K K Sharma headed the Goa bureaucracy for just two months before he was relieved as chief secretary of the State and transferred to Delhi. The transfer came at the request of the new chief minister of Delhi. The speed with which the move took place indicates that Goa does not have any major say in the choice of officers of the All India Service (AIS) who are posted here. This has been a long-standing grouse of successive governments that have wanted officers of their choice to be posted in the State but have had to accept bureaucrats selected by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).
Goa, despite having achieved statehood in 1987, does not have a services cadre of its own and is instead part of the joint Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories (AGMUT) cadre. It is from this pool of officers that the MHA, that administrates the service, picks officers to serve in Goa. The AIS includes officers from the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Forest Service (IFS), and for the past several years there has been a tussle between the Centre and the State over the appointment of officers.
To avoid the constant clashes, last year, then chief minister Manohar Parrikar had initiated the process of having a separate AIS cadre for administrative and police officers for Goa by permanently de-linking the State from the present joint AGMUT cadre.
Section 59 of the Goa, Daman and Diu Reorganization Act, 1987, that came into being when Goa got statehood, has a provision for a State administrative cadre. The section states that the “strength and composition of the State cadre of Goa shall, on and from the appointed day, be such as is determined by the Central Government in consultation with the State government.” The cadre was never formed.
Parrikar, acting on the State’s decision to have a separate cadre, did send a formal request to the Union government on this, but after that there appears to have been a lull in the matter. What had sparked off the decision to stake claim for a separate cadre at that point of time was that the State government was not given its first choice in police officers.
There are two arguments for a separate state cadre. One of the main arguments for a separate cadre was that the State government would be the controlling authority unlike as in the present where the bureaucrats are under the MHA. Also, with the practice being that once an IAS officer is posted in a certain cadre or State he serves in that State throughout his career the officer would take the initiative to familiarize himself with the place, language and culture, which in turn would improve efficiency in the service.
Today any of the officers from the AIS, including the IAS and IPS, posted in Goa, are fully aware they will be in the State for a period of just two to three years. While some serve with dedication others put in the minimum effort secure in the knowledge that they will be in the State for just a short period before being transferred to one of the other States or Union Territories of the joint cadre.
Once, Parrikar went on to Delhi to take charge of the Union Defence ministry, the new State government slowed down the efforts to get a separate cadre of AIS for Goa and finally it almost closed the file. Unofficial reasons proffered for this was that Goa may not get officials that would toe the government line and that Goa being small the same officers would hold the same positions for lengthy periods that would result in stagnation leading to a demoralizing effect as promotional avenues would also be limited.
The need for a separate cadre arises again with the abrupt transfer of Sharma to Delhi. Such a sudden transfer, just two months after the posting of the topmost bureaucrat in the State, affects the smooth running of the administration. Goa will now have to wait till the MHA offers the State a choice of officers and then transfers them. Following the retirement of former Chief Secretary B Vijayan on September 30 last year, the State remained three months without a Chief Secretary. How much longer will the wait be this time?
