From The Corridors: Civil Servants Face Off & Other Tattle

Twice in a row, IAS husband appointed in IAS wife's place after her transfer

Civil servants often come in pairs, ie, there are many married couples among them. And they understand that postings that keep them apart is an occupational hazard.

Now, in the recent flurry of transfers, something new has come up. First, an IAS wife was transferred and her husband put in her place. But when the wife was transferred again during the recent transfers, her husband was again appointed in her place. And this has led to gossip swirling around the corridors of power. 

Ratankanwar Charan Gadhvi of the 2009 IAS batch was previously Project Director in the Gujarat Education Department. When she was transferred as the collector of Sabarkantha district around a year and a half ago, her husband, Lalit Narayan Sandhu, was given her job and made the Project Director.

During last Saturday's transfers, Ratankanwar was made Mission Director (NHM) in the Health Department, while her husband Lalit was made the collector of the Sabarkantha district. The joke doing the rounds is that the husband is "benefitting from the wife's experience".

Senior IAS officers face off over tender allocation

Amid allegations of irregularities vis-a-vis allocation of tenders in some Gujarat government departments, two officers — allegedly working for two companies vying for the same project — had a face off. 

According to rumours heard in the state secretariat, the owner of a politically influential company, which had submitted a tender for the project, met one of the officers — based out of Ahmedabad — last week, for a long tête-à-tête.

The next day, he reached Gandhinagar to meet the IAS officer in charge of the department that had issued the tender, and told the officer that the company that had won the tender with a Rs 30 crore bid, had a poor track record, and shouldn't be awarded the tender.

When, following procedure, the officer asked juniors to investigate the allegation, a letter came back saying there was nothing wrong with the company, so if the department canceled the tender, the company could approach the courts and put the government in a spot. Last heard the decision on awarding the tender was hanging fire.

Somnath collector, former MP face off

Disputes between government officials and political leaders are not new in Gujarat. However, the recent conflict between former BJP MP Deenu Solanki and Gir Somnath collector Digvijay Singh Jadeja over the Kodinar Municipality elections has sparked widespread debate.

After Jadeja alleged that some of Solanki's properties were illegal, the latter accused the former of corruption and threatened to end his career. In a video that has gone viral on social media, Solanki said, "If any of my properties are illegal, demolish them. I will start a movement over your corruption." He also demanded a CBI investigation against the collector. 

Some ministers are corrupt, claim senior officers to CM

Allegations of large-scale corruption in small and big works of a particular Gujarat department have been rife for some time. After these reached the Chief Minister's Office, the CM apparently took the matter up seriously and decided to investigate. 

It is being said that initially, no officer was ready to speak up, but after the CM gave his word that the matter would remain confidential, not only did many officials come forward, they also alleged that some ministers are themselves involved. 

The officials alleged that while they carry out orders through their administrators, following procedure — some ministers send private agencies to put pressure on the officers to get certain work done, like changing conditions on tenders. The BJP high command is believed to have taken note of the development.

More Pensioners, More Expenses 

According to the Pay Commission, the Gujarat government's expenditure on salaries and pensions continues to rise. especially in light of a sharp increase in the number of pensioners compared to current employees in the government.

According to records, the total number of employees in all government departments and aided institutions (excluding public sector employees) is 4,55,299, while the number of pensioners has reached 517,416. This is expected to increase to 528,009 by the end of 2025-26.

Currently, the government spends Rs 48,043 crore annually on employee salaries and Rs 26,211 crore on pensions. In government jobs, an average of 10,500 employees retire each year, while only 10-15 per cent of vacant positions are filled.

Plan for satellite cities around 5 big cities revived after 19 years

The state government has green-lighted a project — first proposed in 2006 by then urban development minister I K Jadeja — of developing satellite cities around Gujarat's major cities, to cope with their burgeoning population, and issues like traffic jams, pollution, social discord, and other issues that follow.

Like Navi Mumbai which was created to alleviate Mumbai's congestion, the BJP-led government had once envisioned a New Ahmedabad satellite city, which did not materialise on time.

The state government has now revived the dream, proposing to develop five satellite cities around major cities. The government claims this will help balance economic growth, sustainable development and urbanisation. It remains to be seen how this long-standing plan will take shape now.

State civil service to IAS promotions fast-tracked

To address the shortage of IAS officers, the Gujarat government has requested 30 officers from the central government, while promoting 22 officers from the state cadre to the IAS.

These officers are expected to receive permanent postings in districts within 2-3 months. Currently, Gujarat’s authorised strength of IAS officers is 313, but there are only 218 in the ranks.

Among the officers promoted from the state cadre to IAS are H P Patel and R V Vyas. Typically, it takes months for such promotions, but for two years — 2023-24 and 2024-25 — officers received a swift promotion, making this a winning ‘lottery’ for them.

568 retired officers, including 31 IAS, reappointed on contract

While young people eagerly await government jobs, the Gujarat government has been reappointing retired officers on contract. According to official records from the last two years, the General Administration Department has reappointed 568 officers from various cadres, including 31 retired IAS officers.

The government claims this practice is based on the officers' experience and capabilities. This leads to educated unemployed youths missing out on recruitment opportunities and promotions in other departments. In 2022, 369 officers were reappointed, and in 2023, the number was 199, including officers from Class I to Class III cadres.

GPSC blamed for slow recruitment

The recruitment process for government officers and employees in Gujarat through direct selection and competitive exams has slowed down, due to which, the state’s administrative system is short-staffed.

According to a report from the Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC), only 1,054 candidates were appointed through direct selection in one year, whereas only 412 candidates were selected from among 711,450 applicants in the competitive exams.

The government departments have been slow to make decisions regarding vacant positions and recruitment reforms. Of the 35 recommendations made by GPSC to improve recruitment rules, 17 remain pending, some for more than five years.

Officers to participate in national sports competition

To promote sports activities in Gujarat, the state government had launched the "Khel Mahakumbh" for school and college students 15 years ago, which has since then registered 71.3 lakh athletes. After this initiative's success, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the "Khelo India" campaign at the national level.

This year, the All-India Civil Services Cultural and Sports Board is organising national-level sports competitions, including athletics, badminton, basketball, carom, chess, cricket, football, hockey and kabaddi.

Officers and employees who have secured 1st to 3rd ranks in state, district, university, or departmental competitions are eligible to participate. Registration for the competition will continue till March 31. It remains to be seen how many officers and employees from Gujarat will participate and win medals.

Separate force to control traffic in cities

Traffic management has become one of the most significant issues in Gujarat’s cities. Following the Gujarat High Court’s orders, the state government has decided to create a separate force to regulate traffic.

Experts have been consulted on how to manage uncontrolled traffic in major cities to establish this force. The government is currently evaluating the cost, manpower, and other requirements for it.

In Maharashtra, the government has made it mandatory for citizens to provide parking space details before purchasing a car. Similarly, Surat and Ahmedabad municipal corporations have implemented parking policies, but mandatory enforcement is yet to begin.

The creation of a new traffic force in Gujarat is expected to help address this issue. It will be interesting to see how this pans out.