Railways’ Sari cadre inspires Sarkari brigade; 9.6% of government employees are women

WITH women officers beginning to dominate the Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS), those in the sister railway services have coined a new informal name to the cadre – Sari, which incidentally is the reverse of the abbreviation – IRAS. For those not so familiar with Indian culture, Sari is an elegant dress worn by Indian women (see picture), and is made popular abroad by Bollywood actresses. It’s learnt that most women now prefer to join this service, and at times weigh it above Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS), Indian Railway Personnel Services (IRPS) etc. In fact, the leadership position of the IRAS has also been with women officers. Sowmya Raghavan, financial commission of Indian Railways at the rank of secretary to the government of India, is currently the top IRAS officer. Though officers of other cadres might call it “Sari”, but the first IRAS officer recruited in 1930 happened to be a man -- C T Venugopal. Also, the first IRAS financial commissioner (K S Bhandari in 1939) and the first IRAS officer becoming secretary to government of India (Y T Shah in 1944) were both men. The first lady IRAS officer was Priya Prakash of 1957 batch, and the first woman IRAS to become financial commissioner in Indian Railways was Vijayalakshmi Viswanathan. Significantly, the government has repeatedly said now that it would encourage more women to join it. According to a census, 9.68% of Central government employees were women in 2004. The census was conducted by the directorate general of employment & training under the ministry of labour and employment.

Pati, Patni & … stands correct The appointments committee of the cabinet (ACC) has approved the proposal to appoint Anjali Prasad, a 1983 batch IAS of Uttarakhand cadre as joint secretary, in the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP), in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000, (PB-4) plus grade pay of Rs 10000, for a period of five years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders. On July 16, babu blogger in his post “Yet another Pati, Patni & Post tale: Anjali Prasad to replace her husband as DIPP joint secretary”, wrote that Mrs Prasad would get the post which has been lying vacant after her husband N N Prasad, a 1981 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS joined Geneva-based world intellectual property organization (WIPO) a couple of months ago. Action & Appointments a) The proposal of the ministry of home affairs for extension of inter-cadre deputation of Chitrangad, IPS (UP, 1996) from Uttarakhand to Uttar Pradesh for a period of two years beyond August 25, 2008 has been approved. b) Akshay Kumar Rout, an IIS officer of 1984 batch has been appointed as director general (information education & communication) in Election Commission of India at a joint secretary level for five years.

200 officers face music under RTI so far; Penalty imposed by CIC

THE Central Information Commission (CIC) has found a number of officers guilty and imposed penalty in more than 200 RTI (Right to Information Act) cases, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions Prithviraj Chavan said in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Though details of the officers are not mentioned in the brief written reply to a question, most cases are related to delay in furnishing information. The Commission received 18,803 complaints and appeals during the period 2005-06 to 2007-08. According to information provided by the CIC, the number of applications received by various public authorities during the years 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 were 24436, 171404 and 263261 respectively. Information in respect of the 2008-09 and current year are not available, it was informed in Parliament. During 2006-07, a total of 100411 applications were disposed of, but information about the disposal of applications for the other years and about the nature of applications received are not maintained centrally.

Action & Appointments a) The tenure of Shekhar Dutt, a 1969 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS (Retired), and deputy national security adviser in the national security council secretariat has been extended for a period of six months with effect from August 1, 2009. This will be treated as ‘re-employment on contract basis’. b) The appointment of Amber Sen, (RAS:70) (Retd), strategic intelligence adviser in the Cabinet Secretariat has been extended for a period of three months with effect from August 1, 2009. This will also be treated as ‘re-employment on contract basis’. c) The premature repatriation of Dilip Biswas, IDAS (1977), presently working as additional financial advisor in the ministry of defence (finance) to his parent cadre has been approved with immediate effect in order to enable him to avail the benefit of promotion to the next higher grade in the cadre. BoI announcement: List of Babuz soon babu blogger likes to extend sincere thanks to all those visitors including senior civil servants for giving valuable insights into who could possibly be India’s top Babuz --- the new term coined to depict the smartest and most powerful bureaucrats in the country. If you have any name in mind kindly mail me at babu.blogger1@gmail.com

WATERLOO: Civil servants may show their talent in a Water Polo event in Delhi

CALL it a freedom from boredom. Come August 29 and 30, civil servants in India may have some fun in water. The Central Civil Services Cultural & Sports Board is organizing an inter-ministerial aquatic meet in Delhi under which Water Polo competitions would take place provided there is enough number of government employees ready to participate the event. In addition to Water Polo matches, the government has planned to organize swimming events including free style, back stroke, breast stroke and butterfly both for male and female sarkari employees. The events are scheduled to be held at Pacific Sports Complex near LSR college in the national capital. However, the events may not take place at all if there are a less number of participants, a government circular said. The government employees from various ministries would have to register in a prescribed proforma with an entry fee of Rs 10 per head per event and Rs 50 for Water Polo and team events. The details can be obtained over phone from the office of Central Civil Services Cultural & Sports Board at 011-24624204. Many in the government feel that the proposed aquatic event in Delhi, which hosts Commonwealth Games next year, would encourage government babus to think beyond cricket.

Action & Appointments a) Sudha Pillai, a 1972 batch Kerla cadre IAS, and presently secretary in the ministry of labour and employment has been appointed as secretary of the Planning Commission in place of S C Pani, a 1972 batch Orissa cadre IAS who has retired. P C Chaturvedi, a 1975 batch UP cadre IAS and currently Director General, ESIC would be new labour secretary. Ms Pillai was a strong contender for the cabinet secretary’s post. Read "Pati, Patni and Post: It's Sudha Pillai vs. G K Pillai for next cabinet secretary" dated May 11, 2009. b) Rakesh Kumar Gupta, a J&K cadre IAS has been appointed to the newly created post of additional secretary (joint secretary level) in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000 (PB-4) plus grade pay of Rs 10000, for the balance period of his Central deputation tenure of five years upto February 15, 2011 or until further orders.

Officials must travel by Air India to claim LTC, clarifies DoPT

IF YOU are a government babu planning your tour with your family by availing Leave Travel Concession (LTC) scheme, forget in-flight enjoyment of Jet Airways or Kingfisher Airlines this time. The government has clarified that its earlier order issued on July 13, 2009, that officials had to take Air India both for their domestic and international tours, would be applicable for LTC as well, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) said. The matter whether the earlier order of air travel only by Air India was referred to the department of expenditure under the ministry of finance, it was decided after a wide consultation that Air India, which lost whopping Rs 5,000 cr last financial year, should get the traffic of government employees availing the LTC. The earlier order said that if travel destinations are not connected by Air India, the officials may travel by Air India to the closest point beyond which they may utilize the services of another airline which again should preferably be an alliance partner of Air India. In fact, a restructuring plan of Air India needs an urgent infusion of Rs 20,000 crore to tide over its worst ever financial crisis. The annual wage bill of the national carrier is about Rs 3,100 cr.

