By Firoz.T.Totanawala
The Bangalore Metro Reporter
THE FRUITFUL REWARD!
OFFICIALS CLOSE TO CM GET KPSC MEMBERSHIP AS REWARD
DAYASHANKAR-ANOTHER PS TO CM TO KPSC MEMBERSHIP.
It seems that officials close to the Chief Minister are well placed to become the KPSC Members. Many Private Secretaries to the CM have become KPSC members in the past. And now is the turn of Dayashankar, the PS to CM. As a Member Rudre Gowda is retiring shortly, Dayashankar has staked his claim to the post, with all the chances that he gets it....
The membership of the KPSC that is Karnataka Public Service Commission is reserved for specified castes, with one each reserved for Vokkaligas, Lingayaths, Kurubas, SC, ST, Minorities and Backward classes. The former CM Yeddyurappa had increased the number from seven to ten. It has become a hard rule that the vacancy created by a particular caste should be filled from the same caste.
An interesting thing is that most of the officials getting the Membership or Chairmanship of the commission are those who have worked with Chief Ministers in their Personal Establishment. Successive CMs have made it a rule to reward these loyal officials with KPSC Membership during their fag end of power. Veerappa Moily nominated his PS, HC Neeravari to KPSC. In a way HC Neeravari is the trend setter to this phenomenon. Presently, KPSC is packed with officials who worked in the personal establishment of the CM. The chairman Gonal Bheemappa has spent his services working as Private Secretary to successive Ministers and even the CM. Ramakrishna had also worked in CM section and the list goes on.
As per the constitution, the KPSC Membership should be filled with official and non-official nominees on 50:50 basis. As on now, there are seven officials, mostly IAS, bossing over KPSC. Even here, a majority of the official members have started their career from KAS and obtained IAS in their fag end of service and before they retired, they took enough care to get KPSC Membership. The KPSC Membership is not an ordinary deal as allegedly its membership presently commands a premium of not less than Rs. 5 crores.
Whatsoever, now another official in CM’s personal establishment, Dayashankar, is certain to become the Member in the vacancy to be created Rudra Gowda, who is to retire in a few days. Dayashankar, a State Accounts Department official, from the very beginning was in the company of political masters. He worked for JH Patel during his Deputy CM and CM period. Only for some time, he was in a different post away from politics and later worked in Yeddyurappa’s both regime as Deputy CM and CM. He has continued in the present CM Sadananda Gowda’s durbar also.
It is another matter that working with political masters has its own advantages to the officials. As Dayashankar has worked for such a long time to the successive CMs, he now plans for a permanent and more rewarding office of profit assuming that the present government may collapse any time. There is no guarantee that Dayashankar will be allowed to work in the CM Section in the next government. The KPSC therefore is the best choice which will provide him many more years of service and benefits.
Interestingly, the present CM Sadananda Gowda has not touched officials from his personal section who are working since the tenure of Yedurappa as Deputy CM and later CM. He has retained the entire stock, lock and barrel. And it is alleged that Yedurappa has asked Sadananda Gowda to nominate Dayashankar to the KPSC Membership.
Dayashankar is thus allowed to take the responsibility of building the file, getting favourable reports about his candidature etc. by himself. He is therefore seen frequenting the DPAR and other departments taking care of the file. As Rudre Gowda, a non official member of KPSC is retiring; it suits Dayashankar in following the unwritten constitution in KPSC to fill up the vacancy with the same caste. Rudre Gowda, a businessman from Shimoga was a follower of Yedurappa and was made the KPSC Member by Yedurappa. Because of the age limit, Rudre Gowda has to retire in a few days and Dayashankar has chipped in to fill the vacancy.
Of course, it is hard to believe that only loyalty and service to the political masters count in nomination to the KPSC Membership. There are bound to be more reasons to it. And by the way, Dayashankar is not alone in the race, there are other IAS officials also making attempts. But as of now, Dayashankar appears to be the front runner to the post.
That is all.
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