Bihar CM meets top officials involved in ugly public spat, asks them to work together

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday met three senior officers of the state and exhorted them to work together in the larger interest of the state and its people, urging them to leave no room for ego clashes or personal differences, an official aware of the development said.

The chief minister met Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) chairman Atul Prassd, Additional Chief Secretary (Education) KK Pathak and Chief Secretary Amir Subhani at his residence.

The meeting is significant as it comes in the backdrop of an ugly spat between Pathak and Prasad over the way document verifications were done for teachers’ recruitment in the state, which escalated despite Subhani’s timely intervention to manage the situation.

“The CM made it clear that there was no room for ego clashes, and everyone should work together for a common cause. Such public spats send a wrong message and create embarrassment for the government. However, both the officials tried to stick to their stand,” the above-mentioned person said.

Both BPSC chairman and ACS have been questioning the action of each other, and the matter did not end as Pathak got a harsh letter written through his director to the commission’s secretary about the deployment of his department’s officials and teachers for document verification, questioning the rationale of verification prior to recommendation of successful candidates.

BPSC hit back, saying the commission is not under the department and any interference with its activities and attempts to put pressure is “unconstitutional, unwarranted and unacceptable.”

The education department instantly retorted, saying that “autonomy does not mean anarchy and the commission could not be allowed to drift from established procedures”.

“The autonomy of the commission does not give licence to start a foolish and senseless tradition, which could create a legal challenge before the government in the future. The BPSC should make it clear when in the past it had gone in for document verification without publishing the results of the written examination. It has been mentioned in the rules that there should be discussion on the different aspects of exam with the administrative department,” said the department’s letter.

The Commission, on its part, asked the department to study the Constitution and not question the commission. “If it is not clear to you, study the relevant articles of the Constitution. It should be clear that raising a question mark over the propriety of any internal process of the commission or attempts to put pressure on it is unconstitutional, unwarranted and unacceptable. It is surprising how the department, despite being aware, expects the commission to make recommendations without document verification,” the BPSC letter said.

This is the first time top bureaucrats have been involved in a letter war in public during the Nitish Kumar regime. “The message from the CM is clear and now it is for the two officials to act on it,” said a senior official.