Maharashtra govt reins in elite service officers

The state government has issued a notification to the officers of the Central Civil Services not to ignore the prescribed channels for resolution of service rightsThe Central Civil Services include the elite Indian Administrative Services IAS and Indian Police Services IPS who ignore the right channels for seeking resolution in various matters by writing directly to the PMrsquos Office Central ministers and secretary personnel have been asked to mend their ways or face disciplinary actionA notification to this regard was issued by the state government on October 31 Interestingly this diktat came a day before CM Devendra Fadnavis blamed the state bureaucracy for creating hurdles in implementing schemes that his government has initiated in the past one yearThe directive is seen as a stern warning to erring officials who prefer exploiting their political connections to ask for plum postings transfers deputations and redressal of grievancesAncient guidelinesThe notification is based on the Union governmentrsquos initiative The Centre has invoked guidelinesinstructions that are in place since April 30 1952 in the past and were circulated time and again by respective governments recently in June 2013 and August 2015The Maharashtra government too is trying to rein in the powerful Central Civil Services CCS of which hundreds of officials mainly from the IAS IPS and Indian Forest Services form the top echelon These officials are recruited by the Union Public Service Commission the Centre and then sent to the statesunion territoriesThe government says that a proper course for an officer is to address hisher immediate official superior or the head of office or any such authority at the lowest level as is competent to deal with the matterThe directive points out that other than individual representations the service unions have also developed a tendency to write to the PM and ministers on individual grievances ldquoSome of these grievances are often forwarded to Members of Parliament in violations of the rule 20 of the CCS conduct Rule1964rdquo says the state government directiveldquoAs such submissions of representations directly to higher authorities bypassing the prescribed channel of communication has to be viewed seriously and appropriate disciplinary action should be taken against those who violate these instructions as it can rightly be treated as unbecoming conduct attracting the provisions of Rule 3 1 iii of CCS conduct Rules ndash 1964rdquo says the state government directiveOld habitsAn observation made in the 1952 memorandum makes one believe that generations of officials have been practising the same method for decades ldquoSome government servants are in the habit of sending copies of their representation also to the authorities who are not directly concernedThis is a most objectionable practice contrary to official propriety and subversive of good discipline and all government servants are expected scrupulously to eschew itrdquo says the Central government memorandum which comes tagged with the fresh directiveSome IAS and IPS officers whom midday contacted about the development said that it was just yet another formality and it shouldnrsquot bother them much ldquoA practice of writing directly to higher authorities has been there since decadesAt least threefour generations of the CCS have served this country and nothing has stopped us from doing itrdquo said a senior secretary requesting anonymity