Chief Minister Mukul Sangma’s rant against the NDA Government for not extending the services of the Director General of Police who superannuated on Thursday is inherently flawed. Extension of service to bureaucrats or their re-employment should be the exception not the rule. Granted that the recently retired DGP is an excellent field operative and has extensive experience in counter-insurgency strategies and that under his leadership there have been a series of surrenders by some of the hardcore militant outfits. But to extend his service beyond his tenure is to admit that his successor does not have the same caliber, commitment, energy, drive and policing acumen. And for the Chief Minister to lambast the Centre for not agreeing to his proposal is to undermine the wisdom of the Union Home Ministry. There are enough feedback mechanisms for the Home Ministry to rely on other than the state government’s own recommendations on behalf of a particular officer. Sangma’s argument that the extension would enable a smooth transition from the incumbent to his successor is also questionable. The new incumbent (Acting DGP) would be retiring by September this year. If the outgoing DGP is allowed a six- month extension, it would scuttle the chances of his successor to occupy that favoured post.
There is no doubt that politics weighs heavily in the transfer, posting and extension of services of bureaucrats, especially top officials. In Meghalaya there was a hue and cry when the service of a particular chief secretary was sought to be extended. The Government at the time did not have the clout to push through its decision and jettisoned the idea. Since then we have not heard of service extension for those at the highest rung of the bureaucratic ladder, although some have been reemployed. And this should be the rule since no one is indispensable. It’s a different matter that chief ministers desire to operate within a comfort zone of their creation but at the end of the day it is public interest that should be the prime consideration of any government.