Reporter’s diary: Transport Secretary’s transfer baffles TUs

Chandra Mohan was the second senior bureaucrat to be transferred out of Transport department in a period of four months even as the department was busy negotiating tender for major procurement of buses.

Chandra Mohan took charge as Transport Secretary only in November last year after Dr J Radhakrishnan, who was holding the post since February 2019, was shunted out. Frequent transfer of the Transport Secretary, who oversees the functioning of the debt-ridden and cash-starved corporation, has not gone down well with the trade unions. The financial condition of the corporation is so bad that workers are often on the streets demanding payment of retirement benefits including provident fund. With the Corporation depending on the government for the funds, the trade unions often hold talks with the Transport Secretary rather than the managing directors of the Corporation. Their sudden transfer means the TUs will have to take up the issues again from the scratch. As the State government was pursuing major initiative to switch over to electric buses, the transfer has raised many an eyebrow. The trade unions’ only hope is that at least Dharmendra Pratap Yadav, who succeeded Chandra Mohan as the Transport Secretary, would at given a long tenure to make some positive changes in the department.