The Centre on Thursday night acted swiftly against two IAS officers, Sanjeev Khirwar and his wife, Rinku Dugga by moving them out from Delhi to Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh respectively. The action came after the Indian Express published a report which stated that the IAS couple had misused their position to get the Thyagraj Stadium vacated every evening so that they could do their daily walking on the tracks meant for training athletes. How this was happening should also be a subject of an inquiry since there could be involvement of some more officials in this glaring dereliction of duty. The stadiums are meant for sportspersons and the top priority should always be given to their training and preparedness. However, this particular IAS couple, perhaps intoxicated by the immense power they wielded used it to intimidate everyone so that they could follow their walking regimen on a daily basis. There could be numerous other examples of senior civil servants abusing their positions to show their clout to their peers and others. There was an example of a Delhi police official who was known for getting the petrol from his official car transferred to his personal car.
He would many times get police recruits to line up outside his house and chant Zindabad with his name. The government at that time had taken a lenient view of his deviant behaviour and allowed him to continue in his position in the national capital till he was routinely transferred out to another post. There are stories of how so many IAS officers manage to write books when they should be serving the people at that time. Instead of clearing their files, many of the bureaucrats have secretarial assistance available to them and use that help to dictate the drafts of books which later get published by willing publishers who get these books picked up by various agencies of the government itself. The government of the day has on earlier occasions too acted against civil servants who have been overstepping their boundaries to assert their positions.
The primary task of the bureaucracy is to assist the elected representatives in discharging their duties based on the stipulated policies of the government. The bureaucrats cannot be bossing their political bosses which is very often happening, primarily because a large number of politicians are totally at sea when it comes to understanding the nuances of the administration and are heavily dependent on civil servants. Gone are the days when integrity and civil service were synonymous with each other. Unless and until the political will is strong, the bureaucrats shall always continue to exploit the situation. Delhi has always attracted a lot of attention and therefore, those who get posted here must be carefully selected.
The new Lt. Governor has recently been appointed and shall now have to ensure that the postings and transfers are done carefully and by going through proper background checks. Many IAS officers are back in the city and are awaiting postings. They would obviously get their new assignments shortly. So far as the two deviant IAS officers are concerned, they should be strictly dealt with in accordance with the service rules applicable to the civil servants
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