MUMBAI: A senior bureaucrat said that chief minister Devendra Fadnavis is keen to create a Mantralaya that is free of “dalals.”
Several state cabinet ministers on Tuesday had lodged a protest over the delay in CM Fadnavis’s approval of their staff lists. Their contention was that while they took oath on Dec 15 last year, their ministerial staff had still not been appointed. According to rules, a cabinet member is entitled to have a staff of 16 people, while a minister of state can have 14.
The bureaucrat said that while most of the cabinet members were keen that the existing staff with them should continue, this was strongly objected to by the chief minister’s office or CMO. Fadnavis brought to the notice of the agitating ministers that most members of the ministerial staff have been there for a long period and have developed a nexus with agents operating in Mantralaya. They were further told that it was in the larger interest of the govt and the minister concerned that such staff should not be inducted.
“Fadnavis has explained his position to the cabinet members in the presence of the two deputy CMs Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar. If the ministers are keen to serve in the govt and work for the cause of the people, why they are insisting on particular persons? They must work with officials provided by the govt, particularly the CM,” the bureaucrat said.
He added, “It is a very difficult task, but Fadnavis is trying his best to create an agent-free Mantralaya. It was found that while cabinet members changed frequently, agents were virtually ruling over certain departments owing to their nexus with ministerial staff. Most of the staff members have been camping in Mantralaya for years, and on occasions, they had become more powerful than the cabinet members. Fadnavis has decided to break the chain.”
Another senior bureaucrat felt that irrespective of the party in power, same agents were controlling key departments in Mantralaya with the help of ministerial staff. “Fadnavis is the first CM who has applied his mind in this regard,” the bureaucrat said.
The official felt that the face recognition system introduced recently by chief minister Fadnavis for Mantralaya will go a long way in checking agents.
“Ministers change, bureaucrats are shifted at regular intervals, but the agents remain the same,” the official said.