CM directs WBCS officers to ignore Centre’s instructions

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, on Monday, instructed all the cadres under West Bengal Civil Services (WBCS) Executive not to carry out the orders sent to them directly by the Centre.

“Ignore the instructions that are being sent to the executive officers from Delhi. You are the state government cadres and you will implement the orders that are being sent to you by your respective departments,” Chief Minister urged the WBCS Executive officers at their Annual General Meeting (AGM) at Khudiram Anushilan Kendra on Monday.

Without naming the Modi government, Banerjee said that some people are trying to change the working environment in the state. Incidentally, it may be mentioned that the Chief Minister has been openly against the Center’s various recent moves starting from the demonetization of high value currency notes to the deployment of army personnel in various places of Bengal without the prior permission of the state government. Banerjee, time and gain, protested against the Center’s tendency to demolish the federal structure of the state by various means.

Speaking on the occasion of the AGM of the WBCS Executive, Chief Minister said that 25 per cent of the revenue collection has stopped due to the sudden banning of high value currency notes. Calling the WBCS Executive as the “face of the government”, Banerjee asked them to perform in such a way so that the poor people can avail the benefits of various development works carried out by the departments. She also reminded the officers that since they perform on the ground level, it is their responsibility to work with better co-ordination so that various services could be delivered to people in a better way.

She also pointed out that the present state government has introduced the training programmes for the Executives in Oxford, Singapore and other places for enhancing their skills. WBCS Executives are getting training at par with that of the IAS, Banerjee said. It may be mentioned here that the government had introduced new facilities for the employees under which they would be entitled to go abroad on tour once in 10 years with their family members.

Banerjee said that a 3-member committee has been formed to look into the issues related to the housing complexes that the state government had proposed to set up at Rajarahat. Regarding the special allowances, she said, “WBCS officers are getting special allowances of Rs 950-1200 while the IAS officers get Rs 1,300 under the same head. The period of service for the promotion to the special secretary from joint secretary has been reduced to 2-3 years. Our government has increased the post of joint secretary by 50. Additional increments have been given to the officers belong to various pay scale.”