4 out of 5 newly-appointed joint secretaries are non-IAS; retired Patna HC chief justice is new CAT chief

THE government on Wednesday appointed five new joint secretaries, four of whom being non-IAS. NK Sudhansu, 2000 batch Maharashtra cadre lAS has been appointed as Professor (Economics), in LBSNAA, Mussoorie at the rank of a joint secretary. And then, Justice L Narasimha Reddy, retired chief justice of Patna High Court, has been appointed as new chairman of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). Here below are the details of the appointments:

3 retired IAS, ex-member in Railway Board appointed as executive members in Central Administrative Tribunal

THREE retired IAS officers — GC Pati of Odisha cadre, R Vijay Kumar of Tamil Nadu cadre and Ms Nandita Chatterjee of West Bengal cadre — and one retired officer belonging to Indian Railway Service of Electrical Engineers, Navin Tondon, were on Monday appointed as Executive Members in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT), the agency that is responsible for adjudication of disputes on recruitment and conditions of service of persons appointed to public services and posts in connection with the affairs of the government and local authorities. The four officers were appointed for a period of…

CAT to recruit 14 Administrative Members; but the maths of maximum tenure and upper age don’t add up

CENTRAL Administrative Tribunal (CAT), which adjudicates disputes of government employees with regard to recruitment, promotion and other service conditions, will recruit 14 new administrative members during 2017. But the mathematics related to maximum tenure and the age of eligible candidates, as mentioned in the vacancy circular issued by the DoPT on February 3, actually don’t add up. Sample this:

An IAS couple's road and roadblocks for a common cadre; what CAT, DoPT have to say

INTER cadre transfer of this IAS couple — 2008 batch Assam cadre IAS S Viswanathan and 2008 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS Ms JP Irene Cynthia — to a third cadre has hit the roadblocks even after they had approached the Guwahati Bench of the CAT which in turn directed their case to the Central government. On Friday last, a DoPT meeting chaired by secretary Bhanu Pratap Sharma rejected the proposal for…

CAT CASE: How IAS topper Ira Singhal took up the challenge of lifting 10 kg of weight in one hand

IRA Singhal who made history on Saturday by becoming the first differently abled person to top civil services examinations, was earlier denied by the government to join as IRS (Customs and Central Excise), as the service (IRS-C and CE) is not identified “for both the arms affected persons”. Read more about Ms Singhal’s fight for justice in Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and how she took up the challenge of lifting 10 kg of weight in one hand in a medical re-examination in New Delhi’s Safdarjang hospital and got her appointment letter. The story goes back to her selection in…

Applications invited from senior officers for posts of administrative members in CAT

THE government has invited applications to fill up four vacancies of administrative members in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) that will arise next year. According to a DoPT circular issued by joint secretary Archana Varma, here are the eligibility criteria:

Why govt refers to a writ petition in an IAS officer’s inter-cadre deputation order? More about Shainamol’s protest

Ms A Shainamol, 2007 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS and the one who dragged the government of India to a legal battle over not getting the cadre of her choice, has finally managed an inter-cadre deputation from Himachal Pradesh to Kerala for three years “in relaxation of extant guidelines on compassionate grounds”. But the DoPT in its notification dated January 20, 2014, added that “this approval for inter cadre deputation is without prejudice to the Government’s stand in the Writ Petition which…

Delhi High Court asks govt to empanel 1977 batch IAS Rakesh Behari as secretary

Rakesh Behari, a 1977 batch IAS officer and Managing Director of Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, would have retired by the end of the month without getting the rank of a Union secretary. But now, Delhi High Court has directed the government to…

Tamil Nadu IAS Ashok Vardhan Shetty gets voluntary retirement, courtesy CAT

Dr K Ashok Vardhan Shetty, a 1983 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS, had five more years to retire. A principal secretary in the state’s municipal department, Shetty, an engineer and MBA, simply wanted to quit the government. In September 2011, he applied for voluntary retirement and wanted him to be relieved by December 9. But the story took a new turn after Jayalalithaa-led government had decided not to relive him, and instead ordered a vigilance enquiry against the officer. It was alleged that Shetty was involved in financial irregularities when he was principal secretary in rural development and Panchayati Raj department of the state.
But Shetty decided to fight back. He approached the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) with the argument that he was not under suspension, and fulfilled the criteria of 28 years of service and 50 years of age to be eligible for voluntary retirement.
Finally, Madras Bench of the CAT agreed to his argument and asked Tamil Nadu government to accept his resignation. The CAT further directed the state government to disburse the retirement benefits to the IAS officer within three months.
An MBA from Birmingham University, it is however not known what’s Shetty plan of action post voluntary retirement.
Few very people in corridor know that Shetty passionately blogs, and has been blogging since 2007. The social media then was a strict “no no” to the babus. His blogs are Great Minds on God, Religion and Science, and Superstition Scan.

