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.

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.

Greener pasture: 700 civil servants in India play golf regularly

IF YOU thought bureaucrats love only cricket, get your facts correct! About 700 civil servants including IAS, IFS and IPS, regularly play golf in eight zones of the country earmarked by All India Civil Services Golf Society. Even in Delhi and NCR alone, about 250 bureaucrats or former bureaucrats happen to be avid golfers out of which about 15 are secretaries or secretary-equivalent officers. Among the high profile bureaucrats who could even compete with corporate honchos in golf include deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, revenue secretary P V Bhide, former expenditure secretary Sanjiv Mishra among others. Several retired bureaucrats such as former industry secretary Ajay Dua, former finance secretary and current Hyundai India president Ashok Jha, former cabinet secretary and Planning Commission member B K Chaturvedi, and former Delhi police chief Ajay Raj Sharma are familiar faces in Delhi’s golf circles. Even former Comptroller and Auditor General V N Kaul is said to be seen on the green courses. Significantly, civil servants now just don’t wait for retirement to play golf, and instead visit the courses regularly despite busy schedules. For the last four years, pan-India golf competitions have been organized, and winners get some exciting prizes including holiday packages to hills. But yes, no outside spectator is allowed in any such intra-civil servants’ golf tournaments. The only exception is a spouse who also happens to be a civil servant! Jamia teachers oppose nomination of a bureaucrat as Vice Chancellor Fourteen teachers of Jamia Millia Islamia have opposed the government’s move to consider a bureaucrat for the post of Vice Chancellor of the University. In an appeal to President Pratibha Patil, they have seriously objected to the government’s recent move, and argued that academic centres must be headed by academicians and not bureaucrats, a media report said. Three bureaucrat contenders for Jamia's top job include Bihar’s home secretary Afzal Amanullah, retired IAS officer Najeeb Jung and Bihar's state information commissioner, Mohd. Shakeel Ahmed. babu.blogger1@gmail.com

Women On Top: Jury is not out yet

SHE is back, but not yet on top. The 1973 batch IFS officer and India’s ambassador to China Nirupama Rao’s ability to grab the crucial foreign secretary’s post will determine the degree of celebration for woman leadership in the country. As India’s political leaders prepare themselves to install the first woman Speaker in Parliament, the news of extension of the current cabinet secretary played a spoilsport on a woman getting the key administrative post for the first time. In fact, labour secretary Sudha Pillai was the front-runner for the cabinet secretary’s post as she topped the merit-cum-seniority list. There were also some possibilities of both key bureaucratic posts -- cabinet secretary and foreign secretary – would this time be filled by women. Ms Rao is still the front-runner for the foreign secretary’s post when the present incumbent Shiv Shankar Menon retires in a few weeks time. In fact, Vajpayee government appointed Chokila Iyre, a woman IFS officer, as foreign secretary in 2000, but an extension of former cabinet secretary B K Chaturvedi had ealier stalled Reva Nayyar, an IAS from Haryana cadre, becoming the first woman cabinet secretary. Significantly, out of 4537 IAS officers in the country only 609, or 13%, are women officers.