The Left Front government had retained senior officials in sensitive posts for several years and re-employed some after retirement, violating its own policy guideline.
Officials of the West Bengal Secretariat Officers’ Forum (WBSOF) have lodged a complaint with the state government and Election Commission along with a list of bureaucrats who have been retained in plum posts for several years.
Kamal Chakraborty, assistant secretary of the state law department and general secretary of WBSOF, said the state government had formulated a policy during the tenure of former chief minister Jyoti Basu that in case an official had been posted for five years or more in the same department, he would be transferred.
“The policy has been repeatedly violated. Some officers were retained in the same department for more than 20-25 years and given plum posts. Some of them who had joined the departments as a lower division clerks retired as deputy secretaries. And after retirement they were given re-employment,” Chakraborty said.
He also alleged that several efficient officers, who were not ‘close to the Left Front,’ had been neglected over the years and been made scapegoats.
“Unless and until officials who had been retained in sensitive posts by the Left Front government are removed, the new government will not be able to perform,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}“Unless and until officials who had been retained in sensitive posts by the Left Front government are removed, the new government will not be able to perform,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Chakraborty said WBSOF is also preparing a list of officials who are efficient and had been neglected over the years.
Senior Trinamool leader and leader of the Opposition Partha Chatterjee said, “The Left Front government had done many things which need to be changed. We will ensure that officers and employees of the state government work in a politics-free environment and in an unbiased manner.”