Urban Development Minister Bachcha Singh today surprised the Assembly when he threatened to quit if the House did not gave a patient hearing to his complaint about a secretary who had allegedly refused to listen to him.The secretary, Vimal Kirti Singh, had been shifted from the Urban Development Department a few days ago. Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari had yesterday asked minister M.P. Singh to look into Bachcha Singh’s grievance after the latter said Kirti Singh had ignored his instructions to repair of roads damaged by laying of underground cables.Kirti Singh got the transfer orders in less than six months after taking charge. He was, however, luckier than his counterpart in Rajya Bhasa Department, R.S. Poddar, who had to move out within three months.Singh and Poddar are not isolated cases. In Jharkhand, secretaries are shunted at the drop of a hat and none lasts in one department for more than four months, claims a study conducted by a section of lawyers of the Jharkhand High Court. In the 27 months since bifurcation, the state Personnel Department has brought out 150 notifications, transferring department secretaries. Over 30 per cent IAS officers has been transferred more than four times.Chief Minister Babulal Marandi attributes such frequent transfers to administrative exigencies. ‘‘The transfer of secretaries was affected from time to time as per the demand of governance,’’ says Marandi. But a conflict between the minister and his secretary concerned has more often than not led to such transfers. Baccha Singh says: ‘If the government doesn’t take him to task, I will be forced to sit in the well.’’
