The Axe Falleth Softly

The Axe Falleth Softly THE UNITED FRONT Government of West Bengal has not indeed taken too long to take to heart a point repeatedly made in this diary, the point being the simple one that the new political set-up could not possibly achieve any new purposes if it remained chained to its inherited bureaucratic instruments. The I C S, the I A S, the U D C and the L D C cannot overnight be done away with; but a reshuffle there was last week which some call a shake-up. As many as 11 secretaries or commissioners are now packing their bags, reluctantly ready to leave for new stations. Few seem to regret the departure of Ghosh and Ganguly, who mismanaged food and agriculture; the Home Secretary, Roy, may not be missed at all in Writers' Buildings. Not everyone will approve of every change made; but most people seem that an overhaul was overdue; far too many bureaucrats had come to consider themselves indispensable constants; the secretariat had become a stagnant pool.