Thiruvananthapuram: The cold war between transport minister A.K. Saseendran and transport commissioner Tomin J. Thachankary has come out in the open with the minister freezing a mass transfer order issued by the commissioner.
The minister has put on hold the transfer of around 300 motor vehicle inspectors, assistant motor vehicle inspectors and clerks who have been working in the same office for more than three years. Thachankary, however, refused to climb down, saying the order was in accordance with all the norms.
The department had sent the transfer list to the minister’s approval after a process that was started in January. The minister’s private secretary wrote back on July 15, saying that the order must be frozen and any order must wait for the minister’s directive.
The minister has received a lot of complaints regarding the transfers, the secretary’s letter read. Employees cannot be asked to shift bases in the middle of an academic year, it added.
Thachankary, in his reply, said the order abides by all guidelines. The process was set in motion in January, based on the principle that anyone working for more than three years in the same office has to be transferred.
The draft list was prepared after considering the suggestions from the employees. Staff were given an option to select the destinations of their choice, the commissioner said. They were also given a week’s time to raise any objections.
The order, however, could not be implemented before the schools opened because the elections were declared and the model code of conduct came into force. Many other departments had faced the same issue but they had implemented the transfers after that. Complaints were raised only in the transport department because of interference from vested interests.
The Transport Commissioner has made it clear that the department had no other option but to transfer the selected officials, some of who have been working in the same office for about 15 years.
Thachankary rubbed the minister the wrong way when he issued a controversial order barring petrol sales to riders without helmets from August. Saseendran brushed aside the order and said the government could not allow anti-people policies.
He took a similar stand when the transport commissioner wanted to do away with the blue flags on IAS officers’ vehicles.