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By the Way

Secretaries rule the roost

The tradition so far has been that Cabinet Ministers have been instrumental in recommending and transferring officers within their ministry. But in the NDA regime, the scenario has changed. Sources in different ministries confided to gfiles that the Prime Minister’s Office has told Secretaries that they can do away with undesired officers in their ministries without the concurrent consent of the concerned minister. The Secretaries and Joint Secretaries actually run the ministries but Secretaries used to work with Joint Secretaries who join the ministry mostly through political recommendations. In the last 16 months, whenever Joint Secretaries have been transferred, they have mostly been transferred on the recommendation of the Secretaries. On several occasions, the minister of the concerned department has only gotten to know of the transfer when the AS or JS has met them to say their formal goodbyes. This newly acquired clout has made Secretaries very powerful and the AS and JS level officers are seen changing colours to keep their immediate boss happy.

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