When Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje decides to take up an issue, she does it with full enthusiasm and expects the bureaucracy to follow her with full devotion. But civil servants in Rajasthan are very low profile in nature. They seldom take the lead. But there was no option before the state civil servants when the Chief Minister herself ‘appealed’ to civil servants to donate one day’s salary for the government’s programme, the Mukhyamantri Jal Swavlamban Abhiyan (MJSA).
State civil servants had to show generosity and fall in line. Director General of Police Manoj Bhatt did not miss a chance and happily agreed to donate the salaries of IPS officers of the state but the recently superannuated Chief Secretary OP Meena had second thoughts and said a decision would be taken after consultation with IAS officers. But the Chief Minister’s desire is like an order in the state. The Finance Department did not lose time and issued orders to deposit one day’s salary in MJSA fund. You may wonder why OP Meena was hesitant in announcing the one-day salary donation by state civil servants. Meena is at the fag end of his career and retired in June itself. He did not want to be seen as the sole decision maker on behalf of his fellow colleagues.
