Govt asks for applications for the post of CVC and Vigilance Commissioner

THE government is looking for suitable candidates to replace Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), KV Chowdhry and Vigilance Commissioner, TM Bhasin, both of whom will demit office soon. Both the CVC and the Vigilance Commissioner will hold office for a 4-year-term or till the candidate attains the age of 65 years. According to government rules, the CVC is not allowed to seek any...

Debjani Chakrabarti’s appointment in CVC cancelled; she will now be ED in Rural Electrification Corporation

THE Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) last week first cancelled 2002 batch Odisha cadre IAS Debjani Chakrabarti’s appointment as director in the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on a lateral shift basis, and then appointed her as the executive director in Rural Electrification Corporation (REC). She has been in the Central deputation since...

Corruption in Senior Bureaucracy: A free-wheeling commentary by an anonymous IAS officer

A THOROUGH data mining of the past corruption cases of senior bureaucrats stored in agencies such as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) will reveal some kind of a pattern of corruption by senior bureaucrats in the government, both at the Centre and the states. But an IAS officer claiming to have 10 years of experience revealed a lot early this week while answering a question on Quora, a popular question-answer website. The question was — what is the lifestyle of an IAS officer? The post, seen so far by over 2.3 lakh visitors, went viral in social media sites on Monday. There, the officer mentioned about…

DoPT seeks comments before finalizing a new policy on foreign training of CVC officers, CVOs

THE Centre’s personnel department DoPT has sought comments as it proposes a policy of foreign training programme for Group “A” officers working in Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and also as Central Vigilance Officers (CVOs) in various Central public sector enterprises, with an in-built mechanism that the CVC officers or CVOs can’t take up the foreign training programmes if they have of late availed short-term foreign courses under the DFFT scheme. According to the proposed policy, all Group “A” officers working in the Central Vigilance Commission will be…

IAS Loses Out? Ex-IRS officer Kosaraju Veeraiah Chowdary tipped to be the next CVC

THE PM-headed panel that includes Leader of Congress in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge selected the next Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), a post that has been lying vacant since September last year when the then CVC Pradeep Kumar had retired. And a former IRS officer Kosaraju Veeraiah Chowdary, the Income-Tax sleuth who played a critical role in probes like 2G spectrum allocation and the HSBC Geneva taxpayers list, is tipped to be the next CVC, according to…

CVC to empanel 6 to 8 former bureaucrats to assist the Commission

BY January 19, retired secretary or additional secretary-level bureaucrats, former PSU chairmen and whole time directors etc. are expected to apply for the position of experts in Central Vigilance Commission (CVC). About 8 such vacancies have arisen. The experts will help the Commission in reconsidering proposals of sanction for prosecution of officers. The remuneration at Rs 5,000 is at per sitting basis. Here are the eligibility and other terms and conditions:

CVO-less PSUs: List of IAS, IPS, IRS officers in offer list; Centre asks their “willingness” to be posted on certain locations

WITH as many as nine Central PSUs being CVO-less and seven more vacancies on the card, the Centre has asked all the officers who are presently in offer for appointment to the post of Chief Vigilance Officer (CVO) in various CPSEs “to give their willingness for consideration against the vacant locations of the posts” in various Centre Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs). First, here is the list of officers belonging to IAS, Indian Forest Service, IRS, IRAS, ITS etc. who want to become CVOs:

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:

Where are action-taken reports on vigilance probes, DoPT asks ministries

WITH anti-corruption protests on streets fading out, bureaucrats in various ministries seem to have taken it easy on routine compliance of vigilance matters. A number of Union ministries and departments have failed to submit the action taken report on…

Govt officers’ choice for a particular CPSE “not entertained”, says DoPT

Photo Courtesy: BEML

THE department of personnel and training (DoPT) has made it clear that officers applying as chief vigilance officers in Central Public Sector Enterprises can’t give preference to which organization he or she wants to work. In a letter to chief secretaries dated October 19, 2012, additional secretary in DoPT Dr SK Sarkar said...

Now, a CEO can compete with bureaucrats for NHAI chairman’s post

LIKE the post of Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) which was thrown open for private persons, the chairman of National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is no longer a preserve of the babus. In a major departure from the existing norms, the government has allowed CEO and COO of private infrastructure companies with a net worth of Rs 2,000 crore, to apply for the NHAI chairman’s post, according to a report appeared in a financial daily.

Despite the salary of NHAI chairman is low at about Rs 11 lakh per year, in compared with Rs 60 to 80 lakh yearly remuneration of a CEO of a large infrastructure company, some former bureaucrat-turned CEOs are expected to join the race.

