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Subversion by State Goa's outgoing chief secretary Seva Ram Sharma had a blunt piece of advice for citizens: private interests, cowardice and uncaring governments are subverting the rule of law, and well-meaning citizens have to unite to "fight back". Sharma leaves Goa amidst controversy, after a conflict with chief minister Luizinho Faleiro, who made repeated efforts to get him transferred out of the state. Sharma's appeal is to come up before the central administrative tribunal. CM Faleiro, in an unprecedented step, recently stripped Sharma of his major portfolios, disallowed him from writing CRs (confidential reports) of his junior officers, and even asked the outgoing CS's staff not to report to him any longer. There was a great deal of mystery over what transpired between the duo. Like Goa's police chief and Governor JFR Jacob, the ex- CS too was appointed during the BJP reign. But other quarters charged that Sharma had been following charges of disproportionate assets against Faleiro, which led the latter to hit back. But the dust and controversy that marked the exit of Sharma--and also his earlier brief stint her --seems to have made him the darling of citizens' groups, environmentalists, and others. A full-hall on October 1, 1999 bade farewell to the IAS officer, offering him flowers, lauding what they termed his many pro- citizen initiatives, and breaking often into applause. BJP leader Manohar Parrikar was the only legislator present. Sharma also has turned blunt in warning about the rot creeping into the system. "People in government are so secretive," he said, adding "(even though) in Goa there's something known as the Right to Information Act." Said Sharma: "The real problem is that nothing moves with any government in any part of the country. But in 'special circumstances, things can be made to move, if not run or gallop like a horse in top speed." Speaking on administrative justice, he frankly admitted that governments across the country had come to be known for their inaction, for not sharing information with people who elect them, and for being "viciously vindictive" against those who challenged them. Using strong language, the outgoing-chief secretary warned: "Nothing is more dangerous than state tyranny". Government decision-making processes were being vitiated, he suggested, either because of the "pure interest of survival" and sometimes because of "extraneous considerations... which I don't want to go further into". But, he added, "they are there". Sprinkling his speech with Sanskrit quotations, the outgoing CS apologetically commented: "If I quote from Sanskrit please don't think that I'm a BJP man. Sanskrit is my first love and it gives me a lot of strength." His reference was in response to insinuations that he could not get on with the Congress(I) government in the state as he was seen as being pro-BJP. Sharma was posted here while the Vajpayee- led NDA government was in power in New Delhi. But other citizens felicitating him said that local politicians did not want any non-pliable officers. Argued environmentalist Claude Alvares: "There has recently been a calculated programme to remove incorruptible guys." People's Movement for Civic Action's Averthanus D'Souza explained how the outgoing CS had been very speedy in calling for an inter- departmental meet to clean up the urban mess in Panjim. Former Goan IAS officer Arvind P Bhatikar, who recently himself quit as Goa's Public Service Commission's chief after differences with local politicians, lambasted the state of affairs. "Do not use public administration to subserve private interest," he demanded. "We should use all democratic means to bring politicians, and if necessary bureaucrats too, onto the proper path, so that society does not run only on muscle and money-power," Bhatikar cautioned. He was sharply critical of the way in which the outgoing-CS had been "humiliated". Said Bhatikar: "If you don't like an officer, you can transfer him. But don't humiliate him."
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