GRAPEVINE
Ananda follows Dhankar’s way!
Former West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose is tight-lipped on why he suddenly resigned. In his hometown, Kerala, the ex-IAS officer has now been regularly meeting his friends and the media, trying to 'extract' a scoop. “I will reveal after some time,” Bose says. People close to him shared that Bose did not budge to act on certain things dictated by Home Minister Amit Shah. Centre wanted the Governor to criticise Mamata Banerjee's Government during his address, similar to what Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi did. Grapevine has it that Bose did not agree to this. The Bengal episode reminds us of the unceremonious exit of Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice President just after presiding over the first day of the Monsoon Session last year.
IAS ‘exodus’ over harassment?
There has been an exodus of top officers from two prominent ministries functioning from the Shastri Bhawan, and the matter has reached the Seva Teerth as it involves two very popular IAS officials, including a household name during the COVID pandemic. Three Additional Secretaries, while two from IAS and one from the Railways’ Cadre, have excused themselves prematurely from the concerned Ministry and now settled themselves in other departments/commissions.
While two Joint Secretaries (both IAS) from another Ministry have sought an early exit and are looking for postings elsewhere. In both cases, the reason is ‘harassment’ at the end of their abusive Secretaries.
The matter has been taken seriously by SevaTeerth, and the Secretaries’ transfer is imminent next month, as a major reshuffle is on cards due to the fresh empanelment of Secretaries and Special Secretaries last week.
Who to Foot the Bill!
As the financial year closes, a people-centric department near Patel Chowk struggles to justify rising refreshment expenses, especially escalating bills from food aggregators like Swiggy and Zomato, furnished as staff tea and coffee expenses by the Minister’s office. Expensive hot beverages for the Minister are purchased from a high-end market in Lutyens’ Zone. The main concern is that frequent food aggregator deliveries are mainly used by the Minister’s staff, with some meals appearing to be taken home, leaving lower staff in neighbouring departments feeling the impact.
