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| Governor KK Paul |
ONE is IAS-turned Governor, the other IPS-turned Governor. One was appointed by the NDA, another by UPA. In fact, Governor of Arunachal Pradesh JP Rajkhowa and Governor of Uttarakhand KK Paul have faced similar situations— rebellion in ruling Congress in their respective states and encouragement by the Opposition BJP to topple governments there. BoI here looks at the backgrounds of Rajkhowa and Paul, and how both have dealt with similar situations:
Who Are They
Rajkhowa: The current Governor of Arunachal Pradesh is a retired IAS of 1968 batch. In bureaucratic ladder, he moved up to the rank of chief secretary of Assam.
Paul: The current Governor of Uttarakhand is a retired IPS officer of 1970 batch. He served as Commissioner of Police, Delhi.
Who Appointed Them
Rajkhowa: The NDA government appointed him as the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh in June 2015. He was appointed in place of Lt General (Retired) Nirbhay Sharma who in turn was transferred from the Raj Bhavan of Itanagar to that of Aizwal, the capital town of Mizoram.
Paul: The then UPA government in July 2013 appointed Paul as the Governor of Meghalaya. When the NDA government took charge, he was a survivor, as most of the UPA-appointed Governors were asked to resign. In January 2015, he was made Governor of Uttarakhand.
Dealing with Similar Situations
Rajkhowa: When a section of Congress MLAs (18 in number) rebelled against the then chief minister Nabam Tuki, the Governor had to take a call. Rajkhowa gave a report to the Centre recommending President’s Rule citing the deteriorating law and order situation including slaughter of a Mithun to intimidate him.
Paul: In the last few days, the hill state of Uttarakhand also faced an Arunachal Pradesh-like situation as nine Congress MLAs supported the BJP to form an alternative government in Dehradun. Paul gave the incumbent Harish Rawat government a 10-day-time to prove its majority in the floor of the House.
Difference in Handling Situations
Rajkhowa: Arunachal Governor was accused by the Congress for what it called openly helping the BJP to form an alternative government in Itanagar. The way swearing-in ceremony of the new chief minister Kalikho Pul was conducted late at night raised questions on impartiality of the Governor.
Paul: Uttarakhand Governor has not taken side with the BJP which clearly has the majority now with the help of the Congress rebels. It has been reported in a section of media that the BJP is unhappy with the IPS-turned Governor for giving a long rope to embattling chief minister Rawat (to prove majority till March 28).
It is a fact and on record that Dr KK Paul after retiring from post of Commissioner of Delhi Police, got his post retirement positions such as UPSC Member and later Governor of North east states through influence and power broker of his wife Omita Paul (connection to Pranab Mukherjee).
ReplyDeleteOmita Paul, now Secretary to President of India is wife of Dr. KK Paul. Omita is an ISS officer that only promoted to SAG scale but never got Joint Secretary in Union Ministry. She later resigned and was appointed as Adviser to Paranb Mukherjee in Finance Ministry on APEX/HAG+ scale.
Omita Paul has much to do with KK Paul post retirement plum postings.
Omita Paul - a retired IIS officer.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the wrong abbreviation.
DeleteOmita did not superannuate (at the age of 60 years) from IIS (Indian Information Service) but took Voluntary retirement (VRS) from IIS immediately after being promoted to SAG scale.
After her VRS, she was appointed as Adviser to Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee (to pay scale above her then serving IIS batch mates).
Only three things work in India
ReplyDelete1. Money
2. Muscle
3. INFLUENCE
Jai Ho, India.
Some bureaucrats never retire.
ReplyDeleteThey are the Field Marshals of Civil Services.
They are rewarded for their pliability to political demands and manipulative skills.
Merit, as always, takes the back seat.
A K Saxena (A retd civil servant)
http://www.aksaxena.co.in