BoI announcement on 'Spotting The Babuz'

Call them the Babuz. The word is coined to describe the most powerful within the power corridors. Babu Blogger is soon coming out with a list of Babuz, or the most powerful bureaucrats in the country based on feedback from a number of people in power centres including civil servants and politicians. If you have any name in mind and reasons for his nomination, kindly mail it to babu.blogger1@gmail.com Your identity would not be revealed.

Beating The inflation: A PSU babu of 2009 is better off than his counterpart of 1971

AN average employee of a public sector undertaking today is better off than his counterpart nearly four decades ago if a comparison is drawn between rise of emoluments vis-à-vis an increase of consumer price index, which factors in inflation. Though many of the PSUs have sound internal resources to afford even a better pay to its employees than what they have been offering now, the current crisis in Air India has forced analysts to revisit the recently presented Economic Survey, 2008-09, which compares the increase in the per capita emoluments of public sector employees in India with the increase in the consumer price index (CPI) over the years. The per capita income of public sector employees from 1971-72 to 2007-08 rose by 58 times whereas the rise of CPI was mere 30 times, an analysis in a recent media report showed. That means an Air India employee, for example, should have earned substantially lower if rise in CPI had been a major criteria to increase salary. Yet, the establishment cost of the government as a whole is not alarmingly high as yet. The provision for pay and allowances of the government employees for 2009-10 is Rs 85,078 cr, which is just 8.5% of the government’s proposed expenditure of Rs 10 lakh crore during the fiscal, the report further said. A woman civil servant to get 180 days of child adoption leave The government has decided to increase the Child Adoption Leave from 135 days to 180 days in line with the maternity leave which was already increased to 180 days according to the recommendation of the 6th Pay Commission. According to an office memo, issued by department of personnel and training (DoPT), a female government servant in whose case the period of 135 days of Child Adoption Leave has not expired on the date of issue of these orders shall also be eligible for Child Adoption Leave of 180 days. It was further decided that a male government servant including an apprentice may be sanctioned Paternity Leave for a period of 15 days within a period of six months from the date of valid adoption.

DoPT reminds government officers and staff of guidelines on “sexual harassment”

THE government has reminded officials and other staff of existing guidelines regarding prevention of sexual harassment of working women and said in a recent office memo that it is necessary to have in place at all times an effective Complaint Mechanism for dealing with cases of sexual harassment of working women and to create awareness in this regard. Rule 3 C of the CGS (Conduct) Rules, 1964 provides that no government servant shall indulge in any act of sexual harassment of any women at her work place, the office memo issued by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) said. There is no available data of such incidents taking place in power corridors, or whether cases of sexual harassment in government offices have actually risen in the recent past. But the timing of the Memo is significant as defence minister A K Antony said in Parliament just three days ago that sexual harassment cases of women officers in armed forces would be viewed seriously and investigated. (Read babu blogger’s post on July 23) In fact, the DoPT mentioned what constitutes “sexual harassment”. According to the Memo, “Sexual harassment” includes such unwelcome sexually determined behaviour, whether directly or otherwise, as -- a) Physical contacts and advances; b) Demand or request for sexual favours c) Sexually coloured remarks d) Showing any pornography, or (e) Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature The Memo has also included the salient features of the compliant mechanism and the inquiry procedure. It also said that the complaints committee should be headed by a woman and not less than half of its members should be women. Further to prevent the possibility of any undue pressure or influence from senior levels, such complaints committee should involve a third party, either NGO or other body who is familiar with the issue of sexual harassment. The Memo has further said that the Complaints Committee in terms of Cabinet Secretariat’s Order No 1 dated September 26, 2008 will inquire into complaints made against officers of the level of secretary and additional secretary and equivalent level in the government of India in the ministries/departments and organisations directly under the control of the Central government, but other than the Central PSUs.

Will Nilekani make Ram Sewak Sharma a secretary at the rank of additional secretary?

WILL 1978 batch IAS officer from Jharkhand and former IITian Ram Sewak Sharma don a formal designation of the CEO of Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) which would create a database of identity details of every Indian citizen? Whereas department of personnel and training (DoPT) in its recent appointment notice said that Mr Sharma had been appointed as Director General & Mission Director of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI), in the rank and pay of additional secretary, Mr Nilekani while taking charge as the chairman of the Authority (See picture above) on Thursday said Mr Sharma would join as “secretary and CEO” of the organization. Friends of babu blogger said that the corporate honcho, who was the co-chairman of Indian IT company Infosys Technologies, might have got confused with the sarkari ranks and dubbed a 1978 batch IAS a “secretary” whereas officers two years senior to him were yet to get the rank of a secretary. Though that could be a technical mistake of mixing up the posts of “secretary” and “additional secretary”, but it remains to be seen whether Mr Sharma is actually given a corporate title, “CEO” in the rank and pay of an additional secretary rather than continuing with the sarkari title, Director General or Mission Director as per DoPT’s earlier release. CVC prosecutes against 10 officers; 6 from I-T department The Central Vigilance Commission launched prosecution against 10 officers including six from Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), two from Department of Telecommunications and one each from Central Board of excise and Customs (CBEC) and ministry of home affairs (MHA). The commission disposed of 485 cases during June 2009 and advised initiations of major penalty proceedings against 134 officers. Of these, 46 were from public sector banks, 25 from MCD, 13 from ministry of railways, 7 from Khadi & Village Industries Commission etc. Action & Appointments a) Lok Ranjan, a 1989 batch IAS from Manipur Tripura cadre, presently working as director in the department of revenue has been appointed as joint secretary in the same department, in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000/- (PB-4) plus grade pay of Rs 10000. b) The proposal of the ministry of home affairs for inter-cadre transfer of Bharat Rahul Manhardan, IPS (AP, 2007) from Andhra Pradesh to Rajasthan on the ground of his marriage to Ms Mamta Bishnoi, IPS (RJ, 2007) has been approved. c) The proposal for inter cadre transfer of Nitish Kumar Jha, IAS (Manipur-Tripura, 2002) and Ms Radhika Jha, IAS (Sikkim, 2002) from their respective parent cadres to Uttarakhand cadre has been approved. d) Vijay Anand, IRS (C&CE, 1980) has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of space, in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000/- (PB-4) plus grade pay of Rs 10000, for a period of five years or until further orders.

