Govt releases 2nd empanelment lists for secretary, addl secretary; Sanjay Mitra, Aruna Sharma, Snehlata Shrivastava find place

Aruna Sharma (File Photo)

THE government on Monday released two more IAS empanelment lists, one belonging to 1982 batch for union secretaries and another of 1985 batch as additional secretaries. New secretary-empanelled IAS officers include West Bengal chief secretary and former PMO official Sanjay Mitra and former Doordarshan DG Aruna Sharma. Here is the full list of officers, their educational qualifications and when they are retiring:

PM’s action on Shunglu Committee report begins; CBI probe to begin

Director General of Doordarshan and 1982 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer Aruna Sharma has lost her Mandi House job. After considering the high level Shunglu Committee Report on broadcasting issues, the Prime Minister decided to revert Doordarshan DG Aruna Sharma to her parent cadre Madhya Pradesh.

According to a release sent out by the PMO, the Prime Minister also directed the ministry of information and broadcasting to seek explanations from the Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati and Director General, Doordarshan on the allegations made against them and recommend an appropriate course of action within two weeks.

The ministry will have to review the claims made by M/s SIS LIVE, jointly with Prasar Bharati and in consultation with their financial advisers to ensure that there is no over-payment. “In the event of any over-payment having been made, the ministry of information and broadcasting has been directed to take appropriate action for recovery, after seeking due legal advice and refer matters relating to the relationship between the government and the Prasar Bharati and that between the Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Prasar Bharati, as also issues regarding the governance structure and the oversight mechanism put in place by the ministry of information and broadcasting in respect of such events, to the existing Group of Ministers headed by the finance minister, which is being directed to expedite its work so that necessary corrective administrative and legislative measures could be put in place at the earliest,” said the PMO’s press statement.

The last but not the least, it was decided to refer the report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

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Action and Appointments

a) Suspended Gujarat cadre IAS officer Pradeep Sharma, arrested in cases of land allotment irregularities, has now alleged that chief minister Narendra Modi is trying to keep him behind bars since he knows about the CM’s personal life. Sharma has made this allegations in a letter to the chief secretary A K Joti and wanted his case to be transferred to the CBI.

b) “Sir was very excited. He told the villagers ‘next time I come, I want to see a colour TV in the village, and all of you plugged into the world’,” said an engineer from Orissa to Time of India. The paper has come out with an article titled, “Why abduct an honest, pro-poor officer?, questions Malkangiri” narrating about work of IAS officer RV Krishna, abducted by the Maoist extremists.

Shunglu committee recommends action against Doordarshan DG Aruna Sharma too

Aruna Sharma, Director General of Doordarshan and 1982 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer, could be in trouble as VK Shunglu committee probing alleged irregularities in the Commonwealth Games, has recommended that criminal cases be registered not just against former Prasar Bharati CEO BS Lalli but against DD Director General too, according to reports.

Whereas Lalli, a retired IAS officer, was under fire for last few months and was suspended as CEO on December 21, Aruna Sharma’s name has been dragged in only now. The Shunglu committee’s recommendation is based on their alleged role in granting CWG broadcasting rights to UK-based SIS Live causing an estimated Rs 135-crore loss to the exchequer. According to reports, Shunglu committee found that granting rights to SIS Live for Rs 246 crore was quite high as the actual cost of coverage could be around Rs 111 crore.

Both Lalli and Ms Sharma had earlier refuted the charges levelled against them.

A doctorate in physiological health management, Aruna Sharma had earlier served as secretary (state cadre) of Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief and Rehabilitation Department and joint secretary in National Human Rights Commission in addition to handling many key departments in Madhya Pradesh.

It remains to be seen who are other bureaucrats who have been indicted in the Shunglu committee report running into about 1,000 pages with annexures?

Action and Appointments

a) R Gopalan, a 1976 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS, presently secretary in the department of financial services has been appointed as secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, under the ministry of finance in place of Ashok Chawla, a 1973 batch Gujarat cadre IAS who retired on January 31.

b) DK Mittal, a 1977 batch UP cadre IAS, presently additional secretary in department of commerce has been appointed as secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs in place of R Bandyopadhyay, a 1974 batch West Bengal cadre IAS who retired on January 31.

c) SR Rao, a 1978 batch Gujarat cadre IAS, presently additional secretary in the department of information technology has been appointed as additional secretary in department of telecommunications.

d) Desh Deepak Verma, a 1978 batch UP cadre IAS and additional secretary in department of food and public distribution has been repatriated to his cadre.

e) Madhav Lal, a 1977 batch IAS officer of J&K cadre has been appointed as chief secretary of Jammu and Kashmir. Prior to his appointment, he was in the Centre as additional secretary in the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises.

