Mantralaya staff want IAS officer transferred out of Maharashtra

The Maharashtra government on Wednesday transferred senior IAS official Bhagwan Sahai from the State Agriculture Department to the General Administration Department after Mantralaya employees had staged strong protests against him for not granting emergency leave to a subordinate officer whose son later committed suicide.

The Maharashtra State Class IV Employees Union has slammed the transfer, and demanded that the controversial Additional Chief Secretary should be shunted out of Maharashtra.

After sending Mr. Sahai on forced leave last month for refusing to grant emergency leave to his subordinate, the government in a minor reshuffle of bureaucrats on Wednesday appointed him as Additional Chief Secretary, Administrative Reforms.

On August 11, Agriculture Joint Secretary Rajesh Ghadge had twice sought permission from Mr. Sahai to leave early as his wife and son, Avadhoot, had a quarrel, and he had to sort it out urgently. Avadhoot, a Class XII student, had threatened to commit suicide, and killed himself by the time his father reached home.

The Mantralaya Employees Union had taken strong exception to Mr. Sahai’s behaviour, and staged protests demanding his suspension. The employees had also pointed out to the government how Mr. Sahai insulted officials and women employees in the past. The government then sent Mr. Sahai on forced leave, and instituted an inquiry against him.

Reacting to Wednesday’s transfer, employees union president Bhausaheb Pathan submitted a written note to the Chief Minister’s Office demanding that Mr. Sahai be transferred out of Maharashtra, and not just to another department. Mr. Pathan said, “We fear that if he is transferred to another department, he will terrorise and harass employees. He is currently on forced leave, but it would be more appropriate if he is transferred out of Maharashtra before he [takes up] the new posting,”

Mr. Pathan said if the government dilly-dallies or ignores the demand, employees would intensify the agitation outside the CM’s residence in Nagpur scheduled on September 21. The union has announced a relay hunger strike outside Mr Fadnavis’ Nagpur residence from September 21 to demand several employee demands including immediate implementation of 7 Pay Commission scales for Class IV employees.