Karnataka: IAS officials want CSB to check interference by ministers

BENGALURU: Upset over being shifted frequently, civil servants belonging to Karnataka State IAS Officers' Association have decided to press the state government to constitute the Civil Services Board (CSB) and effect transfers as per the rules.

A senior IAS officer of the rank of a secretary told Deccan Chronicle that at present, they were being transferred as per the whims and fancies of ministers. The Supreme Court has issued instructions to all states to formulate guidelines for transfer of IAS officers, but Karnataka has not implemented them so far. In fact, a decision was taken to constitute CSB but was put on hold by the cabinet to make it comprehensive. In the absence of any guidelines, the government was transferring honest and upright officers to 'insignificant' posts whereas those who were in their good books were given good positions, he added.

The officer admitted that due to absence of consensus among IAS officers serving in Karnataka, the association was not able to put pressure on the government in this regard. Despite non-cooperation on the part of some members this issue was discussed in recent meetings and decided to ask the government to constitute CSB as early as possible. The entity would be headed by the chief secretary with senior officers as it members. The board would vet any transfer proposal made by the government. “In Karnataka, transfers are decided by ministers and senior IAS officials have no say in it,” the officer lamented.

Sources said the association was aware of the fact that honest and upright officers were shuffled like a pack of cards, the best example being Mrs Rashmi Mahesh who had been transferred to department of food processing and harvest technology, in a move dubbed as “punishment' transfer” because she exposed irregularities at the Administrative Training Institute (ATI), Mysuru, during her stint as its director general.

“Unity is lacking in our association as some section of members want to remain good with ministers so that they would get good postings throughout their career no matter whether they deserve it or not. We will adopt a resolution in the next one or two meetings to demand constitution of CSB at the earliest and forward it to the government through the chief secretary for necessary action", the officer added.

When contacted, chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee said, “CSB had been constituted but it was stayed by the cabinet a few months ago to bring out changes in a more comprehensive manner. You contact DPAR principal secretary Ramana Reddy for more details.”

However, Mr Reddy did not respond despite repeated efforts to contact him. Meanwhile, law and parliamentary affairs minister T B Jayachandra said “we have already set up Police Establishment Board for transfer of IPS officers. I am not aware about constitution of Civil Services Board to effect transfer of IAS officers. I will get back after getting details from the officials concerned.”