The tradition so far has been that Cabinet Ministers have
been instrumental in recommending and transferring officers within their
ministry. But in the NDA regime, the scenario has changed. Sources in different
ministries confided to gfiles that the Prime Minister’s Office has told
Secretaries that they can do away with undesired officers in their ministries
without the concurrent consent of the concerned minister. The Secretaries and
Joint Secretaries actually run the ministries but Secretaries used to work with
Joint Secretaries who join the ministry mostly through political
recommendations. In the last 16 months, whenever Joint Secretaries have been
transferred, they have mostly been transferred on the recommendation of the
Secretaries. On several occasions, the minister of the concerned department has
only gotten to know of the transfer when the AS or JS has met them to say their
formal goodbyes. This newly acquired clout has made Secretaries very powerful
and the AS and JS level officers are seen changing colours to keep their
immediate boss happy. g
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