Action and Appointments

a) The Centre has approved the extension of inter-cadre transfer of HR Srinivasa, a 1996 batch Bihar cadre IAS from Bihar to Karnataka for two more years with effect from September 10, 2011. It was however mentioned in the order, dated February 27, 2012 that Srinivasa’s inter-cadre transfer can’t go beyond seven years, and the current extension too was given on “compassionate grounds” and it should not be quoted as “a precedent”.
b) Rohit Kumar, a 1997 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS and director of rural development ministry, has been laterally transferred to the ministry of road transport and highways.
c) Rakesh Singh, a 1989 batch Karnataka cadre IAS who is currently on compulsory wait in the department of legal affairs, has now been appointed as joint secretary in the ministry of home affairs.

IRS officer alleges her senior, an IAS, of sexual harassment, case lands at High Court

Disclaimer: Photo does not pertain to this case

VS Bhaskar, a 1985 batch Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS and senior officer in Nandan Nilekani-run UIDAI, has approached Andhra Pradesh high court to quash a CAT order on a sexual harassment case.
It all began when S Padmaja, an IRS officer holding the rank of additional director general in UIDAI, claimed that Bhaskar was harassing her mentally and had even tried to physically assault her. It was alleged that Bhaskar, her senior, used abusive language, threats etc. over phone when he was drunk.
Ms Padmaja went on leave and a committee looked into the matter. The Hyderabad Bench of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) recently ordered Bhaskar’s repatriation to his parent cadre of Assam and Meghalaya.
Bhaskar claimed that Ms Padmaja approached CAT only to harass him as she was not probably happy with the kind of work allotted to her.
According to a DoPT memo, the following constitutes “sexual harassment” in government:
a) Physical contacts and advances;
b) Demand or request for sexual favours
c) Sexually coloured remarks
d) Showing any pornography, or
(e) Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of a sexual nature
Also Read

DoPT’s reminder on sexual harassment

Action and Appointments

a) The Centre has accorded the inter-cadre transfer of Vivek Pratap Singh, a 1996 batch Punjab cadre IAS from Punjab to AGMUT cadre. He will be Commissioner, Chandigarh Municipal Corporation for three years.
b) BB Kaura, a Central Secretariat Service officer, has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of telecom till he retires in November 2013.

Government may introduce double shifts in Central Administrative Tribunal

CAT chairman Justice VK Bali

THE government is contemplating to have double shifts in Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) to further speed up disposal of cases, minister of state in Indian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) V Narayanasamy said at the fourth conference of CAT in New Delhi on Sunday.

Once implemented, such a move will help speedily settle complaints and other service matters of the Central government and PSU employees. The CAT came into existence in 1985, and in the last 20 years, it has disposed 4.51 lakh cases. For the Central government employees, it’s also a less costly way to get justice.

A number of government employees may not be satisfied with the performance of the CAT but judges of India’s higher judiciary have all their praises for the CAT. Justice Dalveer Bhandari, Judge of the Supreme Court of India, said that CAT has functioned as a viable substitute to the High Courts. Former Chief Justice of India, Justice JS Verma, went one step further terming CAT as “the unsung heroes of justice delivery system in India”.

Justice VK Bali, chairman of CAT, in his address said there has been an attempt to bring down the case disposal time to six months. He said that CAT has now benches at 17 different places all over the country to provide speedy and less costly justice to the employees in service related matters.

How can you ignore AK Antony’s OSD Jacob, asks a BoI reader

KV Jacob

A reader of babusofindia (BoI) has claimed Central Secretariat Service (CSS) officer Dr KV Jacob is no less important officer than Gautam Sanyal, another CSS, who BoI has recently described as the “new poster boy of India’s babudom”. A close confidante of Mamata Banerjee, Sanyal recently hogged the limelight when he was given one year’s extension after his retirement making him probably the first retired bureaucrat to head the chief minister’s office in Kolkata.

As the BoI reader has claimed, and rightly so, Dr KV Jacob is no less powerful. In 1990s, he was additional private secretary to Antony, then a minister of consumer affairs, food and public distribution. When Antony became defence minister in UPA-I, he roped in Jacob too. Jacob is now a director-ranked OSD to Union defence ministry and is an inspiration to many CSS officers in Delhi’s corridors of power. “Mr Jacob is one of the very few in civil servants to be a gold medalist in PhD in field of botany and genetics,” emailed the BoI reader.
Also Read
Sanyal is Mamata's Pulok

Govt to fill up 9 posts of CAT members; positions equivalent to High Court judges

THE government wants to fill up nine vacancies of Members in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) that are arising in 2012. The vacancies are coming up at Principal Bench Delhi, Hyderabad Bench, Jodhpur Bench, Patna Bench, Allahabad Bench, Cuttack Bench, Calcutta Bench and Guwahati Bench.