Sexual harassment cases of women officers in armed forces are viewed seriously and investigated, says Antony

AN officer in the rank of a Major General has been sentenced to be dismissed from service after trial by a General Court Martial on the charges of sexual harassment of a woman officer. This is one of the 11 cases relating to allegations of sexual harassment in the armed forces during the last five years. However, the exact sentence has not been confirmed due to the directions of the High Court of Rajasthan. Defence minister A K Antony said in a written reply in Parliament that any complaint of sexual harassment of women officers is viewed seriously and is investigated and dealt with in accordance with relevant provisions of respective Services Acts. For the other cases as well, necessary investigations or Court of Inquiry or General Court Martial (GCM) have been instituted.

From steel pen to pen drive: thoughts of a bureaucrat T C James, who had recently retired as a DIPP director under the ministry of commerce and industry after four decades of the Central secretariat services, sent babu blogger a message. Here are some excerpts: “I started my career in the secretariat when steel pens were the rule and departing when a PC adorns the table of every officer, who now carries his correspondence in a pen drive. This is material progress, indeed and some thing on which India has kept pace with the advanced world. One can be proud of it.” Mr James, who was with the government for 13,578 days, according to a calculation of his friend, further wrote, “We inherited a system designed by an external imperial power who never trusted the subjects. The whole administrative apparatus and financial management systems were built on the foundation of ‘trust not the Indians to do the right thing.” We further added to this, more hierarchical steps which every paper and proposal have to climb up and down myriad times to reach a decision which, in more cases than less, would be a decision to defer the decision by referring the matter to a committee or a meeting. It is time we think of alternatives to this process.”

Action & Appointments a) P K Pradhan, a 1977 batch IAS of West Bengal cadre has been appointed as additional secretary in the department of health and family welfare in the vacancy of G C Chaturvedi, a 1977 batch UP cadre IAS who joined financial services division of the Finmin sometime ago. b) Rakesh Singh, a 1978 batch IAS has been appointed as additional secretary in the department of Information Technology under the ministry of communications and Information Technology. c) Anil Bhushan Prasad, a 1976 batch IAS of Bihar cadre has been appointed as additional secretary in the National Disaster Management Authority under the ministry of home affairs in the vacancy of Harishankar Brahma, a 1975 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS, who had recently moved to power ministry as the secretary. d) Jitendra Shankar Mathur, a 1982 batch IAS of Madhya Pradesh cadre has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of drinking water supply, in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000/- (PB-4) plus grade pay of Rs 10000, for a period of five years or until further orders.

Government encourages IAS officers to take up writing seriously; medals and citations to count from now

IN WHAT could be interpreted as a direct incentive for an IAS officer to write a book or publish an article, the government has decided to document those along with citations and awards that an official has received, in Executive Record Sheets, or ER sheet --- the only publicly available document to track an officer’s career. The move may make many IAS officers virtual journalists or writers rather than remaining on the background as “sources close to a development” which is commonly used by newspaper journalists. Maintained in digital formats by the career management section of the establishment officer’s division, the ER sheets in their present avatar contain the personal details of the officers including only educational qualifications, experiences, postings and trainings. The department of personnel training (DoPT) has now asked the IAS officers to submit details of the citations or awards that they have received, or the articles and books that were published so far, in a prescribed format and send those through the official channel. The necessary permission for accepting the awards or citations needs to be duly accorded, a DoPT circular date July 20, 2009 said. Yes, pen could be mightier than your official files! UPSC declares IES, ISS results; Abinash Dash & Ambika Anand top the lists Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has selected 15 candidates for Indian Economic Service (IES) and 10 candidates for the Indian Statistical Service (ISS) after announcing the results of the Indian Economic Service/Indian Statistical Service Examinations 2008. Whereas Abinash Dash has topped the IES examination, Ambika Anand is the topper among successful candidates of the Indian Statistical Service examinations. Babus In Demand Applications are invited for the post of development commissioner, Special Economic Zones (SEZ), Dahej to be located at Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The post is at the level of a joint secretary, and the selected candidate would get a salary in the pay band of Rs 37,400—67,000 (PB-4) with a grade pay of Rs 10,000.

Know Your Babu: Disinvestment secretary Sunil Mitra

SUNIL Mitra, a 1975 batch West Bengal cadre IAS, has been appointed as secretary, department of disinvestment under the ministry of finance. Finance secretary Ashok Chawla has been overseeing the department directly after disinvestment secretary Rahul Khullar, also a 1975 batch IAS, was made commerce secretary.

Name: Sunil Mitra Cadre: IAS, West Bengal Batch: 1975 Date of Birth: June 24, 1951 Place of domicile: Delhi Mother Tongue: Bengali Educational Qualifications Graduate in chemistry, physics and mathematics. Key Postings a) Deputy secretary in the ministry of defence (From September 1, 1986 to June 1, 1989) b) Director, in the ministry of defence, (From July 1, 1989 to July 1, 1991) c) Principal secretary (JS Level) Industries d) Additional Chief Secretary, West Bengal (Secerary Level ) in Power Department (From May 1, 2008 till now) Foreign Training Nil

Bengal officers look for greener pastures outside Left bastion

THE sixth Pay Commission and the current economic uncertainty might have stopped civil servants including senior IAS officers abandoning power corridors and joining the private sector, but the flee of officers particularly from the Left bastion of West Bengal has still been continuing. The difference, however, is that they don’t want to leave the government altogether, but want greener pasture somewhere outside the state. The latest case, as has been reported in a section of media, is the 1988 batch IAS and secretary of animal resources M V Rao, who has joined as the deputy director, National Institute of Rural Development, Hyderabad. Andhra Pradesh happens to be Mr Rao’s home state. He had earlier served as managing director of West Bengal Industrial Development Council (WBIDC). According to media reports, P R Baviskar too had requested the government to send him on deputation to his home state, Maharashtra. In fact, political upheavals at Singur and Nandigram and the subsequent events there made many IAS officers looking for opportunities outside the state. According to reports, industries secretary Sabyasachi Sen and municipal affairs secretary P K Pradhan have also expressed their desire to get out of the state. In fact, personal secretaries to Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, minister of state for shipping Mukul Roy and minister of state for health Dinesh Trivedi are all IAS officers of West Bengal cadre. Families of armed forces sensitized on menace of spying Regular awareness programmes are being conducted to sensitize members of Armed Forces and their families regarding the threat perception and modus operandi being adopted by the adversaries, as a number of spying cases carried out by Pakistan-based intelligence agencies were detected. During 2006 to 2009 (till now), eight such cases were registered and seven serving personnel were arrested. And nine serving personnel of the defence forces were either convicted or dismissed, defence minister A K Antony said in Lok Sabha on Monday.

