News Analysis India

Tag: IAS Officer

  • ‘Won’t release chief secretary’: West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee requests PM Modi to rescind order

    By PTI
    KOLKATA: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to withdraw the Centre’s order recalling Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay, and said her government “is not releasing” the top bureaucrat.

    In a five-page letter, Banerjee urged the prime minister to reconsider the Centre’s decision to recall the chief secretary after giving him a three-month extension. Banerjee said she was shocked by the Centre’s decision and termed the order as “unilateral”, which was issued “without any prior consultation” with the state government.

    ALSO READ| Shouldn’t fight state governments now: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Bengal chief secretary transfer

    “This so-called unilateral order is an unreasoned volte face and by your own admission, against the interests of the state and its people. “I humbly request you to withdraw, recall, reconsider your decision and rescind the latest so-called order in larger public interest. I appeal to your conscience and good sense, on the behalf of the people of West Bengal,” Banerjee said in her letter to PM Modi.

    She also said, “The West Bengal government cannot release, and is not releasing its chief secretary at this critical hour, on the basis of our understanding that the earlier order of extension, issued after lawful consultation in accordance with applicable laws, remains operational and valid.”

    The Centre, in a surprise move, had on May 28 night sought Bandyopadhyay’s services and asked the state government to immediately release the top bureaucrat.

    ALSO READ| Rescind order to recall Bengal chief secretary immediately

    Bandyopadhyay, a 1987-batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, was scheduled to retire on Monday after completion of 60 years of age. However, he was granted a three-month extension following a nod from the Centre to work on COVID management.

    In a communique to the state government, the Personnel Ministry on May 28 said the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the placement of the services of Bandyopadhyay with Government of India as per provisions of the Indian Administrative Service (cadre) Rules, 1954, “with immediate effect”.

    It also directed Bandyopadhyay to report to the Department of Personnel and Training, North Block, New Delhi by 10 am on Monday.

  • Shouldn’t fight state governments now: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Bengal chief secretary transfer

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday that this was not the time to fight with state governments, but to confront the coronavirus pandemic together. Kejriwal was reacting to reports of the sudden transfer of West Bengal Chief Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay by the Centre that snowballed into a major controversy.

    “This is not the time to fight with the state governments, but to fight the coronavirus together with everyone,” Kejriwal tweeted, tagging a news report that Bandyopadhyay might likely to continue as chief secretary amid the relief relief for cyclone and COVID.

    ये समय राज्य सरकारों से लड़ने का नहीं है, सबके साथ मिलकर करोना से लड़ने का है। ये समय राज्य सरकारों की मदद करने का है, उन्हें वैक्सीन उपलब्ध करवाने का है, सभी राज्य सरकारों को साथ लेकर एक होकर टीम इंडिया बनकर काम करने का है। लड़ाई झगड़े और राजनीति करने को पूरी ज़िंदगी पड़ी है pic.twitter.com/qwUVjcLA3i
    — Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) May 31, 2021

    “This is the time to help the state governments, to provide them with vaccines, to work with all the state governments as team India.The whole life is left for politics,” Kejriwal tweeted. The Centre had in a surprise move on Friday night sought Bandyopadhyay’s services and asked the state government to immediately release the top bureaucrat.

    Bandyopadhyay, a 1987-batch IAS officer of West Bengal cadre, was scheduled to retire on May 31 after completion of 60 years of age. However, he was granted a three-month extension following a nod from the Centre to work on COVID management.

  • ThinkEdu Conclave 2021: ‘Job of an IAS officer never goes stale’, says ex-CEC SY Quraishi

    By Express News Service
    Former Water Secretary and Sanitation Specialist Parameswaran Iyer and former Chief Election Commissioner and Writer SY Quraishi sat down with Kaveree Bamzai to discuss their experiences in the IAS and why young people today should opt for the IAS as a career, during the ThinkEdu Conclave 2021. 

    Quraishi says that the IAS is a unique institution and an extremely important service, “An IAS officer has to always be on their feet. There is no substitute to grassroot work. My grassroot-level work helped me while I worked at the World Bank,” he said.

    On what advice they would give to aspiring IAS officers, Iyer said that it was a fascinating career and one has the opportunity to make an impact on the ground and that no other profession offers that opportunity.

    “Every officer goes through a remarkable journey and they transform the lives of people on the ground,” he said. Quraishi added that after all these years, he would still choose the profession over anything else.

  • IAS officer comes under fire for feeding wild tusker in Bandipur Tiger Reserve

    Express News Service
    CHAMARAJANAGAR: The incident of an IAS officer feeding a wild tusker at Gopalaswamy hill at Bandipur Tiger Reserve (BTR) has received severe criticism from wildlife activists who are pointing out that the officer has transgressed wildlife regulations by feeding a wild elephant.

    IAS officer B B Cauvery who is currently serving as the Director of Directorate of Urban Development on Thursday had fed a wild tusker during her visit to the Venugopalaswamy temple atop Gopalaswamy hill  situated at Gundlupet taluk in Chamarajanagar.

    The onlookers who had taken photos of the officers feeding the tusker on the occasion of Sankranti festival had uploaded the photos on social media attracting flak from wildlife activists and people.

    While people criticised her for getting VIP treatment at the temple, as she had earlier served as the deputy commissioner of Chamarajanagar, wildlife activists pointed that the IAS officer had advertently or inadvertently violated the wildlife regulations by feeding a wild tusker.

    Joseph Hoover, a wildlife activist and member of the state wildlife board said that it was baffling that the Forest Department has allowed the temple authorities to lure and feed the wild tusker.

    “The tusker is a frequent visitor to the temple which obviously comes to relish the goodies offered by animal friendly temple staff. But, the fallout of this largesse could impact local communities which live on the periphery of Bandipur Tiger Reserve.

    The tusker could enter hamlets expecting people to offer fruits. If, and when, there is a human casualty, it will be the tusker which will be branded a rogue elephant, captured and consigned to an elephant camp,” he said.

    He further said that had the range forest officer of Gopalaswamy Betta range been vigilant, he would have cautioned temple staff to avoid such offerings.

    The tusker is a frequent visitor to the temple atop Himavad Gopalaswamy hills in BTR and was branded as a ‘Gopala Bhakta’. Its frequent visit had also resulted in an increase in tourist footfall.

    Commenting on the incident, BTR Director S R Natesh said that the forest department officials were not at the spot during the incident and they are being informed about it through social media. 

    “We are examining the case and also on the role of temple staff. We would take a suitable decision in this regard soon,” he said.

  • Ashish Kundra appointed new Mizoram chief electoral officer

    The Election Commission Thursday appointed IAS officer Ashish Kundra as poll-bound Mizoram’s new chief electoral officer, replacing S B Shashank.

    The order came after some civil society groups in Mizoram demanded Shashank’s ouster over a row on allowing Bru voters lodged in Tripura relief camps to exercise their franchise from there.

    “The Election Commission of India in consultation with the Government of Mizoram hereby nominates Ashish Kundra as the chief electoral officer for the state of Mizoram with immediate effect,” a notification issued by the EC said.

    The EC had earlier asked the Mizoram government for a panel of names to replace Shashank.

    Mizoram goes to polls on November 28.