These days your average babu can rarely say ‘no’ to a minister. Blind obedience is what is expected from them, leaving little room for independent decision-making. But like always, there are exceptions to the rule. An instance from Uttarakhand has recently come to light. There is even a touch of the bizarre about it!
The state’s Minister of Women and Child Welfare Rekha Arya reportedly wrote to the DIG of Dehradun Arun Mohan Joshi inquiring about her Additional Secretary V Shanmugam, who she said was “missing”. And since the officer was “incommunicado”, she feared he might have been kidnapped!
As it turns out, according to sources, trouble had been brewing between the minister and the IAS officer for some time. Matters came to a head sometime in September when Shanmugam awarded a contract in a tender possibly against the wishes of the minister. Subsequently, he went into two-day ‘self-isolation’ and did not take any calls from his office or the minister.
The irate mantri forced Chief Minister Trivendra Rawat to order an inquiry into the award of the contract, but additional Chief Secretary Manisha Panwar has reported that the probe did not find any misconduct by Shanmugam. Further Panwar has stated that the officer had followed due process while awarding the contract and while going on leave. This is where matters rest, for now. It remains to be seen whether the minister will pursue the issue further or let it fly. It would also be interesting to see if the babu manages to hold on to his post or gets transferred elsewhere.
Contrast this with a powerful babu in Delhi who did not vanish after his gaffe. Instead immense sweeping powers and other capabilities were exercised in Delhi and his statement, vanished instead. What was reported in the media (of course, the story was promptly withdrawn, though the video exists!) On questioning the credentials of democracy itself, led to much speculation whether this was just a gaffe or something more!
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