Govt should create RTI implementation cells: Study

THE government should create RTI (Right To Information) implementation cells headed by senior bureaucrats at the Centre and the states to monitor the status on various issues related to RTI based on inputs from state information commissions or Central information commission and the public authorities, a report by an international consultancy firm said. The report, prepared by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) exclusively for department of personnel and training (DoPT), is based on feedback of over 2000 information seekers and over 200 information providers across public authority (PA) at Centre, state, and local levels in five states, in addition feedback of 5000 citizens with respect to their awareness of the RTI Act. The report further said that there was a need for capacity-building within the public authority and the administrative head may constitute or appoint public authority’s RTI Cell, or PARTI Cell, to proactively address issues pertaining to RTI implementation and develop a roadmap for implementation. For the starters, the Right to Information Act came into force on 12 October 2005 which empowers Indian citizens to seek information from a public authority, thus making the government and its functionaries more accountable and responsible.

Know Your Babu: Arun Mishra, Representative of India, Council of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO)

ARUN Mishra, a 1986 batch West Bengal cadre IAS and currently joint secretary in the ministry of civil aviation has been appointed as Representative of India on the Council of International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Montreal, Canada, at the level of joint secretary for three years. Fact-file Name: Arun Mishra Cadre: West Bengal cadre IAS Batch: 1986 Educational Qualifications a) Masters degree in Chemistry b) MBA, Birmingham (UK) Main Postings a) Director, Cabinet Secretariat, Personnel & General Administration (November 1, 2004 to March 9, 2007) b) Joint Secretary in the ministry of civil aviation from March 9, 2007 till now Foreign Training MBA in public service (one year, 2002) in UK

Govt liaison officers to gather at Cochin on August 24 to participate in a training programme on reservation policy

LIAISON officers of various government departments and ministries would get together at hotel Taj Malabar in Cochin from August 24 to 26 to participate in a residential training on reservation policy of the government with regards to ST, SC and OBCs. The department of personnel & training (DoPT) has issued a letter to government ministries and departments to “take advantage” of the training programme by nominating their liaison officers for the training to be imparted by the Institute of Public Administration, Bangalore. It’s felt that even after 12 years of the government introducing the post-based rosters, liaison officers of the government departments have not understood what should be done with regards to reservation policy. In fact, the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, in the case of R K Sabharwal Vs State of Punjab, and also in J Mullick Vs ministry of railways had held that the reservation of jobs for the backward classes should apply to posts and not to vacancies. Various government departments and ministries are now requested to send their nominees along with the non-refundable fee of Rs 17,648 per participant. The participants who desire to stay in an independent room and wish to bring their spouse, would be required to pay all inclusive an additional amount of Rs 8,000/- at the time of checking-in at the hotel towards the boarding and lodging of the spouse, a letter from IPA, Bangalore said. Action & Appointments 1) Arun Mishra, a 1986 batch West Bengal cadre IAS and currently joint secretary in the ministry of civil aviation has been appointed as Representative of India on the Council of International Civil Aviation Organisation, Montreal, Canada, at the level of joint secretary, in the Pay Band of Rs 37400-67000/- (PB-4) plus grade pay of Rs 10000/-, for a period of three years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders. 2) S Kishore, a 1989 batch West Bengal cadre IAS has been appointed as Development Commissioner (joint secretary level), in Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (APIC) at Achutapuram, Vishakhapatnam under the department of commerce. 3) Rajiv Aggarwal, a 1975 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS and presently the Managing Director in National Cooperative Development Corporation under the department of agriculture and cooperation has been appointed as secretary in the department of consumer affairs. 4) Ms Leela K Ponappa’s tenure as Deputy National Security Adviser and secretary, National Security Council Secretariat has been extended on contract basis for three months with effect from July 16, 2009.

Know Your Babu: A 1978 batch IAS to be Mission Director of Nilekani’s unique ID venture

NANDAN Nilekani’s UID project will now have a dedicated project director. Ram Sewak Sharma, a 1978 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS, has been brought in from the state to appoint as Director General & Mission Director of Unique Identification Authority of India, in the rank and pay of additional secretary. A post graduate in mathematics, Mr Sharma hails from Uttar Pradesh and is now serving as principal secretary in state science and technology department. Major Postings Director, Finance & Company Affairs in department of economic affairs (DEA) under finance minister, New Delhi (From May 1, 1995 to November 17, 1998) Joint secretary in ministry of Finance & Company Affairs (From November 17, 1998 To August 4, 2000) Member Secretary (JS Level) in Personnel & General Administration (From October 26, 2002 to December 31, 2002) Managing Director (additional secretary level) State Electricity Board, Jharkhand (From March 30, 2006 to October 30, 2006) Principal Secretary (additional secretary level) at Info Tech Department, Jharkhand (From May 3, 2007 to September 16, 2008) Principal Secretary (Additional Secretary Level) in Science & Technology Department, Ranchi (From September 19, 2008 till now) Action & Appointments Joint secretary in the National Authority for Chemicals Weapons Convention Ms Ajanta Dayalan, IA&AS (1978 batch) has been appointed by lateral shift as the joint secretary in cabinet secretariat (main) in place of Dr A R Sihag, a 1983 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS. National Authority for Chemicals Weapons Convention also comes under the cabinet secretariat.

Yet another Pati, Patni & Post tale: Anjali Prasad to replace her husband as DIPP joint secretary

IN YET another tale of Pati, Patni and Post, a 1983 batch Uttaranchal cadre IAS Anjali Prasad may join the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) under the ministry of commerce and industry as a joint secretary, the post which is lying vacant after her husband N N Prasad, a 1981 batch Uttaranchal cadre IAS got a foreign posting couple of months ago. This is, however, a case where the wife incidentally receives the same post held by her husband earlier, unlike BoI’s earlier tale of “Pati, Patni and Post” in which then commerce secretary and present home secretary G K Pillai was competing with his wife labour secretary Sudha Pillai to clinch the cabinet secretary’s post. But neither of those 1972 batch Kerala cadre IAS succeeded as the current incumbent K M Chandrasekhar got one year’s extension. Significantly, Ms Prasad, a product of Delhi School of Economics, who held various responsibilities at the state level in the field of industry, commerce and finance, also had diplomas on WTO dispute settlement and WIPO diploma in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). Her husband Mr Prasad, who as a joint secretary in DIPP played a key role in sensitizing the IPR issues, joined as the Chef De Cabinet to the Director General of WIPO, Dr Francis Gurry in Geneva two months ago. The WIPO is the world intellectual property organization and one of the 16 specialised agencies under the United Nations. Ms Prasad is the daughter of former IAS, A N Verma who served as the principal secretary to Prime Minister during Narasimha Rao’s time.

