Odisha BJP bars secretaries from Cabinet meetings in bid to shed govt's BJD-era image

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi. (File/PTI)

Ahead of the first anniversary of the Odisha government led by the Bharatiya Janata Party that came to power in the state in 2024, the stage government has issued a circular barring all bureaucrats barring the Chief Secretary from attending Cabinet meetings.

The move is being seen as a bid to shed the image of the state government being run by bureaucrats, as the BJP had claimed was the case during the regime of the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janta Dal regime in the state.

In the run-up to the 2024 Assembly elections in the state, the BJP had consistently accused Patnaik's private secretary VK Pandian of wielding undue influence over ministers and MLAs in the erstwhile regime. The government's latest measure is being seen as an attempt to negate this image of the government.

As per the circular dated May 9 issued by the Parliamentary Affairs department of the state government, only the Chief Minister, Cabinet ministers, Ministers of State in charge of the department whose agenda is up for discussion, and the secretary to the Cabinet (Chief Secretary) are to sit inside the Cabinet room during Cabinet meetings.

"Secretaries of departments whose agenda are placed for discussions, may sit in a separate room specially designated for officers and may enter the Cabinet room as and when required by the Cabinet to assist the Cabinet with any issue," the circular read, according to The Indian Express.

The circular also said that secretaries will not take part in discussions during the Cabinet meeting, except when asked for their opinion. "When a case is brought before the Cabinet, the presiding authority will call upon the minister-in-charge or the minister of state-in-charge to speak on the issue placed for approval of the Cabinet. Other ministers will speak subsequently,” it adds.

Another reason behind the government's move is to battle the growing public perception over the role of ministers in the government.

"There were instances in the past when ministers expressed their ignorance about subjects of their own departments. This is because the secretaries used to prepare the Cabinet memorandums and also participated in the discussion. The presence of ministers was a mere formality. The move is to change that perception," a senior bureaucrat told The Indian Express.

The government, however, maintains that there is nothing new in the May 9 circular and that it was only the restoration of the system that needs to be followed in parliamentary democracy.

"Nothing has been newly introduced or amended. The system that needs to be followed in a parliamentary democracy has now been restored. The move will ensure qualitative discussion, and the ministers will present their cases in a more effective manner," Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari told reporters in Bhubaneswar.

Pujari further said that the system, which had been "spoiled" in the past 24 years during the BJD's tenure in power in the state, has been restored. "In a democracy, the role of everyone — ministers, MLAs and secretaries — has been defined clearly. It has now been restored," he said.