A major reshuffle in the State’s bureaucracy especially of the middle rank level is expected to happen any day following the end of not only the May 7 bye-polls but also the state wide census exercise spanning over months. The reshuffle was long overdue but had to be shelved because of the all important census. This was further delayed by the bye-elections. As per reliable information the list prepared by the concern Department of Administrative Reforms & Personnel is now lying with the Chief Minister’s Office for final clearance from the top.
Attempts underway to ‘correct’ transfer policy; reorganize govt machinery
The long pending reshuffle according to sources will mostly include a major shakeup of the district administration across the State. According to reliable sources at least 150 Govt Servants will be affected and it will cost the Government a few lakhs in transfer allowance alone. Speaking to the Morung Express, a highly placed official disclosed that the reshuffling will affect almost all districts.
While transfer and posting of government servants is seen as normal routine exercise, however it is an open secret that undue political interference is there all the time defeating the very purpose of such exercise. It was disclosed that transfers and promotions are made by the ‘Civil Service Board’ consisting of senior Officers headed by the Chief Secretary. However it is no secret that hardly 10% of the recommendations are followed.
Meanwhile, as far as the impending reshuffle is concerned a senior bureaucrat said that the exercise will mostly follow the ‘classification’ of districts. Apparently a recommendation was sent to higher authorities whereby the state has been divided into classes. This was reportedly part of the larger reforms and reorganization of the government machinery.
There is a running joke that even our Nagaland Civil Service (NCS) officers have cadres now. Some never move beyond the Kohima and Dimapur periphery. While some enjoy luck or political favors in the capital, some sweat it out in far flung interior areas. As per the latest recommendations the state has been divided into ‘classes’ ie Class A posting would include Kohima and Dimapur, while districts like Mokokchung, Wokha etc would be in Class B and so on and so forth.
According to this rule every NCS officer would have to fulfill the preliminaries in order to avail the next promotion.
If this rule can be implemented strictly it would definitely bring a sense of fairness and also end unnecessary tussles between the NCS officers, says a top policy maker on condition of anonymity.
Another recommendation was made last year which suggested that the state be divided into classes and zones. The classes would denote district headquarters while the zones would include groupings of the districts peripheries. The idea was to make sure that officers would have to ‘mandatory serve’ in each zone, ideally for a period of three years. It has been learnt that the government has agreed to the proposal but a formal notification is yet to be out. This rule would initially apply to the NCS officers but will hopefully branch out to include other allied officers.
Speaking to this reporter, a senior bureaucrat said that there is a shortage of EACs though vacancies are that there is an urgent need to strengthen the EAC circle. With the recent expansions in the NCS cadre it is hoped that placements will be done in equitable lines, the bureaucrat said adding that the “aim must be to give every officer a chance to circulate by serving in the outpost as well as in the secretariat.
In the year 2008 a ‘District Administration Reorganization Committee’ was formed, which submitted its recommendations mainly to do with creation of sub divisions and EAC headquarters. Apparently the recommendations were never implemented because they were not ‘politically feasible’. An extremely disappointed bureaucrat in fact stated that the recommendations were ‘fair’ just not ‘politically fair’!
Attempts underway to ‘correct’ transfer policy; reorganize govt machinery
The long pending reshuffle according to sources will mostly include a major shakeup of the district administration across the State. According to reliable sources at least 150 Govt Servants will be affected and it will cost the Government a few lakhs in transfer allowance alone. Speaking to the Morung Express, a highly placed official disclosed that the reshuffling will affect almost all districts.
While transfer and posting of government servants is seen as normal routine exercise, however it is an open secret that undue political interference is there all the time defeating the very purpose of such exercise. It was disclosed that transfers and promotions are made by the ‘Civil Service Board’ consisting of senior Officers headed by the Chief Secretary. However it is no secret that hardly 10% of the recommendations are followed.
Meanwhile, as far as the impending reshuffle is concerned a senior bureaucrat said that the exercise will mostly follow the ‘classification’ of districts. Apparently a recommendation was sent to higher authorities whereby the state has been divided into classes. This was reportedly part of the larger reforms and reorganization of the government machinery.
There is a running joke that even our Nagaland Civil Service (NCS) officers have cadres now. Some never move beyond the Kohima and Dimapur periphery. While some enjoy luck or political favors in the capital, some sweat it out in far flung interior areas. As per the latest recommendations the state has been divided into ‘classes’ ie Class A posting would include Kohima and Dimapur, while districts like Mokokchung, Wokha etc would be in Class B and so on and so forth.
According to this rule every NCS officer would have to fulfill the preliminaries in order to avail the next promotion.
If this rule can be implemented strictly it would definitely bring a sense of fairness and also end unnecessary tussles between the NCS officers, says a top policy maker on condition of anonymity.
Another recommendation was made last year which suggested that the state be divided into classes and zones. The classes would denote district headquarters while the zones would include groupings of the districts peripheries. The idea was to make sure that officers would have to ‘mandatory serve’ in each zone, ideally for a period of three years. It has been learnt that the government has agreed to the proposal but a formal notification is yet to be out. This rule would initially apply to the NCS officers but will hopefully branch out to include other allied officers.
Speaking to this reporter, a senior bureaucrat said that there is a shortage of EACs though vacancies are that there is an urgent need to strengthen the EAC circle. With the recent expansions in the NCS cadre it is hoped that placements will be done in equitable lines, the bureaucrat said adding that the “aim must be to give every officer a chance to circulate by serving in the outpost as well as in the secretariat.
In the year 2008 a ‘District Administration Reorganization Committee’ was formed, which submitted its recommendations mainly to do with creation of sub divisions and EAC headquarters. Apparently the recommendations were never implemented because they were not ‘politically feasible’. An extremely disappointed bureaucrat in fact stated that the recommendations were ‘fair’ just not ‘politically fair’!
