The Bihar Administrative Services Association (BASA) is up in arms against the state government’s decision to cancel its registration and ban all its activities.
BASA was founded in 1972-73 but was registered under the Society Registration Act, 1860, only in 2003. Currently, it has 1250-odd members.
The state’s excise and registration department on Saturday issued an order cancelling the registration of BASA and prohibiting all its activities forthwith, citing violation of norms of its registration.
The order also took serious exception to the BASA’s bid to keep a “close watch” on the administrative functioning of the state government.
Expressing shock and dismay over the registration department’s order, BASA general secretary Sunil Kumar Tiwari said they would meet chief secretary Amir Subhani and other appellate authorities before exploring legal options to challenge the decision.
In a statement issued on Monday evening, Tiwari alleged that the decision was “undemocratic” and “repressive” in nature and claimed that the assistant inspector general (registration) was not authorised to cancel the registration.
The BASA general secretary claimed that the AIG (registration) issued the orders at the behest of the department’s additional chief secretary (ACS) KK Pathak, who is also director general of Bihar Institute of Public Administration and Rural Development (Bipard).
Officials alleged that Pathak did not approve of the BASA’s previous act of lodging its protest against the rigorous training module enforced by Bipard for the state administrative officials and “insensitive” approach of the trainers towards them.
BASA office bearers had met the chief secretary to object to the Bipard’s approach towards its officials after a probationary deputy collector, Vivek Kumar, died allegedly due to rigours of training in November last year.
Tiwari, while citing the contents of the order, claimed the ACS had taken strong exception to the BASA’s bid to protect the interest of members, particularly in regard to a raid on a fertilizer storage unit in Madhubani. “The order categorically states that BASA had, as per the society’s bylaws, no powers to keep ‘close watch’ on the administrative developments. We are alert as there was an attempt to frame a subdivisional officer (SDO) in a raid in Madhubani in December last year. Later, the district magistrate’s inquiry report also supported our contention,” he claimed.
The order has held that the meeting of BASA executive committee on December 7, 2022, was in violation of its bylaws, Tiwari said.
BASA officials claimed they had replied to the show cause and reminders issued by the department within the stipulated time. The department, however, rejected the plea and cancelled the registration.
Pathak did not respond to calls for his response.