Know Your Babu: New defence secretary Pradeep Kumar

THE wait is finally over. Pradeep Kumar, a 1972 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre and presently secretary, department of defence production under the ministry of defence will be India’s next defence secretary. He would take over from Vijay Singh, a 1970 batch MP cadre IAS who is due to superannuate on July 31, 2009. Mr Kumar will have a tenure of two years from the date of taking over the charge of the post. babu blogger in a post dated June 20, 2009, said that Mr Kumar is “believed to be the front-runner for the post thanks to his experiences in defence department for sometime now.”

Know Your Babu Name : Pradeep Kumar, Cadre: Haryana cadre IAS Batch: 1972 Educational Qualifications Masters in Economics Major Postings a) Joint Secretary in the ministry of heavy industries & public enterprises, New Delhi from September 20, 1997 to September 11, 2002 b) Resident Commissioner, Haryana Bhavan, New Delhi (From April, 10, 2003 to December 19, 2003) c) Additional secretary, Mines & Minerals, Coal (From December 19, 2003 to June 23, 2006) d) Chairman, National Highways Auth of India (NHAI), (From October 4,2006 to July 30, 2007) e) Secretary, department of disinvestment, Ministry of Finance (From July 30, 2007 to August 1, 2008) f) Secretary, defence production (From February 2, 2008 till now) Foreign degree MSc in economics and social science, from UK (1986)

Tendulkars among officers may now get higher increment than what was proposed in 6th Pay Commission

IF Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has its way, performing government officials may end up receiving better yearly increment than what was even promised in the 6th Pay Commission recommendations. While modifying the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission that up to a 20% of the performers among officers may be given an annual increment of 3.5% instead of a normal practice of 2.5%, the government has now proposed that performers may be granted even 4% of increment. About 20% Group A officers in Pay Band 3 category will be benefited by this proposed guidelines. For the next one month, suggestions from various government ministries and departments will be accepted after which the DoPT would frame the guidelines. Officers at the lowest PB-3 band get a salary Rs 15,600 --39,100 with grade pay Rs 5400, whereas those at the highest level of the band get Rs 15600-39100 with grade pay of Rs 8400. Action & Appointments 1) Shekhar Agarwal, a 1977 batch UP cadre IAS and currently Financial Adviser (Acquisition) & Member (Defence Procurement Board) and additional secretary, ministry of defence, has been appointed as additional secretary in department of ex-servicemen welfare in the ministry of defence in the vacancy of Ms Neelam Nath, a 1975 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS. Mr Agarwal’s position will now be filled up by S Chandrasekharan, a 1975 batch IRAS. 2) Padamvir Singh, a 1977 batch IAS, presently Joint Director, in the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA), Mussoorie in the rank and pay of additional secretary has been re-designated as special director, LBSNAA. New initiatives to reduce suicide cases among armed forces The ministry of defence has taken a number of measures including better man-management techniques and increased inter-personnel relationship and communication between officers and jawans to reduce the incidents of suicide and fratricide cases in the armed forces, defence minister AK Antony said in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Monday. The government’s initiative has come in the wake of virtual status quo of such cases during the last three years. Whereas there were 142 suicide cases in 2007, it went up to 151 during the following year. There have been 48 such suicide cases in 2009 so far.

Sudhir Kumar should help Lalu recalculating Rs 90,000 crore railway surplus

SUDHIR Kumar, influential 1982-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer and ex-OSD to former railway minister Lalu Prasad should help his former boss re-calculating accounts of the ministry in the last five years after current railway minister Mamata Banerjee questioned the claims of Rs 90,000 crore surplus funds in the interim budget presented by Mr Prasad before the Lok Sabha elections. Mr Kumar who co-authored the book titled “Bankruptcy to Billions: How the Indian Railways Transformed”, wrote in details about the secret of railways’ success to position itself as a cash-rich organization. In fact, Ms Banerjee, who is now coming out with a white paper on funds with the railways, said that a corpus of just Rs 8,361 crore remained after expenditure of Rs 13,600 crore on account of Pay Commission award last year and Rs 2,600 crore this year. The issue became complicated further when Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had refused to give Mr Prasad, his former cabinet colleague, a clean chit and said the proposed white paper promised by the railway minister would uncover the reality and clear the air. Significantly, Lalu Prasad who is known for his political sharpness and wits, is not a mathematical wizard to find the railway books right. Nor will railway officers who were forced to take a backseat during his tenure would come forward to help the Bihar strongman by doing some accounting wonders! In fact, a number of railways officials were then perturbed by the fact that an IAS officer, Mr Kumar, was virtually running the show as Mr Prasad gave him a free hand to initiate any policy change and micro-manage everything to make Indian railways profitable. Mr Kumar was then so powerful that many Rail Bhawan officials including railway board members became virtual rubber stamps endorsing Mr Kumar’s line of strategy. Also, Mr Kumar remembered by heart many of the accounting figures and played a crucial role setting yearly target for the railways. Significantly, the Indian Railways with 1.4 million employees is one of the very few government arms which are not headed by IAS officers.

After wooing women, Centre tries to attract minorities by offering government jobs

A DAY after announcing that the government would monitor recruitment of women in various ministries and departments, the Centre on Thursday reiterated its commitment of giving special consideration to minorities in recruitment in some select government departments. The Prime Minister’s New 15 Point Programme for the Welfare of Minorities provides for giving special consideration to minorities in recruitment of police personnel, Central police forces, railways, nationalized banks and public sector enterprises, for which the composition of selection committees needs to be representative. The new initiative is based on an office memorandum issued on January, 2007, by the Department of Personnel & Training (DOPT) which said that it should be mandatory to have one member belonging to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe and one member belonging to minority community in selection boards or committees for making recruitment to 10 or more vacancies. It also called for wide publicity for all appointments in government, public sector enterprises and public sector banks and financial institutions. And, where there is concentration of minority community population in local areas, the vacancy circular in local language may be distributed in those areas by suitable arrangements. The guidelines issued by DoPT also include instructions for monitoring the progress in recruitment of minorities in all ministries or departments, public sector enterprises, public sector banks and financial institutions, a government release said. The number of persons belonging to the minority communities (for the five minority communities as a whole) recruited during the last three years in the various ministries/departments and their organisations are given below: 2006-07: 12,182 (70 Ministries/Departments/ organizations) 2007-08: 12,195 (61 Ministries/Departments/ organizations) 2008-09: 4,479 (32 Ministries/ Departments/ organizations)

Special recruitment drive for ST, SC, OBC A special recruitment drive has been launched in November, 2008 to fill up backlog vacancies of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and other Backward Classes (OBC). According to government data based on information received up to July 3, 2009 from 11 ministries or departments, there were 207 backlog vacancies of SCs, 177 for STs, and 397 for OBC as on November 1, 2008. Action & Appointments Justice Rakesh Chandra Mishra, additional Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has been appointed as Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.

