State going in for admin surgery as several collectors set to be shuffled

Bhopal: While the proposed reshuffle in the cabinet continues to hang fire, a major churn is afoot in the state's bureaucratic circles. In what is being dubbed as a major administrative ‘surgery', several IAS officers posted as district collectors are likely to be transferred in the coming days.According to top govt sources, district collectors, who have served in a single district for three years, are likely to be shuffled in the upcoming round of transfers. The last bureaucratic reshuffle in the state took place as recently as February 14, when 11 IAS officers were transferred. However, the changes then were largely at the secretariat level.Insiders privy to the reshuffle said as many as eight district collectors are likely to be shifted as part of the administrative ‘surgery', while a few bureaucratic changes could also be made at the secretariat level.Further, according to top govt sources, the upcoming reshuffle at the district level had been on hold for quite some time. It is understood that the reshuffle was held up due to the statewide enumeration of voter rolls under SIR, as any bureaucratic transfer then would have required the nod of the state election commissioner. Thereafter, the churn got further delayed due to the state's preoccupations with the budget session of the assembly.According to sources, the chief minister and chief secretary have already held an initial round of discussion over the list of the IAS officers to be transferred. The performance of district collectors, especially the implementation of govt programmes and initiatives and the time taken in doing so, would be the key to deciding if they survive the administrative ‘surgery' or be entrusted with a bigger role, sources said.Top sources said the transfer list was expected anytime and several district collectors would be shuffled. Based on an assessment of their performance on this score, they could be entrusted with a new and bigger district or brought back to the state secretariat. Equation with administrative heads, coordination with public representatives and performance in implementing govt schemes feature among key criterions to assess district collectors by, sources said.