Ministers and secretaries of the Mohan Charan Majhi government are being flooded with requests from political leaders to place officers in their constituencies or post a particular person as principal of a specific college.

Chief secretary Manoj Ahuja has warned of stern action against employees trying to influence transfers and postings. Earlier, the state government was put on the back foot when there was hectic lobbying to appoint a particular person as the principal of the Bhubaneswar-based Biju Patnaik Degree College of Science and Education.

Such was the lobbying that the Bhubaneswar sub-collector, also the president of the governing body for colleges in Bhubaneswar, intervened and supported the particular candidate. Subsequently the state government transferred the Bhubaneswar sub-collector.

In a letter to all departments and district collectors, Ahuja wrote, “It has come to the notice of the government that some employees are attempting to influence their transfer and posting to different posts by exerting extraneous influence. This is a clear-cut violation of Rule 23 of the Odisha Government Servants’ Conduct Rules, 1959. Any attempt to violate the rules will be viewed seriously and attract disciplinary actions.”

Citing Rule 23 of the Odisha Government Servants’ Conduct Rules, Ahuja said, “No government servant shall bring or attempt to bring any influence, whether official or non-official to bear upon any authority to further his interests in respect of matters pertaining to his appointment under government, promotion, pay and other service conditions.”

Ahuja reminded employees that, “Transfer and posting of employees are usually taken as per the administrative exigencies, considering merit and following established procedures. Any attempt to circumvent the process will be viewed as serious misconduct and attract disciplinary action.”

However, the chief secretary’s letter has not gone down well with some BJP leaders. Senior BJP MLA and former minister Jayanarayan Mishra told The Telegraph, “A public representative like an MLA always wants a good and efficient officer to be posted in his constituency. What’s wrong with that? There is even a Supreme Court observation that states that MLAs and MPs have the right to keep good officers in their constituencies.”

Mishra said, “However, I have no idea whether MLAs and MPs are putting pressure on the government for transfer and postings. The BJD leaders are now envious as during Naveen Patnaik’s regime, the public representatives did nothing and a particular lobby did all.”