Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has chosen to steer clear of any controversy and go strictly by the book. He is safely following the principle of seniority in appointing Ajit Kumar Seth, a 1974 batch IAS officer from the Uttar Pradesh cadre, as the next Cabinet Secretary.
The 59-year-old Seth is currently secretary, public grievances and coordination, in the cabinet secretariat, and will succeed the 1970 batch officer KM Chandrashekhar, who has occupied the country’s top-most bureaucratic post for a little over four years. Chandreshekhar’s tenure included two extensions.
These bureaucratic appointments are taking place at a time when the credibility of both the Prime Minister and his government have hit an all-time low because of the number of scams. Reuters
Seth,who would have retired by the end of next month were he not chosen, will also get a fixed tenure of two years and take over as Cabinet Secretary on June 14. Till then he will serve as an officer on special duty in the Cabinet Secretariat.
A senior IAS officer who has worked with Seth described him as an officer with impeccable credentials. “He (Seth) is a very nice person. Absolutely neutral, non-aligned and honest!”
Observers say it was his “non-aligned” background which made Seth score over his batchmate Pulok Chatterjee, currently serving as an Executive Director at the World Bank. Chatterjee who was in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the early Manmohan Singh years, was widely seen as the bridge between 10 Janpath and the PMO. He apparently lost out because of his known proximity to the Gandhi family.
According to a secretary-rank bureaucrat, the Prime Minister, having worked with Chatterjee, was also comfortable with him, and would have definitely discussed his candidature with Sonia Gandhi.
“Perhaps they would have agreed that they need a relatively low-profile, traditional and an anonymous bureaucrat for the top post in the current political climate,” he said.
Another senior officer saw the hand of the all-powerful Prime Minister’s principal secretary, TK Nair, in the elevation of Ajit Kumar Seth.
“Pulok Chatterjee would have been a rival power centre and Nair would not have relished that. Seth was already there in the Cabinet Secretariat and perhaps a much more comfortable presence.”
There are some unmistakable signals emanating from the appointment of Seth. However, these signals can only by confirmed once the Prime Minister is through with a series of high-profile bureaucratic appointments that will see new secretaries take over some of the most crucial ministries like Home, Finance, Defence and Foreign Affairs.
The government, still hurting from the Thomas fiasco, has also to fill the post of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner.
Let there be no underestimating the importance of this exercise.
It’s bigger than any possible Cabinet reshuffle the Prime Minister might attempt any time soon as these new secretaries — as the Economic Times wrote last week — together control nearly 25% of the government’s annual budget.
One also needs to remember that these appointments are taking place at a time when the credibility of both the Prime Minister and his government have hit an all-time low because of the number of scams that have surfaced regularly.
Many observers see these bureaucratic appointments as an opportunity for the Prime Minister to reinvent, redeem and repackage himself. To show that he is his own man, not given to pressure — from both within his own party and from coalition partners — and that he means business.
If he observes the same principles as have apparently been followed in the selection of the new Cabinet Secretary — where not just Seth’s seniority but his squeaky clean image and no-nonsense background have also played a role —then the Prime Minister may well succeed.
Singh though will have to back the Seth appointment with a consistent emphasis on quality to drive home the hard intention of renewal and action.
Some others are waiting for the conclusion of this round of bureaucratic appointments, before commenting on the Kerala power centre in New Delhi.
“Only when all the appointments have been made and retired babus adjusted will we know whether the stranglehold of the all powerful Kerela lobby in Delhi’s power circuit–especially in key positions around the prime minister and in the government—has loosened somewhat or not.”
A final assessment will have to wait till the end of this exercise but one hopes for more credibility and honesty than seen in former telecom secretary Sidharth Behura, who is now cooling his heels in Tihar with the former Communications Minister A Raja.
It’s time the once venerated but now denigrated steel frame — as the civil servants were referred to — behaved like one.