Bengal DMs skip PM’s virtual meet amid IAS cadre rules row

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually interacted with District magistrates of various districts, but Bengal DMs skipped the meeting. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called on DMs of states to facilitate the implementation of government schemes in a time-bound manner.

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with his wife Sudesh Dhankhar pays tribute to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose on the latter’s 125th birth anniversary, in Kolkata on Sunday. ANI

The conspicuous absence of the officials stirred a controversy and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Bengal alleged that the absence of all 22 DMs from the state was because it was an instruction by the “political bosses” in the state— the BJP was hinting at the ruling faction Trinamool Congress (TMC).

“Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodiji interacted virtually with District Magistrates (DMs) of many states today, with the objective of taking direct feedback about the progress & status of implementation of various Central Govt schemes and programmes… Unfortunately, DMs of West Bengal were missing, as instructed by their political bosses. Such instance of non-cooperation is a disgrace in the arena of Cooperative Federalism and might act as major impediment to the development of WB,” said Leader of Opposition in Bengal Assembly Suvendu Adhikari.

This comes at a time West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has written to PM Modi two times this month to oppose proposed changes by the central government to the IAS cadre rules.

TMC MP Saugata Roy, when asked about Bengal DMs skipping the meet, said: “The meeting called without the chief minister and chief secretary… excluding the state government is totally unfair… Ignoring everyone, why did the Prime Minister suddenly go to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav like this? I do not support such an incident in any way. If the district magistrates were absent, I think that was correct decision.”

The Center has recently sent a message to the states asking them to amend the IAS and IPS cadre rules. The states have even been asked to immediately release officers to join deputations or assigned posts if the Center so desires. Many of the administrative observers say that if the proposed amended rules come into force, the entire amount of officer-control will practically go to the center. Therefore, the responsibility of the officers will be largely towards the center.

In this situation, the question arises, was it a message of the Prime Minister to strengthen his control over the officers by holding a virtual meeting? Especially, when the meeting of the district magistrates with the Prime Minister has not been seen at least in the recent past.