In a bid to minimise interference by politicians in administrative affairs, the Democratic Front government is planning a law to regulate the transfer of government officials.‘‘Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has given his nod to set up a committee under former chief secretary V. Ranganathan to prepare a draft for the proposed law,’’ a senior official said yesterday.Ranganathan is expected to prepare the draft on the lines of a similar experiment in neighbouring Karnataka.The move is in response to a demand put forth by social activist Anna Hazare a couple of months ago. In a meeting with Hazare, Deshmukh had accepted his demand for amending the Right to Information Act and enact a legislation to curb the interference of politicians in transfer of government officials.The proposed law would ensure that a government employee is not transferred before he serves for a fixed tenure on a particular post. His application for a transfer will also not be entertained before he finishes the term. The committee will probably fix this tenure at three years, the official said.The current service rules and laws does not prevent frequent transfers. ‘‘In several cases, transfer has become a weapon in the hands of politicians to make government employees obey their orders. We expect the proposed law to have provisions to effectively check this,’’ the official said.Ranganathan said he is yet to get an official communication. ‘‘The government has responded positively to Hazare’s demand and the matter had been put before a committee on administrative reforms,’’ he said. However, the law will come into force only if the ruling party is serious about it.
