Anti-corruption law amended to protect officers for their bona fide mistakes; babus now expected to take bolder decisions

THE Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill, 2018, paving the way for protecting honest officers, as the investigative agencies won’t now be able to probe a serving or a retired government officer without the prior sanction of the government. It’s a major departure of the earlier regime when a public servant could be investigated for taking a bad decision even as she did not receive any pecuniary benefits. The bill which was first tabled way back in 2013, was already passed by the Rajya Sabha. The IAS association and a number of senior bureaucrats including…

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…

Should a private person’s request for sanction of prosecution of an IAS officer in a corruption case be entertained? Govt asks your comments

SHOULD a private person’s request for sanction of prosecution of an IAS officer in a corruption case be entertained? If yes, how? The Centre has decided to solicit public opinions and comments from all stakeholders including state governments, ministries or departments till August 12 before taking a call on this contentious issue. Till now, only investigative agencies ask for such sanction. But the DoPT in an office memorandum acknowledges that it has been receiving requests from private persons seeking sanction for prosecution, but without any proper proposal and supporting documents. So, the DoPT has come forward with a…

Singapore govt to sponsor Indian officers willing to learn anti-corruption strategies; Course begins on June 27

WILLING to learn anti-corruption tricks in Singapore, known to be one of the least corrupt nations in the world? The government of Singapore will provide accommodation, local transport, medical insurance and daily allowances to select middle level Indian bureaucrats who are willing to learn anti-corruption strategies at Civil Service College, Singapore to be held between June 27 to July 1, 2016. The selected officers or their ministries will have to bear just the cost of round trip air fare and other travel related expenses. Till date, Singapore has sponsored training courses and study visits for over 1 lakh officials from…

Govt to form panel of retired officers to undertake departmental inquiries against delinquent officials

THE government has decided to create a pool of retired officers with a mandate to conduct departmental inquiries against delinquent officials, the government said in an office memorandum (OM) on Thursday. The officers, who have retired either from the Central government ministries, departments or from the public sector undertakings (PSUs), would be eligible to apply for this pool or panel. Once selected, an inquiry officer will get a maximum of…

Who are the Indian officials allegedly taking $5 (Rs 300)-bribe from Walmart?

THE world’s largest retailer by revenue –Walmart had to pay bribes to Indian officials in return for regulatory clearances, mainly clearing goods through customs or securing real estate permits, according to an article published in the Wall Street Journal on October 19. The report says, the retailer paid bribes ranging from $5 to $200 to local officials in India. Before knowing more about the case, let’s get an idea of the sheer size of Warmart.  It’s the world’s largest company in terms of revenue ($485 billion, 2014 data). In other words, its revenue is almost double the Ireland’s GDP, 10 times the Slovenia’s GDP and 250 times that of Bhutan. In terms of assets…

What was the fear that forced Tamil Nadu IAS Sagayam spend a night in a graveyard?

U Sagayam, IAS in a graveyard (Photo Courtesy: Twitter)

LAST week, social media sites found an unusual trend: #StandWithSagayam. It’s about a 53-year-old promoted IAS officer in Tamil Nadu, U Sagayam. But what did he do that he became the subject matter of a social media discussion? Once this photo of Sagayam spending a night in a graveyard to "protect evidences” on a multi-crore granite scam in Madurai, went viral in Twitter, a large number of  comments poured in, and many shared this photo as well. It all started on Saturday, when…

Nitish Thakur: The Maha babu who owns two dozen properties, a Land Rover, a Mercedes and more

THE Enforcement Directorate’s Mumbai arm on Wednesday attached properties and bank fixed deposits worth Rs 56 crore in a money laundering case against Nitish Thakur, former deputy collector of Maharashtra Housing Area Development Authority (Mhada). This is in addition to last year’s ED attachment of assets worth Rs 53.57 crore from this state administrative service officer. Read more about this official who owns  two dozen bungalows and flats in Mumbai, and used to drive a Land Rover and a Mercedes.

UPSC releases sample paper on “ethics”. Want to try it out? Full Paper here

UPSC Headquarters

FROM this year, IAS aspirants will have to take a compulsory paper on “Ethics, Integrity and Aptitude” in civil services (mains) examination. And on Tuesday, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) that conducts the exam has uploaded in its website a sample paper (Paper V) so as to give an idea of the nature of questions that may be asked in the exam. In the backdrop of…

Training calendar for IAS, others includes anti-corruption strategy, ethics

A painting depicting corruption

HOW to fight corruption has figured prominently in this year’s in-service training programmes designed for IAS and other officers working under Central Staffing Scheme. The training calendar for 2013-14 shows that…

