IAS officer Sahai will not continue in agriculture department: State

MUMBAI: After its Saturday order to re-appoint controversial IAS officer Bhagwan Sahai to the agriculture department annoyed employees, the government revised it

MUMBAI: After its Saturday order to re-appoint controversial IAS officer Bhagwan Sahai to the agriculture department annoyed employees, the government revised it on Sunday.

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The government said Sahai will not continue in the agriculture department even after the completion of his leave. Employee unions have announced it will continue its protest, demanding the officer be shunted out of Mantralaya.

The additional chief secretary of the agriculture department was sent on leave on Friday. A memorandum issued on Saturday, however, said that he would be appointed to the same department once he was back from his 12-day leave. The order annoyed the government employees, particularly from the agriculture department, and they met agriculture minister Pandurang Fundkar on Sunday. Soon after the meeting, the government issued a fresh order clarifying that Sahai will not be appointed in the department again.

“It is a routine template in which the orders of the leave are issued so that the officer on leave does get the salary uninterrupted. The employees objecting the order knew the procedure very well. However, to clear out the confusion, we have issued the revised order,” said Mukesh Khullar, principal secretary, general administration department.

Sahai was shunted out of the agriculture department over the allegations of his ‘insensitive and apathetic’ treatment to his fellow officer, Rajesh Ghadge, whose son committed suicide, ten days ago. Sahai had denied the permission to Ghadge to leave office early even when the latter told that his 19-year old son Avdhut was mentally disturbed. The government employees who staged protests for three days at Mantralaya have been holding Sahai guilty for the death of teenager.

Employee unions have again convened a meeting on Monday morning to decide on further course of action. “We are firm on our demand that the officer should not be appointed again in any department ,” said Subhash Gangurde, general secretary, Maharashtra State Government Employees Central Confederation.