Karnataka’s new chief secretary Kaushik Mukherjee, his agenda, his love for casual wear

For a change? Mukherjee in formal suit

WHEN 1978 batch IAS Kaushik Mukherjee was named as the new chief secretary of Karnataka, he had something special to ask for, from chief minister Siddaramaiah. Amid discussion about how to improve better administration at grassroots and development of Bangalore city, Mukherjee told the CM that he would like to attend office wearing casuals. But yes, when…

Fight over Sardar Patel’s Legacy: How this Iron Man also belongs to Indian civil servants

Whose Legacy? Patel's coat in a museum

AS BJP’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi has been at loggerhead with Congress biggies including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh over the legacy of India’s first home minister Sardar Vallahbhai Patel, BoI here presents a few facts to demonstrate how India’s Iron Man, Patel also belongs to pan-Indian civil servants who are not supposed to…

No Affidavits Please: Can GoI prevent a loss of Rs 8,000 crore by following Punjab model?

THREE years ago, the government of Punjab abolished affidavit raj prevalent in ministries and state PSUs so that it could shed the tag of what it calls a “mai‐baap sarkar”. Instead, it wished to move towards “participatory governance”. With the Punjab model being discussed now in the Central government’s department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG), there are speculations that…

Why IAS officers’ associations need a revamp; Bihar chapter not updated for six years!

BIHAR might have witnessed many a change in the last six years, but the Bihar branch of IAS Officers’ Association has failed to update its events, if any, forcing the visitors to read something hilarious like this in its official website:

Are you a govt officer lobbying for a foreign post? Wait, first read this handbook

SENIOR officers are at times seen lobbying hard to get plump postings abroad. But what the rulebooks say about government officers lobbying for foreign posts? In a handbook titled “Consolidated Instructions on Foreign Assignment of Indian Experts”, it is clearly said that…

Know more about new ITBP chief Subhas Goswami

DIRECTOR of Hyderabad-based SVP National Police Academy Subhas Goswami will be the new Director General of Indo Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), a force that is deployed on guarding 3,488 km of Indo-China border ranging from Karakoram Pass in Ladakh to Jachep La in Arunachal Pradesh. One and half years ago, Goswami, a 1977 batch Assam cadre IPS officer, was considered to be the top contender for the post of…

Khemka Vs Dhillon, Roshan Lal: Will Haryana IAS war take more twists?

WHISTLE-BLOWER Haryana IAS Ashok Khemka, against whom the state government recently filed two charge-sheets, has accused two of his seniors belonging to 1984 batch, SS Dhillon and Roshan Lal, of “ganging up” against him and “cooking things to suit their own personal interests”. Only recently, Dhillon who is principal secretary to chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, told news channels about the specific charges against Khemka. Many within the corridors fear that…

Govt cautions officers staying on Central deputation without ACC approval

ACC: Upset?

THE government has cautioned All India Services officers who have managed to stay in Central deputation beyond the stipulated tenure without the approval of the competent authority, “sometimes even beyond the maximum stipulated limit of seven years outside the cadre”. In an Office Memorandum issued on October 17, 2013, DoPT made it clear that…

Prez Gives Tips: How bureaucrats should be patient, tactful in withstanding political pressure

LBSNAA

IT WAS sometime in 1970s. “Mr Minister, when I receive instructions from you, I do not look at your face. I look beyond your face, at the vast multitude of people of this country who have chosen you to be here.” This was what a senior Government of India secretary replied to then young minister, now President of India, Pranab Mukherjee when he asked the bureaucrat whether he felt “embarrassed” taking…

Adviser to ED: Govt begins searches for Anuradha Thakur’s replacement in World Bank

THE government has begun the search process for finding a replacement for Anuradha Thakur who is completing her term as Adviser to the Executive Director in the World Bank on March 24, 2014. Ms Thakur, a 1994 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS, had earlier served as…

What will new Railway Board chairman Arunendra Kumar bring, rain or sunshine?

AFTER months-long twists and turns in the race for Indian Railways’ top job, Member (mechanical) and acting chairman, Arunendra Kumar, was on Wednesday named as full-time chairman of the Railway Board. A 1976 batch officer belonging to Indian Railways Service of Mechanical Engineers (IRSME), Kumar claims that he holds a record of the longest…

Who is PC Parakh? Geologist, IAS, coal secretary, whistle-blower, and an accused!

