New Delhi: Subhash Chandra Garg, the former finance secretary who opted for voluntary retirement after being shunted to the power ministry earlier this year, minced no words as he weighed in on his unceremonious exit in a Twitter post last week.
Garg is, however, not the first secretary to get a shock transfer from the plum finance ministry to less-prestigious ministries under the Modi government.
In October 2014, months after taking charge, the government removed UPA appointee Arvind Mayaram, a 1978-batch IAS officer, as economic affairs secretary, sending him first to the tourism ministry and then to minority affairs.
Around the same time, Rajiv Takru, the then revenue secretary and another UPA pick, was sent to the ministry of development of the northeastern region.
Garg, a 1983-batch IAS officer of the Rajasthan cadre, is a rare civil servant of his seniority to opt for voluntary retirement in the face of disagreements with the government. But he is far from the first to face a transfer amid speculation of differences with the Modi government.
Alok Verma
The government’s fallout with former CBI director Alok Verma, a 1979-batch IPS officer, has perhaps been the most public.
After a months-long battle with Rakesh Asthana, his immediate junior in the CBI, Verma was shunted out of the premier investigation agency this January.
He was subsequently given charge of the much-less prestigious Fire Services, but he declined the offer and resigned from government service, instead.
In a letter to the secretary, Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Verma said, “Institutions are one of the strongest and most visible symbols of our democracy and it is no exaggeration that the CBI is one of the most important organisations in India today.”
“The decisions made yesterday will not just be a reflection on my functioning but will become a testimony on how the CBI as an institution will be treated by any government through the CVC, who is appointed by majority members of the ruling government”.
He was referring to the fact that the government had cited a recommendation of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to send him and Asthana on leave in a surprise midnight order last October.
Nageswar Rao
Just months later, Verma’s interim successor in the CBI, Nageswar Rao, a 1986-batch IPS officer from the Odisha cadre, was shunted out and appointed as director general, Fire Services. He found himself in the thick of the CBI-vs-CBI controversy when he reshuffled and transferred over 20 officers from the investigative agency after taking charge as interim chief, following Verma’s forced leave.
Rao also faces several complaints of financial irregularities, influencing investigations and scuttling probes.
Also read: ‘Controversial’ IAS officer Subhash Garg says exit from finance ministry was unceremonious
Sujatha Singh
Just a year after coming to power, the first Modi government abruptly cut short foreign secretary Sujatha Singh’s tenure, despite the fact that the post comes with a fixed two-year tenure.
She was replaced with S. Jaishankar, who is now the External Affairs Minister.
While she was in office, it is believed, there were constant disagreements between the Prime Minister’s Office and the Ministry of External Affairs on key diplomatic issues.
While the government did reportedly attempt to ease Singh’s departure by offering her a position with the UPSC, she declined to take up the job.
Although Singh’s sacking led to a war of words between the Congress and the BJP, she did not publicly speak on the issue. In her farewell letter to colleagues, Singh said, “While individuals can and do play a critical role in building institutions, I believe that no individual is larger than the institution. It can never be about individuals. It has to be about institutions and how institutions interface and coordinate with each other.”
Anil Goswami
Just a week after Singh’s ouster, the Modi administration removed another high-ranking official from the government.
Goswami, an IAS officer of the 1978 batch from the erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir cadre, was shown the door in February 2015 from the home ministry for allegedly interfering with a CBI probe into the Saradha scam on behalf of former union minister Matang Sinh. While he did reportedly admit that he had been in touch with CBI officers, he denied directly interfering in the case — an explanation that did not satisfy the PM. He was one of the few holdovers from the UPA era in the Modi government.
L.C. Goyal
Just months later, Goswami’s successor L.C. Goyal, a 1979-batch officer of the Kerala cadre, was shunted out as well. Goyal, who had barely six months in the home ministry, then sought voluntary retirement from the IAS two years ahead of his scheduled retirement.
According to reports, Goyal’s ouster from the ministry had come soon after NSA-level talks between India and Pakistan were called off.
He also reportedly complained about the home ministry not being kept in the loop about the Naga accord, which miffed his political masters.
Also read: Ex-IAS officer Subhash Garg on bold decisions that may not have kept his bosses in good humour
Durga Prasad
On 25 November 2014, Special Protection Group (SPG) chief Durga Prasad was with Prime Minister Modi in Kathmandu for the SAARC Summit when a midnight order announced his removal from the post.
The order, which offered no reason, stated, “The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has directed that the charge of Director, Special Protection Group, may be looked after by the next senior-most officer till the appointment of a suitable successor.”
Granted, Prasad’s three-year tenure, including a year’s extension, had concluded on 2 November. But the sudden order, while he was away on a foreign visit, raised questions.
Some reports suggested that his ouster followed interviews where Modi’s estranged wife Jashodaben talked about security and other entitlements granted to her by virtue of being the PM’s spouse. However, he laughed off the speculation in an interview and said he had been in the loop about his removal.
Rina Ray
Earlier this month, the Modi government suddenly repatriated school education secretary Rina Ray to her parent cadre, AGMUT, allegedly in the wake of differences with the PMO on policy issues.
While Ray did not issue a public statement on her removal, she is known to have told colleagues that she is not exactly over the moon but would accept the decision as a part of life.
Days before repatriating Ray, the government had also removed coal secretary Sumanta Chaudhuri, again over alleged disagreements with the PMO. The order came less than a year after he took charge in November 2018.
Also read: How the Indian civil services continue to remain a boys’ club