“Medalists” In Corridors Of Power: Bureaucrats who worked hard to make Commonwealth Games a success

AS THE Commonwealth Games in Delhi came to an end on Thursday with a truly exceptional closing ceremony, BoI (babusofindia.com) presents some of the unsung heroes of Indian bureaucracy who deserve the same applause as our sportspersons do. Whether it’s home secretary GK Pillai or cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar, or even DD director general and 1982 batch IAS Aruna Sharma, some Indian bureaucrats have worked hard on and off-the-field to make this mega sporting event a success story. Here are the medalists from Great Indian bureaucracy!

Team Pillai

Home secretary GK Pillai, a 1972 batch Kerala cadre IAS, deserves more applause than anyone else. Even the establishment and people at large had apprehensions that there could be some kind of terror incidents before or during the Games. But thanks to professionalism brought in by home minister P Chidambaram and his deputy, home secretary GK Pillai into Indian security scenario, such apprehensions were put to rest. For spin doctors in North Block, the attempt was not just to create a security apparatus for the Games per se, but to strengthen policing in the entire country. And the strategy worked well. Those who know Pillai closely would call him a “no nonsense officer” who would not compromise on any issue that might create lapses in security matters. The Blackberry episode is a classic example.

Also, Delhi police commissioner YS Dadwal, a 1974 batch IPS and Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Ajay Chadha, a 1977 batch IPS deserve special mention. Mr Chadha who was a young officer posted in Arunchal Pradesh during 1982 Asian Games, has made the traffic arrangement so smooth before the Commonwealth Games that Delhiites themselves were pleasantly surprised.
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Chandrasekhar and his B-Team

When Dr Manmohan Singh took out his trump card – an army of 10 IAS officers under cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar to manage the biggest sporting extravaganza in the final lap of the run-up to the controversy-ridden Commonwealth Games, BoI (babusofindia.com) hailed it the biggest victory of Indian bureaucracy. Except a few hiccups, B (bureaucrats)-team of the cabinet secretary performed upto the mark and took many an on-spot decision thanks to the PM’s decision to make the bureaucrats’ committee an “empowered” one. The B-team included additional secretary of the department of telecom (DoT) Subodh Kumar, 1978 batch Gujarat cadre IAS SR Rao, additional secretary in urban development ministry RC Misra and 1982 batch UP cadre IAS JS Deepak to name a few. (Read: Who are these bureaucrats on Commonwealth duties?) The last but not the least is the role played by principal secretary to PM, TKA Nair, a retired bureaucrat of 1963 batch.

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Why KM Chandrasekhar is India's most powerful bureaucrat? 

BoI list of 5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats

Unsung Heroes

Though some bureaucrats have hogged the limelight thanks to their designated roles in the run-up to the Games, there are many who worked behind-the-scene to make the Games a success. From day one, there were many regulatory bottlenecks and those could be removed only by bureaucrats of various departments. There are serving and retired bureaucrats (Jarnail Singh, a 1974 batch IAS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre, for example, was the CEO of the Organizing Committee) who are very much a part of Kalmadi’s team. The Chief Operating Officer (COO) was Vijay Kumar Gautam, a 1987 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS officer who was an observer in the Melbourne’06 and Beijing’08 Games. Suresh Kalmadi in his speech during the closing ceremony of the Games did mention about DG of Doordarshan, Aruna Sharma, a 1982 batch IAS, who was instrumental in brining the DD platform into a high definition (HD) one.

Welcome to these “gold medalists” from corridors of power…

Ex-Servicemen to make maiden appearance in Doordarshan

SOME ex-servicemen of Indian defence force may soon get an appearance in Doordarshan – India’s national television channel. The ministry of defence signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in New Delhi on Monday with Doordarshan to produce programmes of various facets of Ex-Servicemen’s (ESM) lives, allowing television viewers across the country to experience real life stories of the ESM.

The programmes will also include the role played by the ESM in nation-building and the efforts being made by the government for their welfare and resettlement over the years.

The MoU was signed by two important women officers, Neelam Nath (Left in Picture), secretary, Department of Ex-Servicemen Welfare (ESW) in ministry of defence and Aruna Sharma (Right in Picture), a 1982 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS and Director General, Doordarshan.

There are nearly 27 lakhs Ex-Servicemen including over five lakh widows. This figure swells by an average of about 50,000 ESM who are released from the Armed Forces every year. Over 50 thousand ESM were gainfully re-employed by the DGR last year alone.

A tribute to an IAS and horse-rider

A special meeting of IAS officers of the Meghalaya Wing of the Assam-Meghalaya Cadre was held on Monday to condole the demise of JM Jala a 1959 batch retired IAS officer who was an accomplished horse rider getting a mention in the Equestrian Roll of Honour in the IAS Academy at Mussoorie.

En-block promotions compromise quality: IRS officer

Here is an excerpt of a long letter written by an IRS officer to what he termed backdoor entry into IRS.

“Dear Editor, very recently there was a much talked about proposal of induction into IPS from CPOs and state services etc. This is with reference to the same. From the experience of IRS it can be told that en-block promotions from the rank and file diminish overall quality as well as brand value of the service. It is not meant to oppose promotions. My opinion is that promotions should be granted to the best of the subordinate services staff and that too after a minimum retention period for which particular person has been recruited.

