Insulate us from politics, says IAS panel after Surjeet’s red blacklist

In an unprecented resolution, the Indian Administrative Service Association has sought the protection of the government to ward off any move...

In an unprecented resolution, the Indian Administrative Service Association has sought the protection of the government to ward off any move to politicise the bureaucracy saying this would undermine the credibility of present institutions.

It is understood that the carefully worded resolution was forwarded by the Executive Committee of the Association, headed by Telecom Secretary Nripendra Mishra, to Cabinet Secretary B K Chaturvedi on Wednesday. Sources in the Cabinet Secretariat said that Chaturvedi is expected to foward the resolution to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for further action.

This step is significant as this comes

after a piece by CPM’s Harkishan Singh Surjeet where he targeted bureaucrats citing their affinity for political parties. He had singled out a secretary-level bureaucrat for being close to the NDA government.

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Even though the final resolution, that is believed to have gone through a number of drafts, does not point fingers at the UPA government, it notes with ‘‘deep concern’’ how IAS officers working in the State Governments and in the different departments/ministries of Government of India are sought to be branded as nominees of certain political parties or sympathizers of any particular ideology.

The association is now planning to take a delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to express their concerns.