Gurugram: It is no coincidence that three state officers recently faced the ire of Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar for land-related complaints in as many days. On Monday, the executive officer of Bhiwani Urban Local Body (ULB) was suspended for delaying the release of an allotment letter to a plot owner who paid an initial sum way back in 1985.
Last Friday, Khattar ordered suspension of the Haryana Shehri Vikas Pradhikaran, Rewari, estates officer for wrong demarcation of a residential plot. The same day, he gave nod to departmental action against an executive engineer of the Faridabad ULB for delay in the development of a park in Parvatiya Colony.
Suspending officials, sending them on forced leave and deducting salary — the Haryana CM has gone after delinquent officials in what seems to be an attempt for image makeover ahead of the state election slated in October.
Though such actions were reported even way back in February 2023, when a junior engineer of Sonipat civic body and a secretary of Julana municipal committee were suspended for slackness in duty, the frequency has gone up in the last four to five weeks in the BJP-ruled state. Often, the decisions are taken promptly at Jan Samvad (public interaction) and redressal meetings.
The opposition construes the spate of orders as a reflection of “frustration over non-performance”, while several bureaucrats privately concede that Khattar is going overboard in trying to play to the gallery and to assert his authority.
G. Devasahayam, a former IAS officer of Haryana cadre who took voluntary retirement in 1985, said that suspension of officials has become a pastime of ministers, particularly in Haryana, in the BJP rule.
Haryana minister Anil Vij is known for suspending officials at the drop of a hat but now Khattar has shown such propensity, he remarked.
“There are two thumb rules for placing an official under suspension. One, the action or the lack of it must be so grave that if proved, it will lead to major punishments – dismissal from service, compulsory retirement, reduction to lower time scale of pay, grade or post. Two, by continuation in the job, the person can tamper with the evidence or affect the inquiry outcome. Suspending an official just to show one’s authority or to please people is entirely illegal,” Devasahayam told The Print.
Other officials who faced the heat include Public Health Engineering’s engineer-in-chief Ashim Khanna and chief engineer Rajeev Batish, and Gurugram Municipal Corporation commissioner P.C. Meena.
Khanna and Batish were told to take a five-day compulsory leave on 29 December after Khattar was not satisfied with the PHE’s handling of road repairs.
गुरुग्राम में आज सफाई व्यवस्था का औचक निरीक्षण किया…
सफाई व्यवस्था दुरुस्त नहीं होने के कारण निगम के कमिश्नर का 15 दिन का वेतन व जॉइन्ट कमिश्नर का 1 महीने का वेतन काटने के निर्देश देते हुए अव्यवस्था के जिम्मेदार प्रत्येक कर्मचारी पर जुर्माना लगाने के भी निर्देश दिए।
साथ ही… pic.twitter.com/co4Uzm0BRm
— Manohar Lal (@mlkhattar) December 21, 2023
Meena had to face the ignominy of 15-day salary deduction while the joint commissioner had to forgo an entire month’s wage after the CM found heaps of garbage at several locations during a surprise visit to Gurugram.
An IAS officer of the 2004 batch, Meena was later shifted as the MD of Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam on New Year.
A day before, Khattar during his ‘CM Ki Vishesh Charcha’ ordered the compulsory 15-day leave of an executive engineer of the irrigation department in Bhiwani following a complaint of misconduct.
Commenting on the above-mentioned instances, Devasahayam said that ordering a deduction of 15 days’ salary of an IAS officer or any other official for that matter is arbitrary and illegal.
“Deduction of salary is a punishment which can’t be handed down arbitrarily. One has to follow service rules and the rules of natural justice. An official who is to be punished in this manner has to be served a show cause notice by his superior and he has to be provided an opportunity of being heard. Only then the appropriate authority can take such action,” said Devasahayam.
Contrasting opinions
Khattar’s chief media coordinator Sudesh Kataria claims that the CM is a hard taskmaster and that he refuses to tolerate any kind of careless attitude by public servants.
Kataria claimed that after two-time Haryana CM Chaudhary Devi Lal, Khattar is the only chief minister who meets people in villages and gets feedback.
“Like Devi Lal who used to hold Sarkar Aapke Dwar, Khattar holds Jan Samvad programmes wherein he meets people in villages and gets feedback on the functioning of the government. Unlike the previous CMs, including Devi Lal, who used to communicate through speeches, Manohar Lal ji is the only CM who believes in interacting with people so that he can listen to what they say, rather than the other way. It is during these interactions that he gets feedback about the performance of officers,” Kataria told The Print.
The CM had taken oath in the last Vidhan Sabha session not to spare corrupt officers come what may, he added.
“Whenever an act of corruption or an incident of lackadaisical attitude of officials comes before the CM, he doesn’t tolerate it. This explains why he is taking stern action against officers who are not performing…”
Former chief minister and Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda, however, said that the actions only display Khattar’s “frustration”.
“Khattar has been a non-performing CM ever since came to power. People are fed up with his government and are looking for an opportunity to oust him. They are also frustrated and vent anger whenever the CM meets them anywhere. His recent actions against officers are just to make people believe that the government is doing something for them,” the Congress leader told ThePrint.
People cannot be fooled by such action, he added.
INLD secretary general Abhay Singh Chautala said that Khattar’s problem is that the government officials don’t listen to him.
“The government officials don’t trust this government. They feel that the government can make them do anything wrong by giving some illegal order and then wash its hands off,” the Ellenabad MLA told The Print.
But, Chandigarh-based academic and policy professional Arjun Singh Kadian felt Khattar’s recent actions against “corrupt and non-performing” officials only show that he has adopted a proactive approach in improving governance.
“There is no doubt that not all government officials perform duties… This is the reason why a large number of complaints come during the grievances redressal meetings of the ministers and on the CM Window (a grievance portal). Khattar’s proactive actions show that he is trying to set the government machinery right so that it serves the people well,” Kadian told ThePrint.
In August last year, a chief engineer of the irrigation department was suspended while orders were given to charge sheet three other engineers for not opening gates of ITO Barrage during floods in Delhi.
After attending a Jan Samvad in November, Khattar ordered the suspension of a station house officer and an executive engineer in Karnal for dereliction of duty.
The next month, at a meeting of the district grievances redressal committee in Faridabad, the registrar and a clerk of the cooperative societies were suspended for not lodging a police complaint in an embezzlement case.
District Information and Public Relations Officer Sanjay Kumar met with a similar fate for his “objectionable remarks” on the Swachhata Hi Seva campaign.
BJP state spokesperson Sanjay Sharma said Khattar as well as his government has exhibited zero tolerance on corruption ever since he came to power in 2014.
“Nearly 50 government corrupt and non-performing officials have been shown the door by the CM in the past nine years. The CM follows a practice of reviewing the service record of government officials. While corrupt and non-performing officials are punished, those performing well for the public welfare are honoured. The government is following the principle of zero tolerance on corruption and minimum government, maximum governance,” he elaborated.
Haryana Farmers Welfare Authority chairman Subhash Barala asserted that every government official is accountable to people and if any of them doesn’t realise this, the government must make them answerable.
“The CM and even our PM consider them answerable to the people and they are committed to selfless service of the public. The government officials must also realise that they are servants of the people and are answerable to them,” the former BJP state president told The Print.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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