Govt to monitor recruitment trends of women in various ministries

IN ORDER to monitor recruitment of women in government, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) has directed all ministries and departments to submit a consolidated report including attached or subordinate offices on the total number of posts and employees group-wise and gender-wise as on March 31, 2009 latest by August 31, 2009. Indicating that it would be an annual process, the department has further said that the consolidated annual position as on March 31 of every year may also be furnished thereafter by May 30 of that year. In fact, the government has initiated steps to ensure better representation of women members on various committees or boards concerned with the selection to posts in Central government and also to monitor the trend in recruitment of women. DoPT has further written to the secretaries of all ministries/departments of government of India to instruct all appointing authorities to scrupulously observe that selection committees should compulsorily have one woman member for making recruitment to 10 or more vacancies. Even if vacancies against which selection is to be made is less than 10, efforts should be made in finding a woman officer for inclusion in such committees or Boards, the directive said. It further said that in the event of such an officer not being available in the ministry or department itself, there is no objection to nominating lady officer from any other office at the same station.

Babus In Demand At least 26 joint secretary level officials are likely to be recruited for National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to ensure that minister of road transport and highways Kamal Nath’s ambitious target of 20 km of building highways in a day will be fulfilled. Just wait for a few days to see advertisement regarding this.

Ministries told to redress grievances of citizens within 2 months

OFFICIALS will no longer be able to sit over files comprising complaints and grievances of aam aadmi after the government issued directions to all ministries and departments to redress grievances of the citizens within a period of two months. Also, with the introduction of a Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), citizens will be able to view the status of his complaint on the web, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions, Prithviraj Chavan said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. During the last three and half years (up to June 30, 2009), the total number of cases of public grievance received in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was 109620. For cabinet secretariat, the number for the same period was 101995, the minister informed the Parliament. Steps to weed out corruption in corridors The government has taken up a few steps to implement its policy of “Zero Tolerance against Corruption”. These include: 1) Issue of Whistle Blowers Resolution, 2004 2) Enactment of Right to Information Act, 2005 3) The pro-active involvement of ministry/department through Annual Action Plan on Vigilance as a preventive measures 4) Issues of comprehensive instructions on transparency in tendering & contracting process by the CVC 5) Introduction of e-Governance and simplification of procedures and systems 6) Issue of Citizen Charters.

Nath wants his officers to change attitude, appeals them to aspire for recognition

UNION minister of road transport and highways Kamal Nath’s appeal to his officials to change in attitude to have a sense of fulfilment and recognition is believed to be well in line with a few UPA ministers’ “make it or break it” policy to bring in changes in their ministries or departments. Setting an ambitious target of building 20 km of highways per day, particularly in the backdrop of virtual roadblocks to progress of highway project during the last government, Mr Nath is aware that targets would be achievable only if officers put in their extra bit. As many as 38 public private partnership (PPP) projects bid out by National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) before the last Lok Sabha polls received no bid at all, explaining the state of affairs of the road programme which was successfully rexecuted by the earlier regime of the BJP. Mr Nath, who visited the NHAI office in Delhi’s Dwarka area a couple of days ago, stressed upon complete sense of urgency and asked the officials to bring the issues to his notice which require his intervention. He called upon every official to have one common objective and to play their role in keeping India on a growth trajectory by building good highways. He urged NHAI officials for a change in the work culture to speed up the National Highways Development Programme (NHDP).

Govt to amend RIT to facilitate better disclosure, says Chavan The government has proposed to amend the laws to provide for disclosure by government in all non-strategic areas. It is proposed to review the number of organizations in the second schedule to the Right to Information Act, 2005 and make rules for more disclosure of information by public authorities, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions, Prithviraj Chavan said in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday, July 8. Non-Governmental Organisations and Social activists, which have largely expressed doubts about the proposed amendments, will be consulted. Significantly, no time-frame has fixed for completion of the process. Stats for 2008-09 No. of RTI cases disposed of : 13322 No. of RTI cases pending as on April 1, 2009: 8924 Action & Appointments

The tenure of Kumar Sanjay Krishna, a 1985 batch Assam cadre IAS, and joint secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), has been extended for a period of three months up to November, 15, 2009 or until further orders. Mr Krishna had earlier served as a joint secretary in Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Urban development secretary M Ramachandran presents the first copy of his book to PM

THE dateline is New Delhi’s Nirman Bhawan. And byline? Yes, urban development secretary and 1972 batch Uttaranchal cadre IAS M Ramachandran has turned into an author. He presented the first copy of his book titled, “An Alternative Approach to Project Planning in Public Works - The Indian Context”, to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday, July 6, 2009.
Among those who were also present during his 15-minutes-long interaction with the Prime Minister were minister for environment & forests Jairam Ramesh, Planning Commission Member B K Chaturvedi, National Security Advisor M K Narayanan and Mrs M Ramachandran (See picture above).
Mr Ramachandran, who is a strong contender for the cabinet secretary’s post next year, had an M Phil in economic planning from the University of Glasgow, UK and PhD in project planning. In fact, the book is an outcome of his PhD project on project planning which provides an insight into the procedural hiccups and perhaps for the first time, suggests an alternate approach.


Babus In Demand

A) Member, CAT at Patna: Applications are invited from eligible officers for one vacancy of Administrative Member in the Central Administrative Tribunal at Patna occurring on September 11, 2009. The Member shall hold offices for five years, and the conditions of service shall be the same as applicable to Judges of the High Court. Last Date: August 10, 2009
B) Judicial Members, CAT at Ahmedabad and Chandigarh: Applications are invited from suitable candidates for filling up two vacancies of Judicial Members in the Central Administrative Tribunal in Ahmedabad and Chandigarh Bench. The conditions of service will be the same as applicable to Judges of the High CourtLast Date: August 10, 2009. If you have any doubt, just pick up the phone and call the office of secretary, the ministry of personnel, at 011-23094848.

Action and Appointments
A) Anu Aggarwal, IAS (Nagaland, 2001) will be considered for Inter-Cadre deputation to Punjab cadre only after completion of six years in her cadre and after completion of 'cooling off' requirements.
B) The proposal of the ministry of home affairs for the inter-cadre deputation of J Ajay Kumar, IAS (Assam, 1997) from Assam-Meghalaya to Andhra Pradesh for a period of three years has been approved.
C) The appointment of A K Singh, IFS (Assam, 1984) as Controller (Admn.) in the National Technical Research Organisation has not been approved
D) The extension in Central deputation tenure of Umesh Kumar, IPS (Assam, 1984), IG, CISF has been approved for one year beyond June 11, 2009 or until further orders.

