The Attack On a Bureaucrat in Odisha is a Blow to Sardar Patel's Vision on Civil Service

The Wire

6 hours ago

During Naveen Patnaik's tenure as Chief Minister of Odisha for 25 years, the state administration got streamlined to govern and deliver services to people. Welfare policies got implemented without delay. The best example of such implementation is the scheme called KALIA (Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation).
The scheme provided Rs. 6,000 to each eligible farmer, including agricultural labourers. It was a novel project in India which included in its scope not just the farmers but agricultural labourers as well. Thousands of beneficiaries across the state were receiving the amount and the credit for that was given to the civil servants who worked day and night to deliver the services.
A probationary IAS officer used to crack jokes that those going to Odisha were free to handle the projects assigned to them as a tall regional leader knew what to do with the civil service, including officers of the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS).
In sharp contrast to the tenure of Patnaik as the CM, Ratnakar Sahoo, an OAS officer was dragged from his office in broad daylight and kicked and punched by some local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders of Bhubaneswar. This shocking and murderous treatment of a senior officer of Odisha bureaucracy outraged the state and indeed India as whole.
A foundation laid by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel
It is well known that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel laid the foundation of the civil service in independent India. Once, when members of the Constituent Assembly/Provisional Parliament made sharp attacks on civil service, Patel famously said, "Do not quarrel with the instruments with which you want to work. It is a bad workman who quarrels with the instrument. Nobody wants to put in work when he is criticised and ridiculed in public."
BJP leaders who try to appropriate Patel must be mindful of his vision.
Liberal democracy demands public bureaucracy to negotiate between public and the elected political leaders. They are supposed to be neutral and non-partisan in its approach. It is also expected that they will protect constitutional rights of citizens and bring benefits of development to people. Civil servants are professionals. They are recruited through written examination conducted by independent entities, be it UPSC or State Public Service Commissions.
These civil servants are trained and aware of rules and regulations of the state. By following the rules, they try to implement the developmental programmes. In the end they are accountable to people for thedelivery of services to them. A bureaucrat is a person who holds to his bureau or chair in his or her official room, but if he or she gets attacked by the goondas of the political leaders controlling the state apparatus then it would strike a death blow to professional bureaucracy.
On August 23, 1949, when the Constituent Assembly was discussing Article 320 (corresponding Article 286 in the draft Constitution) dealing with the functions of the Public Service Commissions, Laxminarayan Sahu, a distinguished Member of the Assembly representing Orissa (now Odisha), said, '...we are providing for the formation of a Public Service Commission solely with a view to ensure the smooth and efficient running of our Republican Government'.
However, he cautioned by saying that, 'But when a democratic form of Government is established, many political parties dominate the field and they adopt undesirable methods for appointments in the services'. 'We are going to form the Public Service Commission' he said, 'solely with a view that political parties may not be in a position to adopt such methods' and '...no one may be able to suggest that the Services are working under the influence.'
That vision articulated by an Odia in 1949 got trampled in Odisha in 2025 when an officer of the state civil service was brutally assaulted in full public view by those belonging to the ruling party, BJP.
It is widely reported that Odisha government led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi does not allow the civil servants to attend the cabinet meetings. It is standard practice that those heading various departments are supposed to attend those meetings but tragically that practice has been dispensed with.
Trust between politicians of the BJP and civil servants is at the lowest level in the state
It seems that trust between politicians of the BJP and civil servants is at the lowest level in the state. This can harm the development of the state immeasurably. It is reflected in the behaviour of the politicians vis-à-vis the civil servants.
The question is that whether the BJP hooligans could have mustered the courage to beat an incumbent BMC Additional Commissioner belonging to IAS? It deserves a cogent answer.
J.P. Das who left the IAS after serving for a few years recalled that till Nandini Satpathy became the chief Minister of Odisha, leaders of political parties in the State used to call IAS officers of Odisha as Sirs or Madams. She tried to change that pattern of treating civil servants as superior to their political bosses.
IAS officers used to live in eight roomed quarter with dozens of servants paid by the government and ministers would live in much smaller dwelling units. Such power relationship changed but not to the desired extent. The real work in administration in Odisha is done by the OAS officers who work as subordinate officials of the IAS incumbents.
Ajit Triparthy, the former chief Secretary of Odisha once told this author that IAS officials behave like wise old owls in the state by handing over the works to OAS officers who behave like fish in a handful of water.
The tragedy inflicted on Sahoo, who belonging to OAS, is a lesson for the entire civil service cadre of the state that BJP leaders acting in partisan manner would not hesitate to unleash violence against them in case their work is not done.
Those operating the state machinery must rescue the civil service from such heinous assaults
It is heartening that the IAS and OAS Officers' Associations came together to deal with the attack on Sahoo. In addition to the existing provisions, they should demand a special law to protect them in their work places from the assault by intruders affiliated to the ruling party.
It is also a welcome sign that in wake of the stand of the OAS officers association that it would go hartal chief minister Majhi called a meeting which resulted in the compromise that the main BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan would be arrested to face legal consequences.
This is indicative of the ecosystem of fear and anxiety within which civil servants of Odisha are now working.
When the country was embroiled in partition-related violence after independence, Sardar Patel, as stated earlier, had said that no civil servant would give his/her best when mocked at in the public. It is indeed tragic that when we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Constitution, the civil service in Odisha is facing attacks and the life and limbs of civil servants are placed in grave peril.
Those operating the state machinery must rescue the civil service from such heinous assaults and salvage the state and its people.