How Maharashtra ministers want to show babus who's the boss

There’s a new etiquette book that’s being implemented in Mantralaya — Maharashtra’s seat of power. And these new rules of etiquette and courtesy don’t extend to the common public and voters; they are meant only for the elected representatives. So, the new rule allegedly states that each time a minister or an MLA, MLC or MP walks in, bureaucrats have to stand up to greet the elected representative as a mark of “honour” and “courtesy”. The lack of courtesy towards members of the public, however, can continue, as is experienced by the scores of people who walk into the corridors of power seeking a helping hand.

The new rule draws attention to the already strained relationship between the civil servant and the neta. The relationship between the ministers and the bureaucrats in Maharashtra hasn’t been exactly warm and supportive ever since the BJP-Shiv Sena government took oath in November last year. From ministers complaining of lack of implementation of policies by bureaucrats to the civil servants accusing elected representatives of “people friendly measures that are not within the rule book”, relations have been shaky and fraught with tension. In April, housing minister Prakash Mehta hit out at his department secretary for “not meeting even once”. The angry minister accused the bureaucrat of not paying heed to him and not meeting him even once ever since he occupied office in November last year. He angrily stated that he “doesn’t need a secretary to run the department”. The chief minister transferred the bureaucrat out. Another alleged feud took the transport department by surprise when minister Diwakar Raote complained against the transport commissioner because he was upset with many decisions that the commissioner had taken. It is believed that the bureaucrat and the minister often had different stands on a topic which led to friction. The minister made his displeasure public and complained to the CM. Trouble struck the Food and Civil Supplies Minister Girish Bapat as well when his bureaucrats did not follow rules. Bapat wanted his department secretary and revenue secretary to issue orders to suspend certain officers. He was angry with the “non-cooperation” by the IAS officers and scaled the matter up to the CM. In a cabinet meeting in May, he accused the bureaucrats of “exceeding their brief and undermining cabinet members' authority.”  Revenue minister Eknath Khadse, who wanted his secretary Manukumar Shrivastava shifted out, raised his voice against the alleged “high-handedness” by bureaucrats.