselves or they have a family member who is severely ill and needs medical intervention.”

A senior official says that they receive between 125 and 150 letters every day. Majority of these letters are either written by district level senior party functionaries or has their recommendation. Ditto is the case with Samajwadi Party office where flow of letters is continuous and an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Chief Minister deals with these letters. The officials vouch that over 70 per cent of the letters are regarding transfer.

An exasperated OSD said these transfer letters are very annoying.  “We want development work should be speeded up at the village. It would be nice if these leaders ask for tube wells, roads and electricity and I will love to recommend them. If need be I am ready to write a letter too. But majority of these letter seeks recommendation to carry out transfer of an employee,” said Ashish Yadav, an OSD to Chief Minister who deals with such letter at party office. Sometimes the requests are bizarre. One employee wanted a transfer from a Sadar Bazar to Indira Nagar because he had a back problem and cannot travel four kms. Another request came from a leader whose acquaintance got the job of a teacher and was posted in Sitapur. She said she cannot join because she has a small kid and wanted transfer in a school in lucknow.

It is not only the officials even ministers have shown annoyance over frequent request of transfers. When a file was put up before Urban Development Minister Md Azam Khan about transfer of an employee on medical grounds he wrote on the file: “The employee should be asked to go for morning and evening walks. This will cure his illness.” Piqued over frequent request of transfers of teachers Basic Education Minister Ram Govind Chaudhry wrote: “These people who are paid to serve people should be given VRS if they are so ill to work in particular region.”  

The transfer session of this fiscal has ended on June 30. Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had announced that transfers would be carried out on administrative ground – thus keeping a window open for the government to transfer senior officials. It has also been made clear that after June 30 transfers would be carried out only through the consent of the Chief Minister.

“I fail to understand why leaders send recommendation letters for transfer. When it is clear Chief Minister will have a final say on that leaders at the district level should understand that,” Ashish Yadav said.