A number of senior bureaucrats who have retired or are about to retire normally vie for such posts. Members of CAT enjoy the same rank and get the same remuneration of a High Court Judge.The CAT adjudicates disputes regarding recruitment and conditions of service of government employees.

Now, applications are invited from eligible officers for filling up these nine vacancies of Administrative Members in CAT in Delhi, Hyderabad, Jodhpur, Patna, Allahabad, Cuttack, Kolkata and Guwahati. But selected candidates would be posted to a Bench where vacancy is available at the time of posting. Also, Members are liable to be transferred to any of the 17 Benches of CAT depending on exigency of work.

A Member shall hold office as such for a term of five years from the date on which he enters upon his office extendable by one more term of five years. But the upper age limit is 65.
Read
DoPT CIRCULAR on CAT VACANCIES

CAT WALK: 24496 pending cases now with Central Administrative Tribunal

IT SEEMS Indian officers have become unhappy over the years. If the number of cases filed in Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) is any indication, either the unhappiness index of Indian bureaucracy has shot up sharply, or officers have become more of a challenger or highly argumentative.

In fact, as on January 31, 2010, there are 22440 cases pending in CAT, and the number has substantially increased over the years, according to government statistics. During the year 2009, 24496 cases were instituted and 23681 were disposed. It’s not that the government employees become more argumentative all of a sudden resulting in piling up of CAT cases, but the rise is also the fallout of the fact that the number of corporations, societies and other authorities under the CAT went up from 47 to 191 during July 2007 to December 2008.

Now, in addition to setting targets by the chairman for the CAT Benches to dispose cases, the Benches are being advised to give priority to disposal of old cases pending between 2004 to 2007, according to information provided by minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions Prithviraj Chavan in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Special drive to fill quota backlog

The number of backlog reserved vacancies of the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes were 3537, 2969 and 6439 respectively, as on November 1, 2008. The government has launched a Special Recruitment Drive to fill up the backlog reserved vacancies, minister Prithviraj Chavan said in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.

Also Read

Centre woos minorities by job offers

Liberal benchmark for ST, SCs in empanelment of JS...

Babus In Demand

Officers of the rank of deputy secretary or director of the Government of lndia or

equivalent level may apply for post of Deputy Director(Admn) in AIIMS like Institution at Rishikesh under the ministry of health and family welfare. The period of

deputation is for 3 yeas.

For details, check the DoPT CIRCULAR, dated March 2, 2010

Decision to introduce Civil Services Bill pending; But why?

THE government has not yet given the final call whether Civil Services Bill which has already been drafted would be introduced in Parliament or not. Minister of State in the ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions Prithviraj Chavan informed it in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. Significantly, the minister did not elaborate why no decision on introducing the Bill was taken despite the draft was ready. Civil servants in India are closely watching the development related to the Bill as it envisages to break them free from the clutches of their political masters in matters related to transfers among others. The minister informed the House that the Civil Services Bill envisages to provide a statutory basis for the regulation of the Civil Services in India and regulate their appointment and conditions of the service in addition to laying down the fundamental values of civil services, the Civil Services Code of Ethics, Civil Service Management Code etc. What's further proposed is to set up a Civil Services Authority for facilitating review and develop Civil Services as "a professional, neutral, merit based and accountable instrument for promoting good governance and better delivery of services to citizens." Related Stories Government seeks high standard of ethics among civil servants (July 3, 2009) My Take: Brand-Building Of Europe’s Bureaucracy (June 30, 2009) Dr Manmohan Singh’s prescription for IAS (May 30, 2009) Over 22K pending cases in CAT As many as 22372 cases are pending in various benches of the Central Administrative Tribunal as on September 30, 2009. During 2007 and 2008, 17725 and 18287 cases were filed in the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) out of which 18674 and 20352 cases were disposed of respectively. It was stated in a written reply in Parliament on Thursday. As a step towards clearing the backlog, a monthly pendency report is called for from all the benches of the Central Administrative Tribunal and the rate of disposal is personally monitored by the chairman, Central Administrative Tribunal. Also, targets are being set up by the chairman for the benches. Also, benches are now advised to give priority to the disposal of old cases pending between 2004 and 2007. Action & Appointments a) Justice Swatanter Kumar, Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court has been appointed as a Judge of the Supreme Court of India. b) Justice Manmohan, Additional Judge of the Delhi High Court has been appointed as a Judge of the Delhi High Court c) Justice Syed Rafat Alam, Judge of the Allahabad High Court has been appointed as the Chief Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. Disclaimer: The picture which is the cover of Henry Reining, Jr's book is symbolic.

