PMO shoots down Jethmalani8217;s choice for Secy

NEW DELHI, Oct 24: The confrontation between Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani and the bureaucracy shows no signs of ending. The Prim...

NEW DELHI, Oct 24: The confrontation between Urban Affairs Minister Ram Jethmalani and the bureaucracy shows no signs of ending. The Prime Minister8217;s Office PMO and the Cabinet Secretariat have now torpedoed the minister8217;s request to post a senior IAS officer of the Karnataka cadre as secretary in the ministry in place of Kiran Aggarwal.

After his ugly clash with Aggarwal became public last month, Jethmalani had renewed his request for her transfer and had specifically asked for Achala Moulik, an IAS officer belonging to the Karnataka cadre.

Sources said the minister earlier this month formally wrote to the Cabinet Secretariat and the PMO, reminding them of his request to transfer Aggarwal and asking them to post Moulik, a 1964 batch IAS officer. Moulik, also a secretary rank officer, belongs to the same batch as Aggarwal. She is at present Resident Commissioner of Karnataka Bhavan in Delhi with the rank of Additional Chief Secretary in the State.

But the Cabinet Secretariat and the PMO 8212; who havebeen backing Aggarwal in the clash with Jethmalani 8212; reportedly raised objections to the minister8217;s request for Moulik on 8220;technical grounds.8221; This has ensured Aggarwal8217;s continuance in the ministry although she has had very little work to do since she was divested of her key responsibilities by Jethmalani last month.

Jethmalani has pursued Aggarwal8217;s transfer with the PMO since June, soon after his differences with her on the MS Shoes case and MRTS general consultancy bids.

After their confrontation became public, the PMO reportedly conveyed to Jethmalani that Aggarwal would be transferred as part of the reshuffle of secretaries which was slated to take place in September.

Aggarwal has considerable clout in the bureaucracy 8212; she is president of the All-India IAS Officers Association 8212; and the minister might find it difficult to dislodge her. With the powerful IAS lobby behind her, Aggarwal, a 1964 batch officer of the Haryana cad-re, has stood her ground in the clash with the Urban AffairsMinister.

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In a bid to turn the heat on Jethmalani, the Cabinet Secretariat and the Prime Minister8217;s Office have turned down several of his proposals in recent months, including the latest one to make files in his ministry available for public scrutiny.

A senior official, however, described the continuing stalemate in the Urban Affairs Ministry as unprecedented and unfortunate. The Minister8217;s repeated requests for the secretary8217;s transfer have been ignored, but the secretary has had to continue in her post even though she is practically out of work. Neither Jethmalani nor Aggarwal have benefitted from this piquant situation which has only served to embarrass the Government and expose its inability to tackle such sensitive situations before they get out of hand.