These days, the Mantralaya precinct is abuzz with talk of how a senior bureaucrat refused to cave in when a minister demanded that some engineers of his choice be appointed in Vidarbha. The angry IAS officer reportedly asked the energetic minister to stay away from him, and instead talk to his boss (the minister in-charge) first. The infuriated minister reportedly made this face-off a matter of prestige and complained to CM Devendra Fadnavis that the IAS officer threw the (recommendation) papers in his face before leaving the meeting.

This isn’t a one-off case of the state’s senior bureaucrats and ministers being at loggerheads. Other ministers, too, have reported to the CM that IAS officers do not cooperate with them. One such officer, Mahesh Zagade, was transferred from the transport office late last week. While an additional chief secretary has gone on a one-month leave, others are trying different methods to cope with the uneasy situation.