With the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) summons to eight IPS and three IAS officers of Bengal to appear before the central investigating agency for interrogations in Delhi in connection with their alleged involvement in coal smuggling scam, the role of bureaucracy has sparked off serious controversy particularly at a time when the Mamata Banerjee government is facing an unprecedented crisis.

Transparency in her administration as well as the party seems at stake with subsequent arrests of former industries minister Partha Chatterjee, who used to hold the portfolio of secretary general in the party, and Anubrata Mondal, party’s national working committee member and Birbhum district president.

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Bengal has never witnessed recovery of such mounds of cash and gold, found from two separate luxurious flats of Arpita Mukherjee, a close associate of Mr Chatterjee, in Tollygunge and Belghoria. Questions are being raised on the role of the bureaucracy when the state is reeling under scams, one after another.

The Central agency’s summons to IAS and IPS officers has highlighted the unsavoury role of a part of the bureaucracy, who are supposed to be pouring over the files and keeping a tab of every action of the government.

Many retired and serving bureaucrats in the state point to rampant maladministration resulting from an influential coterie of the IAS cadre, allegedly supported by some influential businessmen with access to the highest levels of corridors of power.

At the time of the Independence, it was ensured that the IAS cadre officers had constitutional protection, under Article 312 of the Constitution and were, thus, expected to be neutral and fearless in discharge of their duties.

All their service conditions and conduct are governed by the All India Services Act, 1951, the Indian Administrative Service Cadre Rules, 1954 and the Indian Administrative Service (Fixation of Cadre Strength) Regulations, 1955, the All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 etc that flow from the Constitution.

To ensure that officers are posted according to their experience, a Cadre Schedule is notified. The state government had itself notified the Schedule in consultation with the Central Government in 2017.

While the sanctity of the Cadre Schedule is to be maintained in all IAS and IPS postings, the state government has been consistently violating these, leading to serious distortion in the administrative structure, some retired bureaucrats felt.

The wanton disregard and violation of the Acts, Rules and regulations prompted the Supreme Court to order the formation of Civil Services Boards and fixed tenures for IAS offices in 2013, in the famous TSR Subramaniam case, an order that is yet to be implemented in the State for the IAS, while it has been implemented for the IFS, for obvious reasons.

For instance, of the 49 postings of heads of the different departments that are earmarked for the IAS, 30 have been done violating the Indian Administrative Service (Fixation of Cadre Strength) Regulations, 1955.

Thus, out of the 6 posts reserved for additional chief secretaries, other than the chief secretary, 3 are held by very junior officers, who are disqualified from holding the posts, while the remaining 11 other ACS-rank officers, who could have been posted in different important positions considering their experience and competence, have been shunted out to insignificant departments.

Out of 25 posts statutorily earmarked for officers of the rank of principal secretary, 9 are being held by secretarylevel officers. Also, out of 17 posts statutorily earmarked for officers of the rank of secretary, in 7 departments, additional chief secretaries have been forced to take up such assignments while in case of 5 posts the incumbents are principal secretaries.

While retired officers cannot hold any encadred posts, the post of MD, HIDCO (responsible for New Town) as well as that of principal resident commissioner in Delhi are held by retired officers, flouting the rules.

Interestingly, around eight superannuated IAS and IPS officers have been rehabilitated in different departments as well as government offices such as CMO, Administrative Training Institute, panchayat and rural development, at very large salaries and car facilities even after they received their postretirement benefits.