The UPSC recruits brightest of young men and women through a fiercely competitive exam of India today. Once an officer is selected for IRS future promotions are planned in such a way that there is a certain minimum period of retention on every post i.e. ACIT,DCIT, JCIT etc. and onwards; but for the staff-cadre in the Income tax Department no such rules are followed by the Department.

There are instances when Inspectors have been promoted to ITO (i.e. Gazetted rank officer of Govt. of India) within two and half years or three years of service, another three- four years and the person is promoted to ACIT and inducted into IRS. There cannot be a better example of back-door entry into one of the important services of India!

There should be limit to being selfish. The system is being made to work for individuals and not the other way round. Every demand is preceded by ‘Hartals’, Gheraos , sloganeering in the office premises etc. various time tested pressure tactics. Sloganeering within office premises has been banned by the Supreme Court but such is clout of the unions that no person can afford to invite their ire. The Income Tax Gazetted Officers Association (ITGOA) union has its website and co-ordinates such illegal activities day in and day out. The kind of efforts, energy and resources which are put into running the whole business is almost incomprehensible to outsiders. The loyalty is commanded to the union and not to the Department.

…There remains no incentive among the employees for performance and professional excellence as the system does not discriminate between the two. The phenomena ultimately drives even performing staff to become indifferent and dispassionate. In such pathetic scenario God only can help the taxpayers and the system as whole. An IRS officer.”

Quite Revealing: Indian civil servants’ assets may come under RTI, MP turns first state to give nod

WITH Madhya Pradesh government agreeing to bring assets of bureaucrats in public domain following a recent order of Central Information Commission, the process of RTI Raj prevailing over bureaucrats’ age-old doctrine of secretary has entered the final stage. If assets of 290 IAS officers of Madhya Pradesh cadre have already been brought under the ambit of RTI, it’s not far from forcing civil servants of other cadres as well, to publicly disclose their assets just like their political masters who by law disclose their assets while filing nominations for any Indian election.

Social activist Ajay Dubey has already asked the income tax department to give information on tax returns filed by about IAS officers of Madhya Pradesh cadre during the past five years, media reports said. In fact, bureaucracy in Madhya Pradesh suffered a major set back when a recent Income-Tax raid in the residence of Arvind Kumar Joshi and Tinoo Joshi, both 1979 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS, recovered a whopping Rs 3.1 crore in cash, jewellery and documents of properties disproportionate to their known sources of income. Both the officers have subsequently been suspended, and investigations are continuing. (Read: Tinoo and Arvind Joshi’s date with Delhi’s key ministries)

Significantly, civil servants routinely file their asset disclosures, but those gather dust in official files and have not been made public so far. (Read: Officers’ submission of immovable properties). Also, I-T department does not hand over personal details of any citizens including bureaucrats. But a recent order of the Central Information Commission, pronounced by Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said that disclosure of information such as assets of a public servant cannot be construed as an invasion on the privacy of an individual. The order said, “...If people who aspire to be public servants must declare their property details, it is only logical that the details of assets of those who are public servants must be considered to be disclosable”.

The prominent Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officers now include expenditure secretary Ms Sushama Nath (1974 batch), school education secretary Ms Anshu Vaish (1975 batch), disinvestment secretary Sumit Bose (1976 batch), (Read: Profile of Sumit Bose) MP chief secretary Avani Vaish (1975 batch) (Read: Profile of Avani Vaish), special secretary in defence production Ajoy Acharya (1976 batch), central provident fund commissioner Uday Kumar Varma (who is also a special secretary in Information and Broadcasting ministry till March 31, 2010), Director of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) Padamvir Singh (1977 batch), joint secretary in PMO R Gopalakrishnan (1979 batch) and DG Doordarshan Ms Aruna Sharma (1982 batch) among others.

Also Read: 

Govt should create RTI implementation cell 

RTI Raj: Prez' advice to bureaucrats

Disclosure of file notings under RTI

Challenge of disclosure of assets

Action and Appointments

a) Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday suspended senior agriculture secretary Babulal Agrawal (Read: The IAS with 220 bank accounts) whose premises were raided by Income-Tax Department. The case was handed over to Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

b) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal for premature repatriation of Aditi Mehta, a 1979 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS, presently working as joint secretary in the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (ICNCA) to her parent cadre.

c) The ACC has approved the proposal of premature repatriation of DN Srivastava, a 1984 batch IFS officer and joint secretary in the ministry of overseas Indian affairs to his parent cadre.

d) Neeraj Kumar Gupta, a 1982 batch UP cadre IAS, presently joint secretary in commerce ministry has been appointed as Executive Director, India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO).

e) V Bhaskar, a 1981 batch AP cadre IAS has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP).

f) SC Sinha, a 1975 batch Haryana cadre IPS, has been appointed as Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He is currently working as a Special Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).