In case of the CVC’s post, names of five non-bureaucrats were recommended out of the initial list of 40 probables. The Supreme Court hearing the PJ Thomas case directed a change of the policy and asked the government to consider eminent private persons as well for the job. According to an RTI which got wide publicity in national newspapers, candidates for the CVC’s post included corporate honcho Ajai Chowdhry of the HCL Info Systems whose name was recommended by the department of information and technology. He, however, withdrew his name later. Also, Vice-President’s secretariat recommended the name of the social worker Dr Leo Rebello for the post of the CVC.

Now, the Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved the proposal of road transport and highways ministry’s proposal of allowing CEO and COO of infrastructure companies to apply for NHAI chairman’s post. The proposal also said that an additional secretary-level officer, or a class one officer of a public sector undertaking can apply for the job.

The NHAI has been headless since December 2010, and the road transport and highways secretary has taken additional charge of the top NHAI job.

Babu Marriage: Srivatsa Krishna and Gunjan Krishna

The Central government has transferred Srivatsa Krishna, a 1994 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS and Ms Gunjan Krishna, a 2004 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS from their respective cadres to Karnataka cadre on the ground of marriage. This was done in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-rule (2) of Rule 5 of the  Indian Administrative Service (Cadre) Rules, 1954 and with the concurrence of the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

Action and Appointments

a) The government has approved inter-cadre deputation of Ms Nidhi Kesarwani, a 2004 batch Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS from Manipur-Tripura cadre to Uttar Pradesh cadre for a period of five years.

BoI Power List: CVC Pradeep Kumar ranked third most powerful bureaucrat

Pradeep Kumar: Scaling High

IN THIS season of scams and growing anti-corruption movements, it’s not unusual that power centre shifts from the conventional powerful bureaucrats to those who check-mate the high and mighty. Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Pradeep Kumar is the third most powerful bureaucrat, according to BoI (babusofindia.com) list of 5 Most Powerful Indian Bureaucrats, 2011. This is the third year in a row that BoI is coming out with this power list. Cabinet secretary Ajit Kumar Seth and Principal secretary to PM TKA Nair are ranked fourth and fifth most powerful bureaucrats in 2011 list.

Kumar’s power comes from fact that the CVC just can’t sit idle when there is a nationwide protest against graft. That means more concrete actions against corrupt bureaucrats are on their way, and it’s not unusual to find the government’s anti-corruption watchdog becoming much more vigilant. And that ultimately makes Kumar more powerful that he was as India’s defence secretary. The equation may, however, change when a strong and independently selected Lokpal anchors the show. But that may still take some months, and the actual implementation may take a year.

Kumar, a 1972 batch retired IAS, was unanimously selected as India’s Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), a post that unexpectedly lied vacant after the Supreme Court quashed 1973 batch retired IAS PJ Thomas’ controversial appointment as CVC. Kumar had earlier worked as chairman, National Highways Authority of India, secretary, disinvestment, defence production and then defence.

Among the high profile 1972 batch officers that are still playing key roles in corridors of power include national security adviser (NSA) Shiv Shankar Menon, Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai, RBI governor D Subbarao, Planning Commission Member Secretary Sudha Pillai to name a few.
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Pradeep Kumar as CVC: At 62, this Haryana cadre IAS set to be have busier schedule

Kumar with a few mountaineers

FOR quite sometime, 1972 batch officers have turned lucky, but defence secretary Pradeep Kumar is even luckier. He is almost 62 and is retiring as defence secretary next month. But his post-retirement job is ready, as this Haryana cadre IAS officer has been unanimously selected as India’s next Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC), a post that unexpectedly lied vacant after the Supreme Court quashed 1973 batch retired IAS PJ Thomas’ controversial appointment as CVC.

Among the high profile 1972 batch officers that are still playing key roles in corridors of power include national security adviser (NSA) Shiv Shankar Menon, Comptroller and Auditor General of India Vinod Rai, RBI governor D Subbarao, Planning Commission Member Secretary Sudha Pillai just to name a few.