CVC recommends major penalty proceedings against 70 officers

THE Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) advised imposition of major penalty against 70 officers including 11 from Public Sector Banks, eight from Central Board of Excise and Customs, seven from MCD, six from Department of Telecommunications, five each from United India Insurance Co. Ltd. & ministry of defence, four each from Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan & ministry of railways, three from Central Board of Direct Taxes, two each from National Insurance Co. Ltd., Central Coalfields Ltd., CPWD & DDA, a government release said. The Commission disposed of 472 cases during September 2009 referred to it for advice. Of these, 987 complaints were sent for necessary action/ATR whereas 144 complaints were sent for investigation and report. On the Commission’s recommendations, the competent authorities issued sanctions for prosecution against 26 officers including 18 from CBEC, 3 from ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions, 2 from CBDT and one each from home affairs, BSNL & ministry of railways. Major penalty was imposed on 47 officers. These included 16 from Public Sector Banks, 14 from ministry of railways, 7 MCD and 3 from DDA. Also, conducting of technical examination of some departments led to the recoveries to the tune of Rs 61.25 crore.

Babus In Demand: One vacancy in CAT, Jaipur

Applications are invited from suitable officers for one vacancy of Administrative Member in Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) at Jaipur occurring on June, 2010. A Member shall hold office for a term of five years, extendable by one more term of five years. But no Member shall hold office after he attains the age of 65 years. The conditions of service of Chairman and Members shall be the same as applicable to Judges of the High Court. For details check the DoPT Circular DIPP secretary & WIPO DG sign MoU Ajay Shankar, secretary, department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) and Dr Francis Gurry, director general of World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for cooperation. The areas of cooperation envisaged include, assisting India in implementing its national IP and innovation strategy; empowering knowledge creators in the use of IP; building awareness on IP as a critical tool for promoting innovation and creativity through public outreach activities, a government release said. The MOU also provides for cooperation between the WIPO Worldwide Academy (WMA) and the National Institute for Intellectual Property Management, Nagpur.

Employees of PSUs including banks may come under CAT ambit

EMPLOYEES of public sector undertakings or PSUs including those working in government banks may finally be able to approach Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) for justice in matters of recruitment and conditions of service if the government succeeds in installing better infrastructure in CAT. While talking at All India Conference of CAT in New Delhi on Sunday, minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions Prithviraj Chavan (See picture) said, "More government employees would be in a position to get speedy justice for their grievances. If we can fulfil the infrastructure needs of CAT, even the PSUs and the Public Sector Banking institutions could be covered." Currently, 191 organisations of the Central government come under the ambit of CAT which has so far handled about 5.32 lakh cases out of which only about 23,000 cases are pending. While inaugurating the conference, Chief Justice of India KG Balakrishnan said that CAT had progressively improved their disposal in recent years and some regional benches disposed off a higher number of cases than the numbers instituted before them. Chairman of Principal Bench CAT Justice VK Bali informed the gathering that 91% of cases of the principal bench were upheld in the writ petitions in Delhi High Court. "We have decided it as a matter of policy that life of no case in the tribunal in any part of the country would be more than six months", he added.

CAT's conference on Sunday to deliberate on early settlement of bureaucrats' disputes

IN AN attempt to resolve disputes in a speedy manner, Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has initiated a dialogue process involving all stakeholders including law ministry and ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions. The CAT, which adjudicates disputes on recruitment, promotion etc. of government employees, will have its all India conference on Sunday to come out with its suggestions or decisions to improve its functioning and speed up administration of justice. Whereas Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan will inaugurate and deliver the keynote address, the Union minister for law & justice M Veerappa Moily and minister of state for personnel, public grievances & pensions Prithviraj Chavan will address the gathering. Chairman of CAT Justice V K Bali, several Judges of the Supreme Court, Attorney General, Solicitors General will be among those taking part in the conference. The Conference is aimed at holding a frank discussion on service laws and other issues that have a bearing on the functioning of CAT. The CAT is responsible for adjudication of disputes with respect to recruitment and conditions of service of civil servants, and posts in Union, local authorities within the territory of India or under the control of Government of India. This was done in pursuance of the amendment of Constitution of India by Articles 323A.

3rd Army Open Ladies Amateur Golf Championship ends in Delhi If you thought, golf is played only by India Inc, you are making a gross mistake. A record number of 111 players from all over the country took part in 3rd Army Open Ladies Amateur Golf Championship, held in New Delhi on October 28-30, 2009. The championship was inaugurated by Brig Kuldip Singh, VSM Dy GOC, Delhi Area & Captain of the Course. Among those who showed their talents included Gauri Monga, Gurbani Singh, Millie Saroha, Neelam Pratap Rudy, Neetu Aggarwal and Siddhi Kapoor. Significantly, golf is getting popular among Indian bureaucrats too, as there are about 700 IAS and IPS officers who play golf regularly. Read: Golf players in power corridors, June 17, 2009

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.