FM wants tax officials to be like honey bees and meet targets without coercive methods

FINANCE minister Pranab Mukherjee said he wanted tax officials to be like honey bees who don’t harm flowers, as he talked about a future tax system which generates revenues on a sustained basis without use of coercive tax collection methods at the end of each year to meet targets. He said it while presenting the General Budget in Lok Sabha on Monday. He said he wanted tax collectors to “be like honey bees collecting nectar from the flowers without disturbing them, but spreading their pollen so that all flowers can thrive and bear fruit.” The tax officials have now been directed to work on SARAL-II forms for early introduction. UIDAI marks the beginning of private sector entry into government Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) marks the beginning of an era where the top private sector talent in India steps forward to take the responsibility for implementing projects of vital national importance, said finance minister Pranab Mukherjee while presenting the general Budget. He also added that the project is close to his heart. The project which will be spearheaded by former Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani, will roll out first set of unique identity numbers in 12 to 18 months. The Budget made a provision of Rs 120 crore for the project where a number of civil servants have been lobbying to get involved. Action & Appointment A) Raghu Menon, a 1974 batch IAS of Nagaland cadre, has been appointed as secretary, ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the vacancy of Ms Sushma Singh, a 1972 batch IAS of Jharkhand cadre who retired recently. Jawahar Sircar, a 1975 batch West Bengal cadre IAS who is secretary, ministry of culture, will relinquish the additional charge of the post of secretary, I&B. B) Central deputation tenure of Umesh Kumar, IPS (AM, 1984), IG, CISF has been extended for one year beyond June 11, 2009 or until further orders.

Key North Block officials behind Pranab Mukherjee’s Budget

CALL it the Team Budget from North Block, or simply backroom boys for India’s finance minister Pranab Mukherjee as he is presenting the General Budget in Lok Sabha in a few hours time from now. Here are the few senior officials who have worked extremely hard for the last one month if not more, to make the Budget to be presented on Monday, July 6, a big success.

Ashok Chawla & His Team A: A 1973 batch IAS of Gujarat cadre, Ashok Chawla, currently finance secretary, directly controls three out of five departments in Finmin --- department of financial services, department of economic affairs (DEA) and department of disinvestment, where there’s no secretary-equivalent officers now. As he held additional secretary’s post in the ministry of finance from April 25, 2005 to January 1, 2007, he had past experiences in Budget preparation. He is aided by some of the brilliant minds in the DEA --- Anup K Pujari (1980, Karnataka cadre), Kumar Sanjay Krishna (1985, Assam cadre), Alok Sheel (1982, Kerala cadre), K P Krishnan (1983 Karnataka cadre), Gobind Mohan (1989, Sikkim cadre) to name a few. Revenue secretary P V Bhide: An IAS from Andhra Pradesh cadre and batch-mate of Mr Chawla, P V Bhide had the earlier experiences of Budget preparation as he held the same post of revenue secretary when then finance minister P Chidambaram presented the Budget in February 2008. He has been the revenue secretary from June, 2007 and had the experience of working as secretary, disinvestment for a brief period. Sushama Nath & Her Woman Team: A 1974 batch IAS of Madhya Pradesh cadre, Ms Nath is heading a team of women officers in the department of expenditure. Ms Nath, who had played a key role in the sixth Pay Commission, is now aided by additional secretary Vilasini Ramachandran and a 1977 batch IAS officer from Gujarat cadre, joint secretaries Anjuly Chib Duggal of the 1981 IAS batch, Meena Aggarwal from Indian Railway Accounts Service (IRAS) and Madhulika Prasad Sukul of Defence Accounts Service. Men Of The Moment: Finance minister is also aided by a number of other key officers in North Block --- chief economic adviser Arvind Virmani, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) chairman S S N Moorthy, and chairman of Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) P C Jha.

Mamata announces a slew of welfare measures for railway employees; should civil servants expect sops from Mukherjee on Monday?

THE 1.4 million-strong railway brigade across the country has reasons to cheer after railway minister Mamata Banerjee announced a number of sops to railway employees in her Rail Budget presented in Lok Sabha on Friday. Before coming to what finance minister Pranab Mukherjee can do for government employees including officials during the General Budget to be presented on Monday, let’s list some of welfare measures announced by the railway minister for railway employees. a) The contribution of Staff Benefit Fund would be enhanced to Rs 350 per railway employee by one year. According to the announcement in Rail Budget, out of this contribution, a sum of Rs 100 per employee will be used exclusively for activities relating to women empowerment. This would also include the provision for vocational and occupational skill development training for physically and mentally challenged wards of railway employees, especially the girl child and higher education for girls. b) Ms Banerjee also announced the proposal to construct 6560 staff quarters during the year 2009-10. A thrust would be given under the Corporate Welfare Plan for improvement of staff quarters and colonies. The Budget also proposes to set up indoor stadia in major railway divisions and zones to promote sports and cultural activities amongst the railway employees. Scholarship for higher education of girl children of Group D staff will be launched. Seven nursing colleges on railway land in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai (Kalyan), Chennai, Secunderabad, Lucknow and Jabalpur will be opened on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The Budget also envisages to establish medical colleges attached to existing railway hospitals through PPP mode to give higher education facilities to the wards of railway employees. The locations where such colleges are planned include: Chennai, Hyderabad, Bilaspur, Lucknow, Barasat, Bhubaneswar, Mysore, Kharagpur, Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Jodhpur, Gardenreach, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, B.R. Singh Hospital, Bhopal, Jammu and Trivandrum. It was also announced that the General Managers would be empowered to sanction cases upto Rs 4 lakh for special medical treatment of railway persons. The Budget also provides for construction of dormitories for ladies and gents who accompany the patients at 16 hospitals having 150 beds and above. Burn Units will be provided at major railway hospitals of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Secunderabad, Bangalore and B R Singh Hospital, Kolkata.

Mukherjee on Monday: What Babus should expect from General Budget? No major initiative is expected to be announced in the Budget which will have a direct impact on civil servants except finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s direct tax sops would make bureaucrats happy as well. The possible raising of the income tax slabs or restoration of standard deduction would help the bureaucrats as well to save some hard cash.

Action & Appointments

1) Jagdish Prasad Meena, a 1983 batch IAS has been appointed as joint secretary in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) under the ministry of home affairs, in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000/- (PB-4) with a grade of Rs 10000, for a period of five years or until further orders. 2) Tenure of Sunil Kumar, a 1979 batch IAS and joint secretary, in the department of higher education has been extended by 3 months beyond June 27, 2009 when the officer completes his 5 year tenure. 3) Central deputation tenure of A K Sirolia, a 1985 batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre, and Inspector General, BSF has been extended for a period of three years beyond May 26, 2009 or until further orders. 4) Urban development secretary Dr M Ramachandran, a 1972 batch IAS of Uttarakhand cadre will hold additional charge of the post of secretary, ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation during the period from June 29, 2009 to July 10, 2009 when Mrs Kiran Dhingra, a 1975 batch IAS will remain on leave.

