Indian ambassador to France Ranjan Mathai turns top contender for next foreign secretary

INDIAN ambassador to France Ranjan Mathai, a 1974 batch IFS officer, is emerging as the top contender to clinch the coveted foreign secretary’s job in July end, 2011 when incumbent Nirupama Rao completes her two years tenure. Of late, Mathai’s chances have brightened after his batchmate and another strong contender Alok Prasad was sent to Tokyo as Indian ambassador to Japan earlier this month. Prasad who was the High Commissioner of India to Sri Lanka before becoming the Deputy National Security Adviser was believed to be the front-runner, but his chances slipped after he was shifted out to Japan.

According to sources close to the development, the only other officer who could upset Mathai’s chances of becoming foreign secretary is another 1974-batch IFS officer Hardeep Puri, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN.

Born on May 24, 1952, Ranjan Mathai completed his post graduation in political science from the University of Poona before joining Indian Foreign Service in 1974. Earlier, he had served in Indian Embassies in Vienna, Colombo, Washington, Tehran and Brussels and worked as joint secretary in the ministry of external affairs between January 1995 to and February 1998. He was the Indian Ambassador to Israel, Indian Ambassador in Qatar, Deputy High Commissioner of India to the UK in London before becoming Ambassador of India to France.

Whatever be the final outcome, it’s certain that a 1974 batch IFS officer would become the country’s next foreign secretary. And if Pulok Chatterjee, known for his proximity to 10 Janpath, becomes the next cabinet secretary in June, 2011 as is widely speculated in corridors of power, both top posts of IAS and IFS would remain with 1974 batch officers for the next two years!

Action and Appointments

a) Government employees in Bihar including over 400 IAS and IPS officers have furnished their details of their assets ahead of the February 28 deadline. The state government had earlier announced that those who would fail to meet the deadline would find their salaries being withheld.

BoI Extraa…

Himachal Pradesh government has instructed bureaucrats to keep the phones on even after office hours. The state government is upset of the fact that officers prefer to keep their mobile phones off.

China to crack the whip on excessive partying by bureaucrats

INDIA may love to follow China in most respects, from chasing growth numbers to building massive infrastructure, but when it comes to its bureaucracy, Indian babus must try not to emulate them. If the latest report on China’s plan to crack down lavish parties by its bureaucrats, is anything to indicate, there have been a number of instances in which Chinese bureaucrats indulged in sex and booze-fuelled parties apart from being beneficiaries of the country’s rampant corruption.

According to media reports being highlighted in US among others, the cost of the visit to foreign junkets including trips to Las Vegas amount to about USD 60 billion per year. The reports further point out how Chinese top politicians took notice of bureaucrats’ indulging in parties filled with casual sex, drinking and under-the-table payments. None other than President Hu Jintao himself warned officials of the temptations of beautiful women, money and power. Recently, the ruling party has come out with a plan to weed out corruption which also included an end to excessive partying at the expense of tax payers’ money.

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Japanese bureaucrats are back!

The influence of Japanese bureaucrats in the country’s decision-making process could come back once more as there are indications that they would again attend crucial meetings which are now being confined to political leadership. Once anti-bureaucrat Democratic Party of Japan came into power in September, 2009, senior bureaucrats were kept out of the decision-making process. Now, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku says that vice ministers and deputy vice ministers both of whom are non-elected bureaucrats in Japan, should attend the ministerial meetings.

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Japanese bureaucrats get lessons from comedians

Bureaucracy bashing as a fashion statement

Action and Appointments

Alok Prasad made India’s ambassador to Japan

a) Alok Prasad, an Indian Foreign Service officer of 1974 batch and presently Deputy National Security Advisor, has been appointed as the next Ambassador of India to Japan, to replace HK Singh (Read: HK Singh as a good host). According to a release by ministry of external affairs, Prasad is expected to take up his assignment shortly.

b) Rakesh Sood, a 1976 batch Indian Foreign Service officer and India's Ambassador to Nepal, has been appointed as Deputy National Security Advisor (NSA) in place of Alok Prasad.

Will Pitroda & Nilekani be able to do what ex-Ford Motor veteran McNamara did it to US admin?

IT CZAR Sam Pitroda’s appointment as the Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on infrastructure, innovation and information after Infosys Technologies co-founder Nandan Nilekani’s appoitment as chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) may bring in some changes the way the government functions. As both of these private sector honchos are pampered by giving the rank of a cabinet minister, a few more high profile private sector veterans may be attracted to join the government laterally. In fact, 68-year-old Pitroda, who is also the chairman of National Knowledge Commission, has prior experience in working with government though Mr Nilekani has no sarkari exposure earlier. No wonder, Mr Pitroda's talents were recognised during the NDA regime when he received Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for excellence in Public Administration and Management Sciences. (See Picture with former PM A B Vajpayee and ex-President of India KR Narayanan) Significantly, post-retirement assignment of two senior bureaucrats in India, principal secretary to PM TKA Nair and national security advisor MK Narayanan hold the rank of ministers of state only implying that Dr Singh has attached much importance to both these specialists by according cabinet minister’s rank. The big question here is whether Mr Pitroda and Mr Nilekani could do what former president of Ford Motor Company Robert McNamara did to the US administration in 1960s when he was made Defense Secretary under President Kennedy. As was acknowledged in a sub-section called Reforms in Public Administration in the USA, one of the reports of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission has mentioned how Mr McNamara introduced the culture of questioning all assumptions and assertions, of quantifying costs and benefits, of using techniques like project evaluation and review (PERT) and critical path method (CPM) to cut costs and delivery times of projects, the use of mathematical techniques for optimizing resource allocation (operations research), network planning, value engineering, and a detailed planning, programming, and budgeting system. No wonder, the managerial culture introduced by Mr McNamara gradually spread to several other departments of US federal government! Straight From Files TKA Nair’s advice to Nilekani on project implementation (September 16, 2009) Action & Appointments a) Alok Prasad, a 1974 batch IFS officer and currently India’s envoy to Sri Lanka, has been appointed as deputy National Security Adviser. Prasad will hold the office for two years or until further orders, according to the decision of the ACC. He was also India’s High Commissioner in Singapore and deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India, Washington from 2000 to 2004. b) Former finance secretary and chairman of Thirteenth Finance Commission Dr Vijay Kelkar has unanimously been elected as chairman of the Forum of Federations, an international organization headquartered in Ottawa. It seeks to strengthen democratic governance by promoting dialogue on the practices, principles, and possibilities of federalism through partner governments, a government release said on Thursday. c) Avinash K Srivastava, joint secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs has been nominated as the official spokesperson of the ministry for interacting with the media representatives. He is a 1982 batch UP cadre IAS.