Idea Boxes in corridors and beyond; but where is the blueprint for implementation?

Cab secy Seth and Principal secy to PM Misra

MoS in the ministry of personnel and PMO Jitendra Singh informed Rajya Sabha last week that the government's personnel department DoPT had installed ‘Idea Boxes’ to solicit ‘out of the box’ solution from government employees, as a part of its Innovation Action Plan. Also, while interacting with the union secretaries during the last two months, prime minister Narendra Modi demanded bright and innovate ideas from the babus. Further, PM on Saturday…

10 things about the revised guideline of joint secretary empanelment

Seizing Leadership Qualities

IT'S official. For empanelment as joint secretaries qualities such as general reputation, merit, competence, leadership and a flair of participating in the policy making process are taken into account. Here are 10 things about the revised guideline of joint secretary empanelment from a pool of officers belonging to All India Services and Group “A” Central services.

Patna DM betrayed me, says Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi in Assembly

Bihar CM Manjhi

Patna DM ne mujhe dhokha diya (Patna DM betrayed me). This is what none other than chief minister of Bihar Jitan Ram Manjhi said in the legislative assembly on Wednesday. That’s not all. A visibly anguished CM said it’s not the DMs alone who misled him on the state’s drought situation, but senior officers of the state too ill-advised him not to talk directly to…

A civil servant owning an aircraft, yacht or ship? New rule demands declaration

Who owns this Yacht?

ARE you an Indian civil servant owning an aircraft, yacht or ship? According to new rules of furnishing information on assets and liabilities, published in the Gazette of India on July 14, 2014, a civil servant needs to give those details too. Form-II (serial no: VII) of submission of assets and liabilities under Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 asks those details. Here are 10 things about submission of a civil servant’s assets:

Govt kick-starts process of selecting the next CVC; Read DoPT’s explanation of Leader of Opposition

CVC Kumar's term ends on Sep 28

THE government began the process of selecting the next Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) on Monday when DoPT secretary SK Sarkar wrote a formal letter to all Government of India secretaries to nominate suitable candidates  for replacing incumbent Pradeep Kumar, 1972 batch former IAS, whose tenure ends on September 28, 2014. After the Supreme Court’s 2011 judgement that the post of CVC and Vigilance Commissioners would no longer be...

PMO's JEEVan: Modi has now 2 private secretaries – Rajeev, IAS and Sanjeev, IFS

The order appointing Singla as Modi's PS

ON SATURDAY, the Centre appointed prime minister Narendra Modi’s second private secretary: Sanjeev Kumar Singla, 1997 batch IFS officer currently posted in Israel. Only last month, a Gujarat cadre IAS of 1996 batch Rajeev Topno was appointed as Modi’s PS. According to convention, PM takes with him two private secretaries, one from IAS and another a career diplomat. BoI picks out 5 things about this mid-career diplomat:

New government plans to induct more Information Commissioners; selection process here

CIC Rajiv Mathur

ARE you someone with wide knowledge and experience in any of these disciplines – law, science and technology, social service, management, journalism, mass-media, administration or governance? Then, the new government’s decision to induct a few more Information Commissioners for Central Information Commission should help you. Here is how you can go about it. You need to send your particulars to…

Know Your Babu: How Rajan S Katoch, now heavy industry secretary, gave a public face to ED

Rajan S Katoch, 1979 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS and the bureaucrat who gave a public face to the hitherto secretive agency Enforcement Directorate is now secretary of the department of heavy industry. For the next six months, he will continue to be Enforcement Director (ED) in addition to his new role as secretary. BoI here picks out a few innovative things that Katoch had experimented with as ED:

Is DFFT scheme designed to send IAS officers alone for foreign training?

Harvard University Campus

HAS Domestic Funding of Foreign Training (DFFT) Scheme, launched by the government in 2001 to send Indian officers for foreign training, turned into a scheme to fund IAS officers alone? Armed with statistics, Hyderabad-based IRS officer Satya Prasant P in his blog has termed the scheme yet another unjust thing through which the IAS tries to maintain its hegemony over other services. Sample this:

Know Your Babu: Urban development secretary Shankar Agarwal to drive govt’s dream of building 100 cities

Shankar Agarwal, 1980 batch IAS of Uttar Pradesh cadre and the bureaucrat who headed National e-Governance Plan before he was shifted to defence ministry as additional secretary, is India’s new urban development secretary. There were speculations that Agarwal, 57, would be given the post of telecom secretary, but the Modi government zeroed in…