Time to introspect

With reference to “Officers have been made scapegoat for political failure” (June 25) featuring an excellent interview with former coal secretary P C Parakh, despite some contestable formulations it brought out the need for coordinated reform in all facets of governance. It, however, left three important questions unanswered. The first is that the change in the mine allocation process must have been a written one from a minister/cabinet, unless of course the offices supinely followed a verbal order in a matter of such import. Why is it then not possible to identify the responsible politician/s, as is the citizen’s right to know?

The second is that even if there was a written policy change from ministerial sources, why did not the senior officers object to it in writing by citing cogent reasons? The third is the issue of allocating some mines to non-qualified seekers. Wasn’t it the duty of the officers to detect, for example, a claimant not having the requisite net worth? There can be no defence available if a person has failed to perform to the high standards expected from the senior-most officers.

P Datta, Kolkata

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