Sushasan in Bihar!

EVERY day one reads news about corruption in Bihar. Former Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav is in jail on corruption charges. There is a severe crisis of governance within the civil services of Bihar–18 IAS and 208 Bihar Administrative Service officers (BAS) are facing departmental proceedings on charges of corruption, misuse of office and dereliction of duty. The General Administration Department (GAD) has prepared a list of 12 IAS officers who have been facing departmental proceedings from the period before March 31, 2016. The ‘Sushashan’ government of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar initiated similar proceedings against six more IAS officials between April 2016 and February 2018. Proceedings are ongoing not only against IAS officers but 145 BAS officers also from before March 31, 2016. The State government initiated similar proceedings against 63 more BAS officers between April 2016 and February 2018. The maladministration in the State seems to be at all levels: 94 employees of the Bihar Clerical Service are also facing various charges of corruption, misuse of office and deliberate negligence of duty. Approximately 320 employees are facing departmental proceedings, if the clerical staff is included. And, 18 state IAS officials have been suspended for serious charges of corruption against them. One of them, Sudhir Kumar, has been in jail since February 24 last year on the charge of leaking question papers of a recruitment examination conducted by the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC). Kumar, a 1987-batch Bihar cadre IAS official, was the BSSC chairman at that time. Three of his relatives, including his brother’s wife and a nephew, were also arrested in the case. Two other IAS officials under suspension are SM Raju (1991 batch) and Deepak Anand (2007 batch). It is learnt that Vigilance Investigation Bureau sleuths have also arrested 83 officers/employees while accepting bribe in 2017. It is to be seen, whether action against these officers and employees will have a deterrent impact.