Gadgil's 1983 batch mate DK Jain, who is junior to her in the ranking, not only superseded her, but also nudged another senior from the same batch, SK Shrivastava, behind to take charge of the office on Monday
Medha Gadgil
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Senior IAS officer and additional chief secretary Medha Gadgil should either be blaming her marriage to a Congress leader or her gender for losing out on the state chief secretary's job, said a family friend of the IAS officer. If elevated by the BJP government, Gadgil would have been Maharashtra's first-ever woman chief secretary.
Gadgil's 1983 batch mate DK Jain, who is junior to her in the ranking, not only superseded her, but also nudged another senior from the same batch, SK Shrivastava, behind to take charge of the office on Monday. Both Gadgil and Shivastava did not go to the chief secretary's office on Monday, where outgoing boss Sumit Mullick handed the charge to Jain. Gadgil is currently additional chief secretary, relief and rehabilitation, in the state revenue department while Shrivastava is additional chief secretary, home.
Clean record
A family friend of Gadgil told mid-day that one thing surely went against her — her marriage to Congress MLC Anant Gadgil, who is the son of illustrious lawmaker, the late Vitthalrao Gadgil. Secondly, they said that like the previous government, the current dispensation too did not deem her fit for the office despite her being the senior most additional chief secretary, only because she is a woman. Her family friends claim she has a clean record and her confidential reports have been excellent throughout her long career.
Present case to CM
"Gadgil wanted to present her case to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, but she was not given the time to meet him," said a family friend. The family friend said Gadgil was mulling on seeking answers from the government. "Either she would put in her papers in protest, or knock the doors of the judiciary," said a close friend. He further said Gadgil was expected to confer with senior lawyers despite the fact that appointing a chief secretary from among senior bureaucrats was the CM's statutory right.
"We're miffed because in the Supreme Court judges' elevation matter, the Centre says that seniority of the judges should be counted, but on the other hand, the state government of the same party, decides the chief secretary's post on an entirely different parameter. If we consider that the appointment is CM's prerogative, we would still like to know if the BJP government in Maharashtra has a gender bias," said another friend of the family.
Sources in the Congress said that since the Gadgil family would not like the party to take up their cause, there would be no official statement from her husband or his party colleagues. A senior bureaucrat said Gadgil, who will retire next August, was unlikely to succeed Jain whose term will end in January, 2019.
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