Times
of India: Hyderabad: Thursday, 28 August 2014.
A slip-up by
the department of personnel and training (DoPT) of excluding former chief
secretary PK Mohanty's name from the list of officers, despite being in service
on June 1, has changed the complexion of the entire AIS cadre allocation to
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
In a
revelation that is likely to cause a huge embarrassment to DoPT, sources said
according to the AP Reorganisation Act-2014, all officers who were on the rolls
on June 1, 2014, should have been included in the list for allocation between
two states.
While this
same condition forced the government to include names of SK Sinha and J
Ramanand in the list for allocation, though they had retired much before the
allotment, the same process was not followed in case of PK Mohanty for strange
reasons.
"As per
the Act, he definitely should have been included in the allocation list. Had
his name figured, the entire allocation would have been different and many
officers who have now secured posting of their choice would not have got them
easily," said a senior government official.
In fact, a
TOI investigation revealed that on June 1, Mohanty as chief secretary issued
several orders, including deputing IYR Krishna Rao, the then chief commissioner
of land administration (CCLA) as chief secretary of residuary Andhra Pradesh
(GO Rt No. 2344) and officiating Rajiv Sharma as Telangana chief secretary (GO
Rt No 2345). On both files, Mohanty had signed and orders issued on June 1 were
in his name.
Investigations
also show that Mohanty on June 1 signed and cleared more than 120 files and
issued 33 government orders. All these orders would give ample evidence that he
was in service even on June 1.
Sources said
there are two arguments on this issue. "First, that the retirement day can
be reckoned as the preceding day of demitting office. But the Supreme Court in
an earlier judgment has made it clear that for all practical purposes, the last
day of service must be counted. Even for voluntary retirement, the day of
demitting office would be reckoned as last day in office," explained an
expert on AIS service rules.
Now, had
Mohanty's name figured in the list, all those who were allotted to Telangana would
have landed in Andhra Pradesh as per the roster. Mohanty's name would have been
at number four after RP Watal and before Chandana Khan.
Had the name
of Mohanty figured in the list as per the Act, he would have been allotted to
AP as per the roster and there would been whole lot of changes in the entire
allocation, changing fortunes for many officers.
In the
regular outsider cadre, there are 82 officers of which 36 should have gone to
Telangana, and DoPT decided on the ratio as 1:2 and made the allocation between
two states accordingly.
Highly-placed
sources said that a senior official in the Union home ministry had come to
Hyderabad much before the provisional allotment and held series of discussions
with senior officials of both states at the Falaknuma Palace.
Earlier, he
played a key role in selecting officers who would be 'ordered to serve' for
Telangana state on June 1. He also played a key role in providing crucial
information to his close associates, including his batch-mates.
Based on this
information, some officers had stepped up their efforts for securing the cadre
of their choice before the formal allocation and some of them even succeeded.
All officers who have grievances on allotment are now busy presenting their
objections to DoPT as August 29 is the last date for doing it.
"Some
officers have already filed RTI application demanding minutes of DoPT
meetings," disclosed a senior official. Some officers are keen to file
separate applications to seek minutes of the Pratyush Sinha Committee meetings,
both in Hyderabad and at New Delhi.
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