Know Your New CVC

Name: Pradeep Kumar,

Cadre: Haryana cadre IAS

Batch: 1972

Educational Qualifications

Masters in Economics

Major Postings

a) Joint Secretary in the ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises, New Delhi from September 20, 1997 to September 11, 2002

b) Resident Commissioner, Haryana Bhavan, New Delhi

(From April, 10, 2003 to December 19, 2003)

c) Additional secretary, Mines and Minerals, Coal

(From December 19, 2003 to June 23, 2006)

d) Chairman, National Highways Auth of India (NHAI),

(From October 4,2006 to July 30, 2007)

e) Secretary, department of disinvestment, Ministry of Finance

(From July 30, 2007 to August 1, 2008)

f) Secretary, defence production

(From February 2, 2008 to July 2009)

g) Defence secretary

(July 31, 2009 till now)

Foreign degree

MSc in economics and social science, from UK (1986)

Govt modifies 2007 guidelines; Stints in UPSC, CVC be treated as Central Staffing

THE tenure as deputy secretary, director, joint secretary etc. in Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) and Central Information Commission will now be treated as part of Central Staffing Scheme. That means an officer can no longer keep himself away from the cadre beyond his Central Staffing period in a ministry and then shifting to any of such entities or vice-a-versa.

The government has modified its guidelines dated November, 2007 under which the posts in UPSC, CVC and CIC got classified as non-Central Staffing Scheme posts. The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has now approved that posts under UPSC, CIC and CVC would be treated as Central Staffing posts.

Read

DoPT CIRCULAR, dated April 19, 2011

Global Window 

Pak SC asks bureaucrats not to accommodate political masters

Pakistan’s Supreme Court said on Friday that it wanted to end the culture where the bureaucrats should not have any expectation for future extension and should not accommodate political masters, according to Pakistan’s leading newspapers. One of the Supreme Court judges said that there was a perception that a civil servant who cooperated with the government was awarded future extension, adding that if such a culture was allowed to continue bureaucrats would have to be clubbed with certain political parties.

Programme for Indian bureaucrats in Toronto

There will be a Commonwealth Secretariat-sponsored executive programme at York University in Canadian city of Toronto from June 5 to June 17, 2011. It’s meant for Indian civil servants.

CVC wants cases against secretaries or CMDs not to be forwarded to cabinet secretary-headed group

SOUNDS odd, but anti-corruption watchdog Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has virtually given license to junior officers of ministries or departments to take up probe and even ‘deal’ with secretaries of government of India facing complaints. In an order dated March 14, 2011, the CVC directed that all such cases against secretaries or chief executives of public sector enterprises and financial institutions should not be forwarded to the cabinet secretary-headed committee of secretaries.

It was found that many of such cases sent by CVC to concerned departments for inquiries were in turn referred to the cabinet secretary-headed committee.

“The Commission would, therefore, make it clear that all complaints referred by the Commission to the Ministries/Departments against the above categories of officials (secretaries of government of India and CEO of public sector enterprises and CMDs of public sector banks and financial institutions) are to be dealt or inquired into and reports submitted to the Commission by the respective authorities to whom complaints are sent by the Commission and such complaints should not be forwarded or referred to the Group of Secretaries or Group of Officers for consideration”, the CVC Circular said.

Significantly, the government in an office order dated January 14, 2010 decided that complaints against secretaries, whether anonymous or otherwise, would first be scrutinized by a group of secretaries headed by the cabinet secretary and the group was entrusted the power to close the complaint if it was found to be frivolous. But the move raised doubts that it was one way to end many a case against senior bureaucrats thereby forcing the DoPT to issue a clarification on March 8, 2010.

In that corrigendum, the CVC was allowed to look into complains including the anonymous ones against secretaries. The cabinet secretary was however empowered to scrutinize those complaints against secretaries which come to DoPT or PMO. But if any person sends the complaint to CVC, the cabinet secretary would not be able to scrutinize it, let alone closing it.

461 Delhi Police women personnel given commando training

The government has provided commando training to women personnel of Delhi Police to tackle the law and order situation in Delhi. Commando training is being provided to women personnel of Delhi Police with effect from January, 2011 and as many as 461 woman constables of Delhi Police have been imparted commando training till February 28, 2011.

Action and Appointments

a) The Central government has approved the extension of inter-cadre deputation of Khade

Nitin Kumar Shivdas, a 2004 batch Assam cadre IAS, from Assam-Meghalaya to Maharashtra cadre for a further period of two years beyond March 17, 2011.

b) Ashish Bahuguna, a 1978 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS, presently additional secretary, department of agriculture and Cooperation has been appointed as additional secretary and

financial adviser in the department of agriculture and cooperation.

c) Guljari La1 Bansal, a 1992 batch IA and AS officer has been appointed as director in the department of expenditure under the ministry of finance.

Who is PJ Thomas? Supreme Court quashes CVC's appointment

WITH the Supreme Court quashing the appointment of PJ Thomas as Central Vigilance Commissioner, the government now faces many an unanswered question regarding Thomas’ appointment. The apex court rejected the contention of the government that the appointment of the CVC cannot be brought under judicial review.

