By L. S. Herdenia
Can or should a government servant attend a meeting of a political party? This has become the subject of a fierce debate in Madhya Pradesh. On one side is the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party and on the other, the opposition Congress. Senior IAS officer Dr. Rajesh Rajora, Principal Secretary to the state government, was asked to appear before the meeting of the state executive committee of the BJP at Bhopal. Like a disciplined and obedient servant of the government, he complied with the orders of the powers that be and reached the headquarters of the BJP.
Dr. Rajora is the Principal Secretary, Agriculture and farmers’ welfare. The BJP wanted him to apprise its office-bearers of the various aspects of the government’s agriculture policy. The meeting at which Dr. Rajora gave his presentation was attended by the Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, some state ministers and Members of Parliament, besides BJP office-bearers. The moment the report about Dr. Rajora’s appearance at the ruling party’s conclave became public; the Congress raised a hue and cry and issued a strongly-worded statement questioning the propriety of summoning a top-ranking government official to the meeting of a political party. Besides registering a vocal protest, the Congress leaders extended an invitation to Dr. Rajora to come to the Congress office and brief its leaders about the policies and programme of agriculture department. Dr. Rajora however did not turn up at the Congress office. Besides the Congress party, even neutral observers described Dr. Rajora’s act as going against the fundamental rules that guide the conduct of a civil servant. A former chief secretary KS Sharma, when asked to give his opinion said “Officers should take a stand in such situations. They know how to deal with such situations. At the same time, the government should also ensure that such situations do not arise. Rule 5 (1) of All India Services Conduct Rules clearly mention that no official should engage or participate in any sort of political functions”.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the Congress, under the leadership of its president Arun Yadav, met the Chief Secretary Anthony De Sa and demanded disciplinary action against Dr. Rajora. According to a spokesman of the Congress, the chief secretary promised a probe into the whole episode.
Another similar controversial issue came to the fore when a high officer of the state government issued transfer orders of his subordinates, mentioning that these officials were being transferred on the recommendation of the BJP leaders. He mentioned the names of the concerned BJP leaders in every transfer order. Those whose names were mentioned included Nand Kumar Chauhan newly-nominated President of the state BJP, who is also a member of the Lok Sabha. The most interesting aspect of the episode is the manner in which Chauhan defended his act. Publicly reacting he said that “Yes, I did recommend transfer of certain officials. I have no regrets and I will continue to do so.”
As far as Madhya Pradesh is concerned, the dividing line between the ruling party and government servants has already blurred to a considerable extent. The Madhya Pradesh government, by a formal order issued in the year 2006 has permitted state government employees to participate in the activities of the RSS. According to government rules, no government servant can participate in any political activity. Though the RSS claims to a cultural organisation but for all practical purposes, the nature of its activities are overwhelmingly political. After the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, RSS was placed in the list of such organisations which were out-of-bounds for government employees. The present chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan ignored these facts and decided to exclude RSS from the list of the organisations in whose activities the government employees could not participate
Meanwhile, there are clear indications that concerted and planned efforts are being made to create communal tension in the state. One such incident relates to the decision of some Dalits to embrace Islam. Some Dalits hailing from a small village in Shivpuri district embraced Islam. Their conversion caused a panic in the state. Some rightist Hindu organisations cried foul and asked the district administration to take punitive action against those who embraced Islam. According to a Madhya Pradesh law, nobody can change his religion without informing the district administration. If somebody converts without informing the administration, he violates the concerned law and can be punished. Hindu organisations, besides demanding punishment also mounted pressure on the converted Dalits to come back to the Hindu fold. They openly warned them that if they do not follow their diktats, the consequences will be serious for them.
Under the threat of some Hindu organisations, a few of them returned to the Hindu fold. When contacted the Superintendent of police of Shivpuri district, where the incident had taken place and on enquiring from him as to what punishment he is going to inflict on those who came back to Hindu fold, he had no reply. Besides the conversion episode the Hindu organisations are digging into some instances of marriage between Muslim boys and Hindu girls and they are describing them as examples of Love Jihad. Thus, it appears that Hindu extremist elements are determined to disturb the communal peace in Madhya Pradesh and take advantage from it in the coming elections to urban local bodies. (IPA Service)