All retired officers reemployed by the Mamata Banerjee administration have been asked not to come to office until the new government takes over in a purported bid to avert the destruction of the documentary evidence of alleged corruption, sources at Nabanna said.
“The chief secretary has asked all department secretaries to ensure that all officers and employees, who were reappointed after their retirement by the previous government, don’t attend offices till the new administration takes charge. The OSDs (officers on special duty), the designation that is given to the reemployed officers, were informed about the decision yesterday (on Tuesday) and did not attend offices today (on Wednesday),” said a senior government official.
The decision, sources said, was taken only to ensure that no document is tampered with or destroyed before the new government takes over.
About 550 OSDs work in different departments, said sources.
“It is believed that the previous government reappointed retired officers as OSDs with a purpose. If these OSDs were allowed to continue, there was a possibility of several documents being destroyed, particularly because of allegations of irregularities,” said a source.
A section of the officials said the new government wanted to send a message even before the swearing-in ceremony.
“Reappointment of so many officers and employees by the outgoing Trinamoool Congress government had created problems in the bureaucracy. New officers did not get enough responsibilities as the retired staff continued to enjoy the importance in the administration. Moreover, recruitment in the vacant posts was also stopped,” said a source.
Former chief secretaries, Alapan Bandyopadhyay, H.K. Dwivedi and B.P. Gopalika, who had been appointed as advisers to the chief minister, sent resignation letters to chief secretary Dushyant Nariala by Tuesday forenoon.
CEO meets Ravi
The chief electoral officer (CEO), Manoj Agarwal, and chief secretary Nariala called on governor R.N. Ravi on Wednesday.
The CEO later said that the Election Commission had already published the gazette notification of the winning candidates. “Now, the governor will take the decision as per constitutional provisions,” the CEO said.
Law officer quits
Joyjit Choudhury, the additional advocate general at the Jalpaiguri circuit bench of Calcutta High Court, tendered his resignation to the governor on Wednesday.
“I was appointed by the governor, based on a recommendation by the state Cabinet. As the tenure of the Cabinet will end tomorrow, I resigned from the post today,” he said.
Additional reporting by our Siliguri correspondent