Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 16 (PTI) The frequent movement of senior IAS officers in Keralam may look like routine administrative reshuffling, but Chief Minister V D Satheesan said there is a larger problem behind it- -a shortage of officers and an increasingly heavy workload on those who remain.
Responding to questions from reporters on Wednesday about recent transfer of the Director General of Education, Satheesan said the government was struggling to manage its administrative machinery as several IAS officers were being sent to Delhi for compulsory training linked to their promotions.
“Many of them do not return after completion of that training period and promotion. Therefore, we are under severe pressure as many IAS officers are overloaded with work. They are handling more than one department,” the Chief Minister said.
His remarks came days after General Education Minister N Samsudheen expressed concern over the frequent changes at the top of the Education Department.
On Monday, the minister had said such repeated transfers could affect the smooth functioning of the department.
Satheesan, however, sought to explain the transfers as part of a wider balancing exercise within the government.
When two or three IAS officers leave, he said, the government cannot simply leave their departments unattended. The workload has to be redistributed among the officers who are still available.
“When two or three officials leave, the entire deployment of other IAS officers in the government has to be rearranged to properly distribute the workload,” he said. PTI HMP ROH
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