Bureaucracy 2010: Unsung heroes in India's corridors of power

MN Jayakumar is not a familiar face in Delhi’s power centre dominated by bigwigs such as TKA Nair, KM Chandrasekhar and GK Pillai. Nor has he turned controversial like RK Chandolia or Ravi Inder Singh. But this low profile Indian Forest Service officer received an UN award for his spectacular photography of Indian birds. On the eve of year 2011, BoI salutes some unsung heroes whose works were underplayed in power reporting of babusofindia.com.

Wild life of an IFS officer

For MN Jayakumar, a 1979 batch Indian Forest Service officer and Karnataka’s Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, an affair with camera developed nearly two decades ago. In 2010, Jayakumar was selected for an UNESCO award, MFIAP, the highest distinction awarded by International Federation of Photographic Art for 20 of his images named “Spectacular Indian Birds”. Jayakumar’s photographs were displayed at exhibitions in countries such as England, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Finland, Australia, Scotland, USA and South Africa.

Read

1979 batch IFS

Prabhat Kumar gets applause in court

In this season of scams when bureaucrats along with their political masters are feeling the heat, here is a rare story of an IAS officer getting a virtual special jury award! Prabhat Kumar, a 1985 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre IAS and witness to Neera Yadav case was termed 'very important' in its judgement by the court. Prabhat Kumar who served as deputy CEO at Noida Authority from January 1996 to April 1997, spotted faults in the corporate group housing scheme which was an open ended scheme with no ending date. Kumar got a special mention in the 73-page judgement passed by CBI special judge AK Singh at Ghaziabad recently.

Read

Who is Prabhat Kumar?

Dr Trivedi's performance maths 

A non-IAS officer Dr Prajapati Trivedi who spent most part of his life in the World Bank working in no less than 25 countries around the world, has spent the year on a mission to bring in efficiency of government administration. Dr Trivedi, secretary of the performance management division under cabinet secretariat, is the man behind the government’s recent attempt to assess the performance of each ministry and give marks to it. If the Cabinet approves, Trivedi’s formula of paying more to performing bureaucrats could become a reality.

Read

Who wants to make IAS a lakhpati?

IAS as a manipulative contractor

During Bharat Rang Mahotsav last January, Kerala’s tourism secretary Dr V Venu, a 1990 batch IAS, donned that role of a manipulative contractor as he acted in a Malayalam play ‘Palangal’, (bridges), an adaptation of the work of famous poet K Ayyappa Panicker.

Directed by D Reghoothaman and staged by Abhinaya theatres, Thiruvananthapuram, ‘Palangal’ depicts the events that surround the proposed construction of a bridge where Dr Venu came to the centrestage, literally

Read

Well on stage

(In Picture: Air Force Band playing at India Gate in New Delhi on December 26, 2010)

Mantras to crack civil service exam

Are you someone preparing for next year’s civil service exam? Log on to www.jobcorridors.com to spot 7 mantras during UPSC preparations.