Though whistleblower IFS officer Sanjiv Chaturvedi has got the nod from the Uttarakhand government to join the Delhi government, his brush with the authorities continues. The much transferred and harassed babu, who exposed an alleged forestry scam in Haryana, has been fighting harassment from the government. Now in a much-needed fillip to the crusading babu, the CIC has asked the IB why its report on the alleged harassment of Mr Chaturvedi cannot be made public. Mr Chaturvedi had approached the CIC alleging violation of his human rights following denial of a copy of the report to him.
The IB is exempted from the transparency law, but the commission took the line that since portions of the report are already in the public domain a copy must be given. The CIC order is being seen as a major relief to Mr Chaturvedi in his battle.
Haryana’s transfer hit-list
The Jats may have fallen silent, but there is a lot of disquiet not just among other communities in Haryana, but also the state’s bureaucracy. The Manohar Lal Khattar-led BJP government has resorted to large-scale transfer of officials in the aftermath of the violent Jat agitation. This, sources say, is unusual since in the past such frequent transfer of IAS officers were infrequent, usually when the government changed.
Apparently, the state government is issuing a “transfer list” every week, though it is always dubbed as “routine administrative matters”. Those transferred include many IAS, IPS and state civil service officers. Following the Jat agitation, the government transferred at least 10 senior IPS officers. Gurgaon has finally got an additional commissioner after five years! Amit Khatri, a 2011-batch IAS officer, has been moved to Gurgaon from Rohtak, which was the epicentre of the Jat quota agitation. And so it goes.
J&K Feeling the pinch
The political uncertainty in J&K is hopefully over with the BJP-PDP alliance back on track. There will be plenty on Mehbooba Mufti’s plate when she takes oath as chief minister on April 4. Babu-watchers hope that the incoming government will act swiftly to solve the shortage of some 60 Indian Administrative Service officers in the state. This deficit has led to several senior babus holding two or even more charges.
Last year the state government had sought repatriation of all officers of the J&K cadre from the Centre to end the administrative crisis. For all its efforts only three IAS officers — Dheeraj Gupta, Navin Choudhary and R.K. Goyal — returned. Sources say that eight IAS officers of J&K have managed to remain in Delhi.
