Administrative woes: ‘petty’ interferences irk IAS men
By Deepal Trevedie

Distressed by the constant interfering and nagging by a certain section in the government which apparently has been spending more time on petty matters than concertrating on developmental issues, nearly a dozen IAS officers met on Thursday and through a formal written notice have asked acting president Mr V.V.R. Subbarao to convene an annual general meeting of the IAS officers association in the next 10 days.

These officers who deliberated for over an hour expressed their ire at the persistent interfering by the government over petty issues Without naming the General Administrative Department which has been charged of issuing memos on petty issues officers, these IAS officers resolved that their association should convene an AGM and take up these issues on an immediate basis.

The meeting focussed on how certain performance and result oriented IAS officers were singled out and targeted by the government over petty issues. "This is extremely demoralising and frustrates an officer who wants to really work," an IAS officer who attended this meeting told.

These IAS officers, most of whom have an impressive track record are apparently frustrated by the attempts to corner them selectively over petty issues. "There is a systematic design behind this. This harassment is such that it compels us to concerntrate more on petty matters than developmental works," another officer said.

The IAS officers said it was ridiculous that "vigilance" were set up to "monitor" the activities of officers. It must be noted that the GAD recently issued a circular saying that no IAS officer can rent out their premises for the first five years after they construct a private house. "This is ridiculous. The government can lay down rules and regulations but cannot have such funny conditions.

Republished from Asian Age