‘Axed officials chose to sit in their offices’

Bureaucracy questions suspension move, calls it ‘unprecedented and very unfair’

31/03/2020, VIJAITA SINGH , JATIN ANAND,NEW DELHI

A day after two senior IAS officials were suspended and another was issued a show-cause notice along with a DANICS officer by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for alleged dereliction of duty for not being able to contain the exodus of migrant workers from Delhi, sources in the MHA claimed this was done in response to their alleged failure in this respect on multiple counts.

While some in the bureaucracy argued the move was not only “unprecedented” but “very unfair” and questioned why the buck did not stop with the politicians whose “orders were being carried out” by the suspended lot — among them “very senior and capable bureaucrats” with “impeccable career and records”, MHA sources claimed action was taken against officials who “chose to sit in air-conditioned rooms” instead of ensuring “better management” and “proper implementation” of these very decisions on the ground.

Suspended officials

Renu Sharma, additional Chief Secretary, Transport Department and Rajiv Verma, Principal Secretary, Finance were suspended while Satya Gopal, additional Chief Secretary, Home and Land Buildings Departments, and Ajay Kumar Arora, SDM Seelampur, were served show-cause notices.

“There are videos being circulated in the public domain showing announcements being made to migrant workers to reach the inter-State bus terminal at Anand Vihar where arrangements to ferry them to Uttar Pradesh were being made. At whose behest were these made?” the MHA source said.

“After these announcements, which were instrumental in triggering the exodus, were made, instructions were issued to ensure floodlights, tents and urinals — especially for the women among the migrants — but these did not materialise on the ground,” the source argued.

In the run-up to the exodus over the weekend, the source claimed, the suspended officials had “chosen to sit in their offices” instead of ensuring that the situation did not transform into the crisis.

‘Personal grudge’

“This is the first time that such senior bureaucrats have been axed without any explanation or underlying reason,” a bureaucrat argued.

“This may not only have been inspired by some sort of personal grudge against them but may also be an exercise in public relations so the people do not question the politicians who actually sat in their offices to escape public ire,” the official said.