A storm is brewing in Bihar’s officialdom following reports that a junior rank IAS officer was tipped to occupy the Chief Secretary’s post. The present Chief Secretary, Ashok Kumar Chowdhury, is due to vacate office on November 30. According to insiders, 1973 batch IAS officer R J M Pillai, serving as Development Commissioner, is all set to become the top bureaucrat in the state superseding five 1972 batch officers, including the senior most K D Sinha who is presently member of the Board of Revenue. Sources said that senior IAS officers have made up their mind to resist any such move by the Nitish Kumar Government. They have threatened to move the court and even take the extreme step of putting down their papers, said sources. The state Government has already given enough indications of its plan to install Pillai on the top post. He has already been put in the pay scale of a Chief Secretary and is handling the most important department of the state — that of Development Commissioner. Present Chief Secretary and his predecessor were serving on the same post before they were given the top job. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is in a fix over the Chief Secretary’s post as he has to maintain the caste balance in his administration. Sinha as Chief Secretary will mean single caste occupying all the coveted positions — that of Chief Minister, Director General of Police and Chief Secretary. Interestingly all of them hail from Nalanda as well. Already there are allegations against the Government that Kurmis from Nalanda are being awarded with all important positions in the state.
