Siddu slams Centre’s move on IAS postings

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Leader of the opposition in the Karnataka assembly and former CM S Siddaramiah has opposed the proposed amendment to the country’s Civil Services Act. In a letter sent to Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, he criticised the proposal stating that it is highly politically motivated and will make the civil services particularly the Indian Administrative Service cadre puppets in the hands of the central government.

Mr Siddaramiah has asked the Chief Minister to oppose the proposed amendment with the all the power at his disposal. In a sternly worded letter, he said the state government will cease to have any control over civil servants. Mr Bommai must take the views of the opposition leaders and other constitutional experts in the state into account and convince the central government to shelve the proposal.

He warned that the if the state government loses control over the executive, the political power vested in the state government will be of no use. The amendment will also lead to a severe threat to the federal nature of Indian polity and the central and state government will confront each other even over small issues. This could lead to a situation where the governments loses sight of developmental issues, he said.

“When I said the proposal reeks of political motives, I meant to point out that the central government will be able to control the state governments particularly those ruled by different parties. This will make the central government a totalitarian power which will undermine the federal structure of Indian democracy”.