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| There are no resignations: Saran | | External Affairs Ministry hit by the Menon effect | |
B L KAK
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 28: India's disgruntled diplomats are up in arms, spewing fire against the UPA government's move culminating in the elevation of a "junior" officer to the post of Foreign Secretary. And ever since Shiv Shankar Menon superceded 15 of diplomats of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to become India's next Foreign Secretary, the MEA seems to have been hit by the Menon effect.
Last some days witnessed unpleasant developments in Delhi's South Block: Disgruntled diplomats are breaking out across the MEA. Rajiv Sikri, batchmate of the outgoing Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran, was the first to go. Saran will step down early next week after retiring from government service. And the "junior" (Shiv Shankar Menon) is all set to occupy the hot seat in South Block, which also houses Ministry of External Affairs.
TCA Rangachary,India's ambassador to France, has also sought voluntary retirement. Veena Sikri will be quitting soon, while Shashi Tripathi has sought leave to consider her options. But the Foreign Office does not seem too perturbed about losing its best and brightest ahead of time. "There are only two colleagues who have sought voluntary retirement, there are no resignations," says the outgoing Foreign Secretary, Shyam Saran.
This roughly means that these personal decisions will have no systemic implications. However, serving and retired diplomats say that a loss of morale is the immediate casualty. Veena Sikri, envoy to Bangladesh, is to put in her papers soon. Reliable sources say that she told the Prime Minister that she felt discriminated against as a woman.
Her husband, Rajiv Sikri, is equally outraged. He believes that by overlooking serving secretaries, the MEA is sending a message that they are irrelevant and do not count. None of them have been told why they were not considered good enough for the top job, leading some to question the absence of fairness, equity, accountability and transparency at the highest level of decision making.
SK Bhatnagar, a retired envoy, has been quoted as aying: "If 15, 16 officers are being superceded, I personally won't accept the explanation that they are not competent. They must be having their own reasons but seniority and merit have to be taken into account".
But all that is cold comfort to those overlooked. They are currently exploring several options, including taking the Ministry of External Affairs to court, lodging a complaint with the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and even using the Right to Information to seek some answers.
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