P S Jayaram
Hyderabad(India),Febrauary9,2012:Call it the Anna moment in Andhra Pradesh’s history. Corruption is no longer a taboo subject, meant to be talked about in hushed tones. In fact, it has tumbled out of the closet with such a ferocious velocity that it threatens to shake the very foundations of the state administration.The state is witnessing an unprecedented war between Babus and Netas over who is more responsible for corruption acquiring monstrous proportions. In this battle between bureaucrats and politicians, the last word has not been said yet but one thing is clear: there are no victors or vanquished in this war. Both sides are set to emerge as losers in the eyes of the common public. Daggers are out as IAS officers on one side and the political class on the side prepare for a high-intensity confrontation that can only destroy the credibility of both. What triggered the conflict were the ongoing probes by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into a spate of corruption cases. The civil servants are now virtually on a warpath against their political bosses following the arrest of two senior bureaucrats, charge-sheeting of two others and the continued grilling of several civil servants by the CBI in connection with corruption cases. Their main argument is that they were being harassed and targeted by the CBI while the ministers, who are the actual decision-makers, were going scot free. It is on the instructions of the ministers concerned that the Government Orders are issues, the argument goes. In an unprecedented move, the IAS officers went in a delegation to the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy recently and sought his intervention to stop the attempts to tarnish their image. This was followed by an extraordinary general body meeting of the AP IAS Officers Association where they gave vent to their anger against the political bosses and the CBI. The meeting felt that it was highly unjustified to single out the officers and fix them in corruption cases while letting off the ministers. “No GO is passed without the consent of the minister concerned and no policy decision is taken without the approval of the cabinet. If anything wrong happens in any department, it is the responsibility of the minister concerned. What is the CBI doing about the ministers? Why are we being targeted like this?” wondered Bhale Rao, president of the association. The unprecedented drama is unfolding at two levels. First, the usual turf war between the IAS and IPS. And second, the widening gulf between the bureaucracy and the political leadership
Hyderabad(India),Febrauary9,2012:Call it the Anna moment in Andhra Pradesh’s history. Corruption is no longer a taboo subject, meant to be talked about in hushed tones. In fact, it has tumbled out of the closet with such a ferocious velocity that it threatens to shake the very foundations of the state administration.The state is witnessing an unprecedented war between Babus and Netas over who is more responsible for corruption acquiring monstrous proportions. In this battle between bureaucrats and politicians, the last word has not been said yet but one thing is clear: there are no victors or vanquished in this war. Both sides are set to emerge as losers in the eyes of the common public. Daggers are out as IAS officers on one side and the political class on the side prepare for a high-intensity confrontation that can only destroy the credibility of both. What triggered the conflict were the ongoing probes by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into a spate of corruption cases. The civil servants are now virtually on a warpath against their political bosses following the arrest of two senior bureaucrats, charge-sheeting of two others and the continued grilling of several civil servants by the CBI in connection with corruption cases. Their main argument is that they were being harassed and targeted by the CBI while the ministers, who are the actual decision-makers, were going scot free. It is on the instructions of the ministers concerned that the Government Orders are issues, the argument goes. In an unprecedented move, the IAS officers went in a delegation to the Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy recently and sought his intervention to stop the attempts to tarnish their image. This was followed by an extraordinary general body meeting of the AP IAS Officers Association where they gave vent to their anger against the political bosses and the CBI. The meeting felt that it was highly unjustified to single out the officers and fix them in corruption cases while letting off the ministers. “No GO is passed without the consent of the minister concerned and no policy decision is taken without the approval of the cabinet. If anything wrong happens in any department, it is the responsibility of the minister concerned. What is the CBI doing about the ministers? Why are we being targeted like this?” wondered Bhale Rao, president of the association. The unprecedented drama is unfolding at two levels. First, the usual turf war between the IAS and IPS. And second, the widening gulf between the bureaucracy and the political leadership
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