A NEW front has opened in the Mahayuti government’s battle of attrition. On Monday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that he had finally cleared names of OSDs (officers on special duty) and PAs (personal assistants) for ministers, three months after the government was sworn in. It was in the names he rejected that messages are being read now. Fadnavis said: "Of the 125 candidates proposed by ministers for PAs / OSDs, the CMO (Chief Minister’s Office) has cleared 109. Sixteen names have been withheld because of various reasons, including ongoing inquiries against them, a poor track record, or the tag against them of being fixers." He added: "I will not clear tainted candidates. I will not allow the appointment of fixers. Even if such a decision hurts someone, I will not relent." Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, who never stays away from a Mahayuti row, claimed that all the names rejected were those suggested by non-BJP ministers. Senior NCP leader Manikrao Kokate took a jibe that ministers like him could not even appoint PAs and OSDs of their choice. Who are OSDs and PAs, and how are they appointed? A minister is entitled up to 35 staff members, including one PA and three OSDs. They are appointed with the approval of the CMO, through the General Administration Department, which is headed by the CM. Those appointed need to be government employees who are at least graduates and have a good track record, as well as enjoy administrative experience and communication skills. In states, generally mid-level bureaucrats such as deputy secretaries or section officers are considered by ministers as PAs or OSDs. A serving bureaucrat said: "Whether it is the Centre or states, scrutiny of the PAs / OSDs to be appointed to ascertain their credentials is mandatory." If in states the final authority is the CMO, at the Centre it is the Department of Personnel & Training. Why did Fadnavis’s remarks cause a stir? The CM’s rejection of 16 names, along with a stern message underlining the same, came amidst the simmering tension between him and his Deputy CM Eknath Shinde as well as their respective parties BJP and Shiv Sena. Before the CM cleared the names, the NCP’s Kokate quipped about the three-month wait, saying: "There is little role left for ministers. Even appointments of PAs / OSDs are being done by the CMO… We have to just perform or risk losing our post." Incidentally, Kokate, the Agriculture Minister, was himself convicted recently by a Nashik District and Sessions Court on charges of tampering documents to acquire two flats under the CM’s 10% discretionary quota for low-income category back in 1995. The matter is pending before court, with Kokate seeking a stay on his conviction. While both Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar have maintained silence on the issue of OSDs and PAs, Raut wrote in the Saamna Wednesday: "Fadnavis has done the right thing to wield the stick against PAs / OSDs. A majority of the 16 candidates whose names were rejected belong to the Shiv Sena. While 13 names put forward by Shiv Sena members were rejected, three of the NCP were." An official pointed out that the ministers whose recommendations had been rejected could hardly protest. "The PAs / OSDs usually get to be so powerful that they start dictating terms on projects or policy. There are well-known instances of commissions and favouritism, overriding norms." In 2021, Sanjeev Palande, the PA to then home minister Anil Deshmukh (of the NCP that was undivided at the time), was arrested. The Enforcement Directorate wanted to probe the Additional Collector rank official over the charges of corruption levelled against Deshmukh by then police commissioner Parambir Singh. NCP MLA Amol Mitkari told The Indian Express he had himself been told by a PA to pay Rs 5 lakh for getting work done. As for Fadnavis taking the final call on the names of PAs and OSDs, the CM made clear in his statement that this was as per “the laid norms”. How has Fadnavis’s decision been received in the Mahayuti? A Sena minister seeking anonymity admitted that Fadnavis’s statement regarding the PAs and OSDs, suggesting that he was rejecting dubious choices, had left a sour note. "We don't endorse corruption. But in any coalition government, if the powers of alliance partners are undermined, it raises question marks… Moreover, every minister should have the right to decide his or her PA and OSD within the framework. You cannot impose your candidates on them." A minister close to Fadnavis said the CM was only exercising extreme caution. "When we talk of a corruption-free administration, we have to take harsh decisions and set an example," the minister said, asserting that the CM’s decision applied to all the allies, including the BJP.
