Chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan cleans up bureacracy

Chennai: Post Jayalalithaa, politics in Tamil Nadu might have plunged into chaos but its bureaucracy appears to be doing fine, thanks to the no-nonsense chief secretary Girija Vaidyanathan who has done quite a bit of cleaning up though she has taken charge just five months ago.  

“There are no whimsical tenure extensions for favoured officers now and those suffering the ignominy of IT raids or transfers by the Election Commission have not been able to return to their plum posts. On the other hand, good IAS and IPS officers are getting responsible postings”, said a senior bureaucrat requesting anonymity, pointing out that officers with ‘dubious political connections’ are now being shunted out to insignificant desks.

“Being a seasoned bureaucrat, CS believes in going by the rule book and appears to have the moral support of the Raj Bhavan”, said another officer, adding, “Still, there are a few errant officers in the power corridors, who have managed to dodge her scanner”.

In the past three months, the no-nonsense Girija has carefully eased out more than six top officers from key posts. She has also abolished the ‘powerful’ dual power system that prevailed at the Fort St George in the form of ‘advisors to the government’—the most potent presence being Sheela Balakrishnan. While the long-retired Mrs Balakrishnan was finally retired, two powerful secretaries K.N. Venkataramanan and A. Ramalingam holding fort for over four years in the CM’s office, were shifted out. In course of quick time, it became possible for the new CS to revamp the entire office of the Chief Minister by infusing fresh blood.

“Let me put this in simple terms; more than 90 percent of the top officials who were in the CM’s office, offices of home secretary and public departments, have been shifted out within a span of five months.  However officers in the ranks of deputy secretaries have not been touched for the last two years”, said a senior bureaucrat.

Though a few in the senior civil service fraternity continue serious lobbying for key posts, the CS is said to be keen on “cleaning up the stable as quickly as possible and not to disturb good officers carrying out clean and efficient
work”.

The number of vacancies (department secretaries and other posts occupied by IAS and IPS officers) which were more than two dozen last month, has been brought down to single-digit while there have been some transfers happening every week, said Secretariat sources.