Steel frame gets saffron colour in MP

NK SINGH

RCVP Noronha, the most illustrious IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh, never minced his words. In his autobiography, A Tale Told By An Idiot, he has given a long list of do’s and don’ts for civil servants. One of these reads:

“Don’t allow yourself to be identified with any person or party. In certain circumstances this may cost you a degree of inconvenience, but at least it will keep you out of jail.”

The golden rule seems to have become outdated. The District Collectors keep landing in controversy quite frequently in MP. The latest to join the list is Chhatarpur collector Ramesh Bhandari.  The state government organised a function in the district last week for the beneficiaries of its various welfare schemes. Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan addressed the meeting. The collector was present in the audience, as he should have been.

At the end of his speech, Chouhan, the archetypal politician, asked the audience to pledge their support to bring back to power his government that had done so much for the people. According to reports appearing in local newspapers, among the people who raised their hands to pledge support was the district collector. Caught in the eye of a media storm, Bhandari later said that he had raised his hands merely to shout, “Bharat Mata Ki Jai.”

This is the fifth such incident in MP this year, casting aspersions on the impartiality of some IAS officers due to their public posturing.  The most famous case is that of Mandla Collector Sufiyah Faruqui. Earlier this year she walked for a kilometre in a procession at Mandla carrying the ‘charan paduka’, the symbolic wooden sleepers of Adi Shankarcharya, on her head as part of the government’s campaign to propagate the great Hindu seer’s philosophy.

As the IAS officer happens to be a Muslim, her video carrying the wooden sleepers on her head went viral after a BJP spokesperson had tweeted it, citing it as a symbol of communal harmony. The Leader of the Opposition, Ajay Singh, lost no time in writing a letter to the state’s chief secretary, alleging violation of civil services conduct rules.

Subsequently, the collectors of Vidisha and Damoh also followed Faruqui’s example, while participating in the official campaign to propagate Shankarcharya’s philosophy. Vidisha Collector Anil Suchari walked in the procession, carrying the saffron flag in his hand and the wooden sleepers on his head. 

Damoh Collector Shrinivas Sharma also walked in the procession carrying the saffron flag. Ujjain Collector Sanket Bhondve was seen dancing with gusto to the beats of drums, carrying a saffron flag, in the streets of the temple town. The IAS officer was participating in a religious festival sponsored by the MP Government.

It seems as if these officers were trying to outdo each other. The tendency should worry those who respect the steel frame. Civil service is supposed to be apolitical and totally neutral. Although these officers were participating in official programmes, they seem to have gone beyond their briefs. 

The Congress has alleged that they were trying to earn brownie points with their political masters. MPCC chief Kamal Nath alleged that some officers in the state were carrying on the ruling party’s agenda. “We are keeping an eye on them,” he said.

The BJP government has changed the rules of the game over the past decade. It is carrying on its political agenda ---- earlier reserved for the ruling party cadre ---- through administrative machinery. 

Take a look at the various official campaigns led by the chief minister and senior BJP leaders. In fact, over the past couple of years, the MP government has organised so many campaigns that its machinery has been turned into a giant event management team.

There was a campaign to interact with farmers in each district --- Kisan Samman Yatra --- and yet another to tell them about the benefits --- Kisan Swabhiman Yatra. The State was involved in at least two socio-religious programmes, the high profile Narmada Sewa Yatra and yet another to propagate Shankarcharya’s philosophy. And then there was Parivartan Yatra, Vikas Yatra and Jan Darshan programme.

All these campaigns were ingeniously planned to help the ruling party. In fact, at many of these programmes the fine distinction between the ruling party and the government gets completely blurred due to the nature of the campaign. Hence, it becomes all the more pertinent for civil servants to demonstrate that they are nonpartisan.

Legendary IAS offifcer MN Buch once warned: “The politicians now wanted pliant officers who would carry out their every whim. This brought a degree of selectivity into the Service, with those who lacked moral fibre or a conscience, who were willing to bend in every direction, being identified and singled out for lucrative postings.”

Powers That Be, my column in DB Post of 23 June 2018

nksexpress@gmail.com

Tweets @nksexpress