Mysore/Mysuru: Just 48 hours before RDPR Minister K.S. Eshwarappa on Thursday said that he was going to resign over allegations of commission in sanctioning of tenders and bills made by a contractor who ended his life, the RDPR Department in a sudden move, transferred 29 PDOs (Panchayat Development Officers) of Mysuru District in one go late on Tuesday night, which may turn out into a huge row in the coming days.

The order transferring 29 PDOs only to Mysuru District has been issued at a time when  Eshwarappa was in Mysuru  to take part in the two-day BJP Divisional Meet (Apr. 12 and 13), during which news broke out that Belagavi- based contractor Santosh Patil reportedly committed suicide at a Lodge in Udupi after levelling corruption charges against the RDPR Minister.

In the transfer order issued on Apr. 12 by M.M. Raju, Under-Secretary to the Government, directed the Mysuru ZP CEO to depute PDOs, who were transferred without any posting, to vacant posts within the district. Following the order, the PDOs are learnt to take charge of their new posting either on Saturday or Monday as Thursday and Friday were Government holidays.

Meanwhile, this sudden transfer has given rise to speculations of massive corruption, amounting to lakhs of rupees. However, sources say that the PDO transfers done in a hurried manner may be stayed by the Government in a couple of days, as it smacked of corruption at a time when the Bommai Government is severely targeted by the Opposition Congress on many fronts, including corruption and maladministration charges.

In the meantime, ZP CEO B.R. Poornima said that the ZP has no powers to either transfer the PDOs or depute them temporarily to other posts. The Government has directly issued the transfer order, she said adding that the ZP can only send an OMR that enables the transferred PDOs to assume charge of their posting.