Himachal Diary: Transfer fears give jitters to officials

The officials expecting/fearing transfers under the new government must be spending sleepless nights, both literally and figuratively, as the government is issuing most of these orders late in the night. Right from issuing the notification regarding the appointment of new Chief Secretary on the eve of New Year to the transfer of Shimla SP on last Saturday midnight, several important notifications regarding appointments/transfers have been issued late in the night. Thankfully, the government is not burning the midnight oil only for appointments and transfers. The Chief Minister has been holding regular meetings with the bureaucrats till late in the night over development issues as well.

Promises tough to keep

Professing one thing and practising another is nothing new in politics. Congress had promised five lakh jobs, with one lakh in the very first Cabinet, as its poll guarantee. This has been conveniently reduced to one lakh. Another guarantee of granting Rs 1,500 to each woman has also been diluted with a slew of criteria being fixed. Only a handful of women would qualify for it. Looks like the Congress is devising ways to dilute its own guarantees.

Review causes unease

The present government has started reviewing decisions of the previous government. The review has, however, made investors apprehensive as they had benefited from the efforts of the previous government to attract investment in the state. The rhetoric of the new government was, however, nothing would be given free of cost.