PC Parakh, a 1969 batch retired IAS and former coal secretary, has chosen to take on the Prime Minister now, as he told a national newspaper that PM who had approved the allocation of Talabira coal blocks to Hindalco in 2005, be named as accused No. 1, if that allocation was a conspiracy. PC Parakh who along with Hindalco chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla was named by the CBI in its latest charges-sheet in the ongoing case of coal block allocations, had refrained from hitting out at…

A Tale of Two Disasters: Bureaucrats hailed for Phailin evacuation, suspended for MP stampede

Rescue, Relief in Odisha

Dr Krishan Kumar, an MBBS-turned IAS of Odisha cadre and collector of the state’s southern district of Ganjam, front-paged a national daily on Monday as he worked without sleep for about 100 hours to save lives of ordinary people who would have become preys of Cyclone Phailin that hit coastlines of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh on Saturday night. In another Indian state, Madhya Pradesh, the shaken chief minister took special permission of Election Commission of India to suspend IAS and IPS including…

Sandeep Silas: Why is this Indian railway officer approaching United Nations?

Sandeep Silas, IRTS

Sandeep Silas, a senior railway officer working in road transport and highways ministry, is on a unique mission called “Garland of Peace”. Silas, a 1984 batch Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer and masters in public administration from New York’s Syracuse University, is trying to convince the United Nations that…

5 bureaucrats and their Tendulkar moments

Tendulkar with wife Anjali

INDIA'S greatest sporting legend Sachin Tendulkar has announced that he would call it a day after playing the 200th Test match in Indian soil in November. “It’s hard for me to imagine a life without playing cricket” he says. BoI here gives a spin to the moment to find out what 5 top-notch bureaucrats of the day were, when Tendulkar made his Test debut against Pakistan on November 15, 1989. And also, what are the Tendulkar moments of each one of these officers. Disclaimer: The bureaucrats are randomly picked up.

1980 batch IAS empanelled as GoI secretaries; list of officers here

FROM December onwards, you will spot 1980 batch IAS officers as secretaries to Government of India. According to an information note released by the DoPT on October 9, 2013, as many as 23 IAS officers of the batch were empanelled as GoI secretaries, and five others as secretary-equivalent. Here is the list below: 

Govt acknowledges global Indians’ woes to access RTI info, extends e-IPO payment mode to foreign missions

A moment in Indian Embassy in Paris

IN A major boost to the RTI movement, the government has extended the facility of e-IPO (Electronic Indian Postal Order) for payment of RTI fees to Indian citizens living abroad so as to help them getting information from 176 Indian missions and posts that come under the ministry of external affairs (MEA). An office memorandum (OM) dated October 7, 2013, also acknowledged the difficulties…

A GoI site takes you to a Yoga directory or a pet care service. Innovative, but are those info authentic?

Aiding senior citizens

IF YOU have an innovative idea for improving the performance of Ministry X or Y, there is hardly a way you can reach out to the men who matter there. But, for department of pensions and pensioners’ welfare which comes under the personnel ministry of the government, there is an official channel through which you can place your innovative ideas. In Pensioners’ Portal (http://www.pensionersportal.gov.in/innovation/innovation.asp), there is a form where…

Corridor's other NK Singh, Twitter buzz and "Memoirs of a CBI officer"

ON Sunday afternoon, when NK Singh was trending in social media site, Twitter, initial reaction of many was like this: What controversy has Rajya Sabha MP and Nitish Kumar confidant (also a 1964 batch retired IAS and former finance secretary) created now? But the buzz was around the other NK Singh, a former IPS officer who dared to arrest one of India’s most powerful politicians and ex-prime minister…

A joint secretary ranked officer wanted in Raebareli. Will he fly high?

ARGUABLY India’s most powerful bureaucrat and principal secretary to PM Pulok Chatterji was the district magistrate of Raebareli, traditional bastion of Gandhi-Nehru family. That was three decades ago. He was an outstanding officer from day one, but his proximity to Gandhi family has always contributed to his excellence in bureaucratic career. For joint secretary-ranked officers, here is a chance to take up a job at Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh where…

How Shakespeare's Hamlet figures in Government’s handbook on vigilance

Shakespeare

EXCERPTS of the immortal play of Hamlet authored by English poet and playwright William Shakespeare, have found a place in Government of India’s Handbook for Inquiry Officers and Disciplinary Authorities. The advice given by a father to his son in the passage of Hamlet had the following:

How Indian officers can add a foreign degree to their CV? It’s time to apply

FOR Indian government officers, it’s the time to apply for both long and short-term courses in foreign universities. DoPT’s training division will sponsor the names of suitable officers in select foreign universities and institutes for the year 2014-15 under Domestic Funding of Foreign Training (DFFT) scheme. The foreign universities where Indian officers would be sent to do full-time masters courses are Asian Institute of Management (masters in development management), Maxwell School, Syracuse University (executive masters in public administration), international...