Maharashtra Restores Transfer Powers In Agriculture Dept, Limits Ministerial Authority

The Chief Minister will now have the authority to transfer the director of agriculture, while the agriculture minister's powers will be limited to transferring joint directors and superintendent agriculture officers. This decision follows serious allegations against former Agriculture Minister Dhananjay Munde over the powers to transfer officials from lower to senior ranks.

According to a government order, issued on Thursday, the agriculture minister's powers have been reduced, restoring the position to that before Munde's tenure. When Munde was heading the department, the power to transfer department officers, irrespective of rank, was centralised under him.

Sources say current minister Manikrao Kokate was not keen on retaining sweeping powers, given the controversies surrounding Munde and criticism over his own recent remarks.
Transfer powers for other officers, including administrative staff from the general state services, deputy directors, taluk agricultural officers, and junior officials, will rest with the commissioner of agriculture.

The power to transfer Group C and Group D employees will be vested in the divisional joint director at the regional level and in district-level officers within their respective districts.

The staff strength of the state agriculture department is huge, after the revenue and home departments. The department has more than 750 officers at the tehsil level alone.

Transfers within the department have always been a controversial issue due to the large number of welfare schemes for the farming community and the distribution of agricultural equipment, seeds and fertilisers.

The move is also significant, given reports that Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, Kokate's party boss, expressed displeasure over the minister's remarks with words of caution.