Government seeks high standard of ethics among civil servants

INDIA wants its civil servants to be more competent and loyal, and they discharge official duties with integrity and impartiality, a new draft bill on civil services which will be placed in Parliament some time soon envisaged. The government has drafted a Civil Services Bill, which envisages to provide a statutory basis for the regulation of the Civil Services in India, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions, Prithviraj Chavan said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. In fact, the Bill is aimed to ensure a high standard of ethics in the civil service operation, requiring and facilitating every civil servant discharge official duties with competence, and loyalty, care and diligence, responsibility, integrity, objectivity and impartiality, and without any discrimination, the minister said. The Bill will, however, be useful for bureaucrats who always wish to come out of the clutches of their political masters. babu blogger said on June 9, 2009 that if Dr Manmohan Singh’s new government has its way, bureaucrats may not be at the mercy of their political masters in matters related to transfers. If the government is able to convert the proposed Civil Services Bill into an Act of Parliament, the success of government programmes will be linked to the performance of bureaucrats who run those at the ground level, and politicians will have the least control over those bureaucrats, initial reports on the content of the Bill have suggested, babu blogger wrote in his June 9 post.

Action & Appointments A) Khullar given additional charges of ITPO: Commerce secretary Rahul Khullar, a 1975 batch IAS from AGMU cadre, has been given additional charges of the post of chairman and managing director, India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO). The assignment is for a period of three months or until further orders, a release said. B) Gill moves to Punjab: P S Gill, a 1975 batch J&K cadre IPS, has been granted an inter-cadre deputation from Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab up to September 30, 2011 which is the date of his superannuation, or until further orders. C) Justice Amarappa & Justice Pachhapura in Karnataka HC: Justice Arali Nagaraj Amarappa and Justice Arvind Shiwagouda Pachhapura, additional judges of the Karnataka High Court, have been appointed as judges of the Karnataka High Court. D) Justice Baruah appointed as Guwahati High Court Judge: Justice Hareswar Baruah, additional judge of the Guwahati High Court, has been appointed a judge of the Guwahati High Court

Non-Sarkari Feel: Nilekani’s secretariat in Planning Commission has wooden flooring

A CORNER area of the third floor of the Planning Commission is ready for accommodating the support staff of newly-created Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)’s chairman Nandan Nilekani. The area with wooden floor and glass separators looks more like a small corporate office, and is strikingly different from other parts of the Yojana Bhawan located in New Delhi’s Parliament Street. Mr Nilekani, who is resigning as co-chairman of software giant Infosys Technologies, is likely to be given a room in the first floor somewhere near deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s office. All Members of the Planning Commission too have their rooms in that floor. The UIDAI office may finally be shifted out of the Planning Commission once it has the full strength. Some of the staff, who had come from other government departments on a temporary basis, began work in UIDAI. Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a 1987 batch Orissa cadre IAS, was appointed for a period of five years as deputy director general (DDG) of the Authority, but he has not joined the office as yet. One of the deputy director generals of National Informatics Centre Dr (Ms) Shefali S Dash, who temporarily joined the Authority, has now been playing a key role in setting up the office. The Planning Commission of India had already begun the process of recruiting 35 officers at the level of joint secretary or equivalent both at the Centre and states. Once the forthcoming Budget allocates the fund, the UIDAI will have the requisite infrastructure both in New Delhi and state capitals across the country. But for now, officers in Planning Commission have begun to gossip how easy or difficult it would be for Mr Nilekani to cope up with government’s rule books. You need a sanction even for buying a pen, they said. After all, the only big sarkari success story, Delhi Metro man E Sreedharan, had a long innings in working with the government! Babus In Demand National Institute of Disaster Management, which is an arm of the ministry of home affairs, intends to empanel consultants both from government and private sector. The Institute is looking for both retiring and serving civil servants to work as consultants. For further details, please log on www.nidm.gov.in Appointment Special secretary (internal security) in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) Raman Srivastava has been appointed as Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) with effect from August 1, 2009, a government release has said. He will replace M L Kumawat who retires on July 31, 2009. Mr Srivastava is a Kerala cadre IPS officer of the 1973 batch.

Woman On Top: Nirupama Rao to be India’s next foreign secretary

NIRUPAMA Rao, a 1973 batch IFS and currently Ambassador to China, will be India’s next foreign secretary on the retirement of the present incumbent Shivshankar Menon on July 31, 2009. She is the second woman foreign secretary after Chokila Iyer. Had labour secretary Sudha Pillai clinched the cabinet secretary’s job, country’s top administrative and diplomatic posts would have for the first time been occupied by women officers. Ms Pillai, who was the senior most officer in the merit list, missed the bus as incumbent cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar was given one year’s extension. Another prominent foreign service post, India’s ambassador to US, recently went to Meera Shankar, another woman officer and batch-mate of Ms Rao. Incidentally, both the President of the nation and Lok Sabha speaker happen to be women. babu blogger in his post on June 3, 2009, said that “India’s ambassador to China Nirupama Rao’s ability to grab the crucial foreign secretary’s post would determine the degree of celebration for woman leadership in the country.” In fact, Vajpayee government appointed Chokila Iyre, a woman IFS officer, as foreign secretary in 2000, but it was a different story while filling up the top IAS post. An extension of former cabinet secretary B K Chaturvedi had stalled Reva Nayyar, an IAS from Haryana cadre, becoming the first woman cabinet secretary.

Know Your Babu: Nirupama Rao

Date of Birth: December 6, 1950 Educational Qualifications: MA in English Literature from Marathwada University. A Fellow at the Centre for International Affairs in Harvard University specializing on Asia-Pacific security. Postings January 1976 - October 1983: At Indian Missions in Vienna and Colombo, and as Desk Officer in the Southern Africa and Nepal Desks in the ministry of external affairs. 1984 to 1992: Worked in the East Asia division of the MEA, with special focus on India-China relations. October 1993 to October 1995: Minister for Press Affairs at the Indian Embassy in Washington. 1995-May 1998: India's Ambassador to Peru. June 1998 and August 1999: Deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of India, Moscow. June 2001 to October 2002: Joint Secretary (external publicity) and official spokesperson of the MEA, the first woman officer to hold this post in the ministry. Major assignments: Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka and then Indian Ambassador to China from September 2006 Prasad to continue in PMO Continuity seems to be the mantra for Dr Manmohan Singh’s second innings as many officers from the cabinet secretary downwards are holding on to same positions under the new government. M N Prasad, a 1972 batch IAS, will remain a secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), but on contract basis. Mr Prasad, who would have retired now, is continuing in the PMO on a contract basis but in the rank, pay and status of secretary to the government of India with effect from July 1, 2009, and until further orders, a release said.