Flurry of promotions

Interestingly enough, recommendations for the promotion of the 'blessed' lot were made at the last meeting of the board held on Tuesday despite the fact that the corresponding posts do not exist. In their obvious haste to reward the 'loyalists', the authorities did not take into consideration the existing scenario where as many as 600 deputy secretaries are thronging the corridors of administration against the posts of about 400. And it is only expected that the Office of the Comptroller and Accountant General would be able to perceive correctly the ramifications of such hasty promotions. There is logic in their argument when they stress that they do not have the extra money to pay the salary of more officials than the number on the payroll.

Promotion of government officials is a routine affair. But what happened in the case of the 310 officials and many more in the past smacked of narrow partisan political agenda. Does it not amount to creating divisiveness in the administration? Yes, one may blame all the previous governments for resorting to such ploys to win friends from amongst the bureaucrats, but what the alliance government has done during its tenure has surpassed all previous records. In all the services the 'favourites' have been given promotion depriving many deserving candidates thereby creating widespread resentment among the officials. The alliance government has done so with an eye on the forthcoming elections. But, by doing so, they have veritably weakened bureaucracy which is the foundation of the edifice of administration.

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