The babu who opted out

Author,theatre actor and IAS officer Raju Sharma quit his job after three postings in two months

Dr Raju Sharma,a 1982-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre,is the fifth officer to resign and seek voluntary retirement ever since the present Mayawati-led BSP was voted to power on May 13,2007. Sharma,who was otherwise due to retire in 2019,is said to have resigned after alleged harassment by the state government.

Sharma had returned to UP from deputation to the Centre in July. He was posted as Principal Secretary,Basic Education,but was soon transferred to Higher Education in the same capacity. Within days,he was shifted,this time to the Board of Revenue as Member judicial.

Sharma was eased out of Higher Education reportedly over his serious differences with the Higher Education Minister,Rakesh Dhar Tripathi. Sources say he had expressed his reservations over the haste in which Bills for setting up five private universities were presented and passed in the monsoon session of the legislature in August.

Known for his integrity,Sharma was removed as Secretary of the University Grants Commission in April 2008 after he questioned certain irregularities in the selection of a software company for an e-governance project,which was the brainchild of UGC Chairman Sukhdeo Thorat. One of his batchmates said the UGC Chairman was so angry that he unilaterally relieved him and locked his office room. The CVC later vindicated the objections raised by Sharma.

During his previous stint in the state,Sharma was in the forefront of the campaign in 1997 to identify the three most corrupt IAS officers in the state,which was spearheaded by Vijay Shankar Pandey,now Principal Secretary,Information. But none of his friends of the anti-corruption campaign days came to his rescue this time. Even the UP IAS Officers Association was silent. In fact,the association is virtually defunct,its last annual general meeting was held in December 2006. For the past two months,the association has been headless after the retirement of R Ramni.

Sharma does not want to speak about what prompted him to take the extreme decision. I have opted for voluntary retirement which is permissible under the rules governing the Central Civil Service. Asked about the widely held belief in the state bureaucracy that he had resigned after harassment by the state government,he said,Whatever people may say,I wont comment on speculation. Its my personal decision taken after due diligence which was not based on small things and exigencies. Resignation from the IAS is a big decision,it was based on personal grounds. I have submitted my resignation to the Department Of Appointment and Personnel of the UP government and I hope it will be forwarded to the Centre and will be accepted in due course of time. Asked about his future plans Sharma,refused to comment.

His colleagues in UP IAS cadre,however,say that he wanted to get out of the rat race; the frequent transfers in a short time and a suffocating environment prompted the decision. Since he has completed 28 years of service,by seeking voluntary retirement he will only suffer a marginal loss in gratuity,but he will now have peace of mind and can pursue his creative interests in the field of Hindi literature and theatre,said an IAS officer.

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Sharma is a Hindi writer. His two novels,Halafname and Visarjan,were well received in literary circles. Raj Bisaria,noted theatre personality and founder director of Bhartendu Natya Academy,who has known Sharma for two decades,said,He is an accomplished artist who has acted in several plays and has also translated several of them. Sharma holds a doctorate in public administration.