Bhubaneswar, July 2: Development is the fall guy as politicians pull the carpet much too often from under the feet of bureaucrats who fail to toe the line in the state, say senior officers.

The state government’s transfer policy for bureaucrats has come under the scanner following the alleged suicide of senior IAS officer Gagan Bihari Swain, whose wife went public with complaints that he was under tremendous mental pressure because of frequent transfers.

Swain had been transferred thrice in a year.

Sources said that while a section of officers have managed to continue in the same posts for more than three years, many others, who refuse to toe the line of their political masters, have been shifted time and again.

Of the 127 IAS officers posted in the state, more than 65 have been transferred within a span of two-and-a-half years. With the change of guard at the chief secretary level, another transfer is in the offing. “Frequent transfers will certainly demoralise the officers who are honest workers. They should be given at least three years to prove their mettle,” said a top bureaucrat.

Aparajita Sarangi, a no-nonsense officer, was shifted four times in the past three years. After a short stint in the school and mass education department, when her move to introduce uniforms for teachers sparked off a controversy, she was moved to the higher education department. Unable to stay there for long because of her stand on the issue of block grants, she was transferred to the panchayati raj department where her efforts to streamline affairs resulted in her being moved again, this time to the textiles and handloom department.

“It’s the government prerogative to transfer officers. I have nothing to comment,” said Sarangi. Another IAS officer, C.J. Venugopal, was transferred thrice in the past three years.

Former chief secretary Sudhansu Bhusan Mishra said: “Officers should be given an ideal time to prove themselves. The initial six months are required to find out about the people and familiarise themselves with the department. Unless one is given time, it is hard to work.”

The steel and mines department has witnessed frequent transfers. In the past three years, it has seen three principal secretaries.

“Frequent transfers have affected the state’s industrialisation drive. When an officer comes, he takes his own time to deal with contentious issues such as Posco,” said an official.

Before being made the state’s chief electoral officer, Mona Sharma suffered frequent transfers. In the past four years, she has handled charge of at least three departments.

Between 2009 and 2012, she was appointed head of tourism, co-operation and agriculture departments before finally being shifted to the chief electoral officer’s office.

Official sources said frequent transfers have delayed execution of projects.

“The takeover of Bhubaneswar Co-operative Bank by the Pune-based Cosmos Co-operative was delayed as the secretary of the co-operation department, who had initiated the move, was transferred suddenly. There has since been no further progress on this front,” said a senior official of the department of co-operation.