By Arun Pratap Singh
Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 20 Nov: The prolonged uncertainty over transfers in the Uttarakhand Secretariat has finally ended. Following the media reports, the administration has issued long-pending transfer orders for Review Officers, Assistant Review Officers and Computer Operators. The administration has undertaken large-scale transfers, a list that had been awaited for past several months but was repeatedly stalled due to inadequate groundwork at the official level.
It may also be shared here that apart from bureaucracy, officials including relatively junior level ones posted at the Secretariat are known to hold considerable influence in the government. The secretariat cadre officials are often able to pressurise the government on various issues pertaining to them. In the past, many times, transfer orders issued had to be cancelled or withheld or modified under pressure from the Secretariat cadre officials, particularly the ministerial cadre. The ministerial cadre in the Secretariat also gets promoted more frequently during their service as compared to similar posts in other departments or district level offices.
Under the influence of individual officials related to the Secretariat, the transfer policy could not be fully implemented ever since the formation of the state.
The Secretariat Association has been consistently raising concerns regarding the pending transfers, while the Review Officers’ Association had stepped up pressure with warnings of launching an agitation. Under pressure from Secretariat employees, implementing transfers strictly in accordance with the policy had become an arduous task for the administration, prompting the formation of a government-level committee.
The transfer list has been finally issued after receiving recommendations from higher authorities. Transfers of Review Officers, Assistant Review Officers and Computer Operators have now been completed in the Secretariat, but the list for senior officials such as Section Officers, Under Secretaries, Deputy Secretaries and Joint Secretaries is yet to be released. The transfer list for these higher-ranking officials, many of whom have been posted in the same place for five years or more, is now awaited. The administration has transferred 49 Review Officers, while 15 Assistant Review Officers have been relieved of their existing responsibilities and allotted new postings. A third list covers 31 Computer Operators who have been shifted to various sections. The most awaited list, however, is that of Section Officers, whose role as section heads is considered the most critical, and many among them have remained in the same sections for several years. Section Officers and higher ranked officers such as Under Secretary, Deputy Secretary, Joint Secretary and even Additional Secretaries hold more influence and it remains to be seen, when the government is able to take a decision and issue transfer orders related to them in spite of the immense pressure it faces from them.
