The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) questioned the appointment of Manoj Kumar Mishra as secretary of the electronics and information technology department on a contractual basis in Odisha.
BJP said prima facie the appointment seemed to be violation of Articles 14 and 16 and Odisha government rules of business made under Article 166 of the Constitution of India.
Mishra, a 1999-batch Indian Railway traffic service officer, had resigned from all-India service last month after his application for voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) was turned down by the union railway ministry.
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Soon after his resignation, he was appointed as principal secretary of the electronics and information technology department on December 29, which he held till he resigned.
The government said Mishra will also remain in additional charge of special secretary to the commerce and transport department (Rail Coordination) and an OSD in the CM’s office.
Describing the appointment of Mishra as one of the rarest in the history of all-India service, former IAS officer and BJP leader Sudarshan Nayak said it appeared to be flawed as there are no vacancies in the level of principal secretary rank officers in Odisha cadre.
“As per the IAS cadre list of the state government, there are 9 posts of principal secretary. The state government has the power to create an equal number of ex-cadre posts to meet its administrative requirement. But there is no vacancy at the level of principal secretary. As per Odisha Government Rules of Business, a secretary holds the statutory power to deal with financial matters of the government. How can a contractual employee carry out his official duties in an impartial manner is highly questionable. This is a blatant attempt to politicise the administration,” alleged Nayak.
{{/usCountry}}“As per the IAS cadre list of the state government, there are 9 posts of principal secretary. The state government has the power to create an equal number of ex-cadre posts to meet its administrative requirement. But there is no vacancy at the level of principal secretary. As per Odisha Government Rules of Business, a secretary holds the statutory power to deal with financial matters of the government. How can a contractual employee carry out his official duties in an impartial manner is highly questionable. This is a blatant attempt to politicise the administration,” alleged Nayak.
{{/usCountry}}Nayak said while the central government picks up people in the joint secretary rank through lateral entry system it is done in a constitutional manner.
“The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) which does the hiring is a constitutional body and the recruitment is made through open advertisement and in a transparent manner. Why did the state government not follow the same procedure if it felt the urgency of an expert in the IT domain,” he asked.
HT sent Mishra a questionnaire about his appointment, but there was no response.
The GA department which appointed him also did not respond to questions.
Defending the move, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) spokesman Gautambuddha Das said Mishra has been working as IT Secretary for a long time and helped the state get top IT firms and provide employment opportunities for the youth.
“Appointments of many officers are done by the central government, but we have never spoken about them as it is an administrative matter. It is astonishing to see the Odisha BJP leaders becoming jittery and afraid of the appointment of an officer by the government,” said Das.