Apart from serving as chief secretary of Kerala between September 18, 2007 to January 22, 2009, Thomas had served as secretary in the ministry of Parliamentary Affairs between January 2009 and September 2009 and then as secretary in the Department of Telecom. He was also a strong contender for the cabinet secretary’s post, but it did not materialize when incumbent KM Chandrasekhar got an extension in May 2010.  

Profile of PJ Thomas

Service: IAS

Cadre: Kerala

Batch: 1973

Date of Birth: January 13, 1951

Place of Domicile: Kerala

Mother Tongue: Malayalam

Educational Qualifications

a) Graduate (Physics, chemistry and match) First div

b) PG in Physics, First div

c) PG in Economics, Second division

Major Postings

a) District Magistrate (Deputy secretary level), Ernakulam

(From June 1, 1982 to April 1, 1984)

b) Secretary (Deputy secretary level)

Finance (From April 1, 1984 to July 1, 1985)

c) Chief Electoral Officer (Joint secretary level)

State Election Commission

(From February 1, 1998 to January 22, 2005)

d) Principal secretary (Additional secretary level)

Human Resource Development

(From January 22, 2005 to September 13, 2005)

e) Director, Additional secretary level, IIM

(From September 13, 2005 to February 1, 2006)

f) Additional chief secretary, Human Resource Development

(From February 1, 2006 to September 17, 2007)

g) Chief secretary (secretary level) Kerala

September 18, 2007 to January 22, 2009)

h) Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, New Delhi

(From January 23, 2009 to September 30, 2009)

g) Secretary, Department of Telecom, Ministry of Communications & Info Tech, New Delhi

(From October 1, 2009)

h) Appointed as CVC on September 3, 2010

Foreign Training

One year course in public administration at IIPA, Paris (1987)

2nd Generation: Will telecoms bureaucrats including those of NDA time be questioned?

AS TWO former telecom officials, 1973 batch retired IAS Siddhartha Behura and 1984 batch Indian Economic Service officer RK Chandolia are behind bars, former Central Vigilance Commissioner Pratyush Sinha has now alleged that several telecom officials tried to delay CVC’s probe into 2G scam.

Sinha who had served as the head of India’s anti-corruption watchdog for four years till September, 2010, said there was a delay on the part of some telecoms officials in replying to CVC’s queries regarding 2G spectrum allocation, according to media reports. He further said that his Commission advised against the allocation of spectrums on first-cum-first basis.

Meanwhile, many more officials who had served in the department of telecoms from 2003 could feel the heat sometime later as telecoms minister Kapil Sibal is keen on CBI investigating the matter right from the NDA regime. The Justice (retired) Shivraj Patil report, for example, has dragged in a former DoT secretary into the controversy. The report says: “TRAI had also recommended that .. additional players could be introduced through multi stage bidding process, which was also accepted by the Union Cabinet on 31.10.2003. However, in deviation with said requirements, the Secretary DOT, on the contrary, on 17.11.2003, approved formulation of procedure of accepting the applications for grant of UASLs by adopting procedure similar to the procedure adopted for grant of BSL…” (Para 3.2(i)/Page 84)

It remains to be seen whether heads of more bureaucrats who had worked in department of telecoms during the last eight years or so, will be rolled in this continuing 2G saga.

Bihar IAS Pratyaya Amrit invited by US Department of State

And finally, here is a good piece of news for Indian bureaucracy. Pratyaya Amrit, a 1991 batch Bihar cadre IAS, has been invited by the US Department of State to participate in International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). The program will be on urban planning and economic development, to be held in the US from February 7 to 25, 2011. The leadership program is meant for policy makers, urban planners, architects, public transportation specialists, academics and journalists among others.

Action and Appointments

a) Jayant  Singh, an IRTS official presently working in the ministry of railways, has been appointed as deputy director (director level), in the La1 Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie.

b) Dinesh Kumar Yadav, a 1998 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IPS has been selected for appointment as Assistant Director General (deputy secretary level) in the Unique Identification Authority of India under the Planning Commission, New Delhi.

CVC drafts national anti-corruption document recommending action by government, judiciary, media etc.

THE Central Vigilance Commission has formulated a draft anti-corruption strategy that will become a dynamic process with an in-built mechanism of an annual review. Named as National Anti Corruption Strategy or NACS, the policy document recommends a set of action to be taken by the government and a set of action by the political entities, judiciary, media, citizens, private sector and civil society organizations. The proposed policy aims at conscious reshaping of the country’s national integrity system.

