New Delhi: The Congress has accused the Modi government of trying to turn its entire machinery into “agents” of the BJP, referring to a finance ministry circular and an Army headquarters’ order about officials and soldiers showcasing the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government’s welfare programmes.
In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge Sunday alleged that through its recent “orders”, the Centre had “put the entire government machinery to work as if they are agents of the ruling party”.
“All agencies, institutions, arms, wings, and departments are now officially ‘pracharaks’,” he wrote on social media.
For the Modi Govt, all agencies, institutions, arms, wings, and departments of the government are now officially 'Pracharaks' !
In view of protecting our democracy and our Constitution, it is imperative that the orders which would lead to the politicising of Bureaucracy and our… pic.twitter.com/t9hq0N4Ro4
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) October 22, 2023
He attached his letter to the PM that refers to a finance ministry communication dated 18 October regarding the nomination of officers of the ranks of joint secretary, director and deputy secretary from various central government services, to be deployed as “rath prabharis” (special officers) in each of the 765 districts in the country, covering 2.69 lakh gram panchayats.
The ministry circular, which is doing the rounds of social media, also mentions an internal order of the agriculture secretary regarding “showcasing/celebration of achievements of the last nine years of the Government of India through the ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ proposed to be organised across the country for disseminating information, awareness and extending services at the gram panchayat level from 20 November to 25 January, 2024”.
Calling the circular a matter of “grave concern”, Kharge wrote: “It is a clear violation of the Central Civil Services (Conduct) Rules, 1964, which direct that no government servant shall take part in any political activity.”
“While it is acceptable for government officers to disseminate information, to make them ‘celebrate’ and ‘showcase’ achievements blatantly turns them into political workers of the ruling party,” he added.
“The fact that only ‘achievements’ of the last nine years are being considered gives away the fact that this is a transparently political order in the run-up to the five state elections and the general elections of 2024,” Kharge further said.
The Congress president further alleged that if senior officers were deputed for the “marketing activity” of the government, the nation’s governance will grind to a halt for the next six months ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Referring to a separate defence ministry circular, Kharge alleged that the Centre was forcing “our soldiers to become marketing agents of government schemes”, terming it a “dangerous step towards politicisation of the Armed Forces”.
“In addition, I refer to an order passed by the Ministry of Defence on October 9, 2023, directing soldiers on annual leave to spend time on promoting government schemes, making them ‘soldier-ambassadors’. The Army Training Command, which should be focused on preparing our jawans to defend the nation, is busy preparing scripts and training manuals on how to promote government schemes,” wrote Kharge.
Calling for withdrawal of both orders, Kharge stated that in both cases, of civil servants and soldiers, “it is essential that government machinery is kept out of politics, especially so in the months leading up to an election”.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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