Late Arun Jaitley was at his eloquent best when he said in Parliament, “The desire for a post-retirement job influences pre-retirement judgments”. This was stated by him in the context of Judicial Officers. However, it is perhaps equally relevant in the context of civil servants as well.
This was 2015. The discussion was on the issue of financial bonds by a couple of Public Sector Undertakings (PSU). Both of these entities belonging to different Ministries were under the same Minister and both the PSUs were flush with funds. I headed one of the Ministries.
In an informal chat with the Secretary of the other Ministry, both of us agreed that there was no need to float bonds. However, during the formal meeting, the other Secretary chose to remain silent whereas I immediately opposed the issue of such bonds by the PSU that was within the purview of the Ministry that I headed. Resultantly, this PSU was saved from this unnecessary financial burden.