Housing Secy shifted at Jain’s behest

MUMBAI, July 1: Maharashtra Housing Secretary Jayant Kawale was unceremoniously shifted from his department, ostensibly to oblige highprofi...

MUMBAI, July 1: Maharashtra Housing Secretary Jayant Kawale was unceremoniously shifted from his department, ostensibly to oblige highprofile Housing Minister Sureshdada Jain.

While, Kawale is yet to get his new posting, the present Trade and Commerce Secretary, V P Raja, will take over from him. He will be the fifth Secretary to head the department in the last two years.

“Following request from Housing Minister Sureshdada Jain, I agreed to transfer Kawale and appoint Raja in his place,” Chief Minister Manohar Joshi said.

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Immediately after he took over the Housing and Slum Improvement Department last month, Jain had given enough indications that he will make drastic changes in the department.

In his first meeting with the officials, the Minister had made it clear that he will recommend Kawale’s transfer and appoint Raja in his place, along with Satish Tripathi, currently Secretary to Governor P C Alexander, as the new Chief of the Slum Redevelopment Authority. Besides senior officials of the department, Kawale himself was present in the meeting.

According to a senior Mantralaya official, Jain had clarified that he had nothing against Kawale, since he was meeting him for the first time. The Minister said he was more interested in the speedy implementation of the much publicised housing scheme for 40 lakh slumdwellers, for which he would prefer Raja as the housing secretary.

When Chief Secretary Dinesh Afzalpurkar was asked about the controversy, he declined to comment, saying, it was a dispute between a minister and a secretary of the department. “In such cases, it will be for Chief Minister Manohar Joshi to comment,” Afzalpurkar said.

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He also explained at length as to how transfers are effected by the Sena-BJP government, insisting, it has adopted scientific method for the purpose.

Fifteen days ago, 12 secretary rank officials were transferred. Among them were Education Secretary Kumud Bansal, Forest Secretary A K Mago and Water Transport Commissioner A P Sinha.Speaking to The Indian Express, more than a dozen top bureaucrats said large scale political interference in postings and transfers led to demoralisation.

They said the alliance government should study the transfer policy adopted by developing and developed countries. “If you transfer officials every month, they will not be able to run the administration,” the official pointed out.