IAS officers warn state government over suspensions

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh IAS Association has warned the state government that if it continued to recklessly suspend officers of the central services without following the prescribed procedure, the association would ask New Delhi to withdraw the powers of suspension from the state government.

A unanimous resolution to this effect was passed at the annual general meeting of the association, held here during the ongoing "IAS Week".

Talking to reporters, the association secretary Sanjay Bhoosreddy said that several state IAS associations were in agreement with the Uttar Pradesh IAS Association that suspensions must be done only after the prescribed rules are followed.

The association also demanded a fixed tenure of two years for IAS officers in the state and said in a resolution that frequent transfers are detrimental to the interests of the people as well as the officer and merely add to the burden of the state exchequer.

Allocation

The budgetary allocation allows only 8 per cent of the cadre strength to be transferred in every financial year but transfers in UP often tend to exceed 80 per cent of the cadre strength. The association has also opposed mid-session transfers and said that this often disturbed the education of children.

"In cases where mid-session transfers are required, the family should be allowed to retain the government house till the end of the current academic session so that the education of the children is not disturbed," the secretary explained.

Direct rebuff

In what can be seen as a direct rebuff to the political authority in the state, the association also condemned the shoddy manner in which the chairman of the association also the seniormost IAS officer in the state Ravi Mathur was being treated.

About four months ago, Mathur was posted as DG Training a post that has neither an office nor any work. Mathur has been whiling away his time at his residence and is scheduled to retire next month.

"The treatment being meted out to the chairman reflects the contempt that the government has for the association and this must be severely condemned," the officers said and added that the cadre must learn not to succumb to political pressures beyond an acceptable point.