Meanwhile, CVC is organizing a seminar in New Delhi on Thursday on “Empowering Citizens to Combat Corruption” on the occasion of the international anti-corruption day which is celebrated on December 9 every year. PJ Thomas, Central Vigilance Commissioner will deliver the inaugural address. On this occasion, the project “VIGEYE” will be launched which is a more user-friendly platform for interface between the CVC and those citizens who are harassed by corruption.

India has recently witnessed a series of scams including the Commonwealth Games scam and 2G Spectrum Scam. Supreme Court has also taken up a PIL challenging the appointment of PJ Thomas, the head of the anti-corruption watchdog CVC, as a two decades old case has been haunting him.

Action and Appointments

a) Government has nominated M Shashidhar Reddy, presently a member of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) as Vice Chairman of NDMA. Dr Muzaffar Ahmad, former Director, Health Services, Jammu and Kashmir has been appointed as a member of NDMA.

b) Eight envoys presented their credentials to the President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil at a ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Wednesday. The envoys were Oleksandr D. Shevchenko, the ambassador of Ukraine, Dembo Badjie, the high commissioner of Gambia, Mrs Khadija Radman Mohamed Gahnem, the ambassador of Yemen, Stewart Beck, the high commissioner of Canada, Dr Ali Abd-al-Aziz al-Isawi, the ambassador of Libya, Dr Samuel Kaveto Mbambo, the high commissioner of Namibia, Peep Jahilo, the ambassador of Estonia and Lucio Amati, the ambassador of San Marino.

c) The government has disclosed grants-in-aid provided by Central Government to Sanskriti school. According to a reply to a Parliament question, grants-in-aid provided by Central Government was Rs 1.87 crore in 2007-08, whereas it was Rs 92.3 lakh in 2008-09. However, no grants were made in 2009-10 and during the first eight months of the current fiscal. In Sanskriti, 60 percent seats are reserved for the wards of civil services including the defence cadre and allied services, 15 percent for the wards of the economically weaker sections and 5 percent for the wards of the staff.

Moily’s “saints after retirement” comment for bureaucrats echoes a sense of Netagiri

A SEASONED Indian politician and Union law minister M Veerappa Moily’s sarcastic comment about failed bureaucrats becoming saints after retirement, has once again demonstrated the growing tension between politicians and a new breed of outspoken bureaucrats. There have been a number of recent instances in which ministers such as Jairam Ramesh, Dinesh Trivedi and Subodh Kant Sahay have used public platforms to pass adverse remarks on bureaucrats.
For Moily, however, it was not a direct assault as he did not name the bureaucrat he was attacking, though it could be easily inferred that he was referring to former Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) Pratyush Sinha. Sinha recently told a section of media that one-third of Indians are “utterly corrupt”. Moily said that a few top officials could have made a difference in office, but having failed to do so, they become “saints after retirement”. “When I was abroad recently, I came across the comments of a retired bureaucrat who said in a media interview that every third Indian is corrupt,” he said.
Though Moily’s comment has angered many a sitting and retired bureaucrat, all have chosen to remain silent and bury the issue at this stage. But India’s principal opposition party BJP picked up the issue and slammed Moily’s comment. Media reports have quoted BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad saying that a government which “patronises corruption should not shoot the messenger”. 
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Cabinet secretary contender PJ Thomas sworn in as CVC; what’s in store for M Ramachandran?

WITH Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s firm backing, telecom secretary PJ Thomas was sworn in as 14th Central Vigilance Commissioner by the President of India in a ceremony held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday despite BJP’s serious objection to his appointment alleging he has a tainted background. The BJP leaders boycotted the ceremony which was attended by Vice-President of India, Prime Minister, home minister, law minister and minister of state for personnel, public grievances and pensions.

A 1973 batch Kerala cadre IAS, Thomas was instrumental in successful 3G auctions that gave the government a windfall of whopping Rs 67,000 cr. He was also a serious contender for cabinet secretary’s post in May this year when incumbent KM Chandrasekhar was given the second extension marring prospects of Thomas and a few other senior officers including then urban development secretary M Ramachandran and finance secretary Ashok Chawla. It’s believed that PM promised all these contenders important post-retirement government assignments.

With Thomas getting his due with the CVC’s post, it remains to be seen what PM has to offer to Ramachandran. If sources in corridor are to be believed, Ramachandran could be engaged either in National Disaster Management Authority where all Members hold the rank of a minister of state, or even made Delhi metro chief when 78-year-old E Sreedharan retires after the Commonwealth Games. The announcement of the next Delhi Metro chief could come at the end of September, or beginning of October.

For Thomas, who holds a master’s degree in physics and economics, post-mortem of the allegations related to the Commonwealth Games could be the immediate priority.

Check out: Profile of PJ Thomas

List of 25 officers appointed as JS (in situ)