Siddharth Mohan Nair | The News Minute | January 29, 2015 | 10.00 PM ISTFollow @SiddharthMNairMr. S. Jaishankar of the 1977 batch of the Indian Foreign Service was appointed as the Foreign Secretary of India, curtailing the term of incumbent Ms. Sujatha Singh which was to extend till August 2015.The development happened late Wednesday night and the Congress party has asked the Union government to explain why Ms. Singh’s term was abruptly brought to an end. Going beyond political responses, a question arises about the handling of senior officials and bureaucrats by the BJP-led NDA government.This government came to power with a thumping majority, bidding goodbye to coalition politics at the centre, which had, to a great extent, been a bane to governance. Though many decisions taken by this government, without having had to succumb to coalition pressures, is worth praising, there have been few instances when it has seemed to act in a hegemonic manner.The large majority in the Parliament has empowered this government to act independently but few unilateral decisions, the way it treats senior officials, for instance, has caused considerable alarm.The DRDO Chief Mr. Avinash Chander, a celebrated scientist who is credited to have been the man behind the development of the Agni ballistic missiles, was surprisingly sacked from office. He was initially given an extension of tenure when he was to retire in November last, and then sacked when 15 months tenure was remaining.The scientist with decades of service did not even comment on the development. Here again, the government says it had reasons to sack the man, but what about the manner in which it was done? The curtailment of the term of the Ms. Sujata Singh too has drawn the flak of many. But the competence and track record of the government’s new choice to the office has reduced the criticism. There is universal agreement it seems that Mr. Jaishankar is perhaps the best choice for the job, but there is also skepticism about the way in which the move was carried out.After a day of ambiguity, Minister for External Affairs Ms. Sushma Swaraj now says she was in the loop and had spoken to Ms. Singh.Though the governments are well within their rights to change people in such offices, the way in which it is done does matter. An overnight decision like this, without citing any reason, could hurt the morale of officials.The government is clearly sending a message to the officials that they should either tow the government line or be prepared to be thrown out unceremoniously, despite their contribution or years of service.The suspicion among the observers would be more given the huge majority the government has secured and also the way in which it has behaved in the past.The same government had earlier amended the telecom regulatory act to get IAS officer Mr. Nripendra Mishra, whom the PM liked, appointed as his principal secretary.More recent instance when the government adopted the ordinance route to bring important laws, thereby bypassing parliamentary debate; also brought criticism about the government’s way of functioning. In politics, perception is very important, and in this instance the government needs to introspect if it failed to succeed. TweetFollow @thenewsminute