Should corrupt IAS be punished more than the rest? A CBI judgement alludes

WHILE giving a five-year jail term to a 1971 batch AGMU cadre former IAS S Malaichamy, CBI special court made a few observations about Indian Administrative Service in its 241-page judgement. Here are a few excerpts which indicate why the special judge thinks IAS officers, if found guilty, need to be punished a little more than those in other services:

Indian government to fund officers to study anti-corruption at Vienna’s IACA

IACA campus in Vienna's neighbouring town of Laxenburg

IN THIS scam-a-week news environment, the government has decided to fund officers for a two-year course in anti-corruption at Vienna’s International Anti Corruption Academy (IACA). The course, a masters degree in Anti Corruption Studies (MACS), has been added to the list of Domestic Funding of Foreign Training (DFFT) Scheme this year. But who are eligible…

PM's thoughts on "baseless allegations and unnecessary litigation"

Scene at Red Fort as PM (not seen here) was delivering his speech

WHEN UPA-II came to power in May 2009, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked his officers to think creatively and become the “believers in equity, innovation and public accountability at work”. But over the last one and half years, the tone and content of PM’s speeches changed, as those are now more of a reassurance to civil servants and political functionaries that the government won’t allow any witch-hunt to prevail upon. On Independence Day, the PM…

DoPT partners with ADB, OECD to host Asia-Pacific meet on corruption in New Delhi

IN A first of its kind, India’s personnel ministry has partnered with Asian Development Bank (ADB) and OECD to hold an Asia-Pacific meet on combating corruption. The meet being hosted by Government of India in New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan on September 28-29, 2011 will deliberate on building multi-disciplinary framework to combat corruption.

The meet, which will be attended by delegates from 28 countries, is expected to provide a forum on establishing and implementing in Asia-Pacific an anti-corruption framework including

i) International cooperation in multi-jurisdictional corruption investigations

ii) Measures to prevent and detect corruption in public procurement

iii) Corporate compliance, internal controls and ethics measures

iv) Strong citizen contributions to these frameworks

This conference is designed for policy makers, legislators, compliance practitioners, and civil society and private sector representatives seeking “holistic solutions to corruption in Asia-Pacific”. And if you are interested to participate, here are contact details:

Alok Kumar,

Joint Secretary, DoPT

Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions

Government of India

Tel: 011-23094398 email: jsv-dopt@nic.in

Shipping ministers get private secretaries

Shipping minister GK Vasan and his deputy Mukul Roy have got new private secretaries. a) Hitesh Kumar S Makwana, a 1995 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS, has been appointed as private secretary to shipping minister GK Vasan at the rank of a director.

b) Vandana Yadav, a 1998 batch West Bengal cadre IAS, has been appointed as private secretary to the minister of state for shipping Mukul Roy. Ms Yadav will hold the rank of a deputy secretary of Government of India.

Action and Appointments

a) Sanjay Kumar, a 1985 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IPS, presently working as Executive Director (Police) in Railway Board has been appointed as chief security commissioner (SCS), East Central Railway, Hajipur.

b) Subodh Kumar Jain, a 1983 batch Indian Defence Service of Engineers Service officer, has been appointed as a director in the ministry of home affairs.

c) Pravin Rawal, a 2000 batch IRS-IT officer, presently on compulsory wait in the ministry of information and broadcasting has been selected for appointment as deputy secretary in the department of financial services under the ministry of finance. 

Russia introduces a corruption resistance test

IN A unique way to spot corrupt bureaucrats, Russia’s internal ministry squad offer bribes to bureaucrats and fire those who cannot resist such temptation. The method, termed as the “corruption-resistance test”, was proposed by the ministry’s internal security directorate, according to local media reports. The practice, which has been prevalent in some countries around the world has not been followed in India, tagged as one of the most corrupt nations.

The “corruption-resistance test” works as follows. After receiving a sanction, inspectors would apply to an unwitting public servant with an offer to abuse his or her powers. The bureaucrat would be offered money, jewelry, property and other services. If the bureaucrat gets trapped, he could even be dismissed from service.

No tips from Peepli Live to US bureaucrat!

“I don’t want to give the bureaucrats in Washington any ideas, but in India the government pays $2,000 to the family of any farmer who commits suicide because of foreclosure,” wrote a prominent film writer in New York post while reviewing the dark satire “Peepli Live,” according to which tens of thousands of farmers took their own lives from 1997 to 2007.

Action and Appointments

a) Ms Meera Mehrishi, a 1979 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS has been appointed as additional secretary in the ministry of environment and forests

b) Harsh Bhal, a 1983 batch IAS has been appointed as CMD of National Handicapped Finance and Development Corporation at the level of joint secretary.

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Ministries told to redress grievances of citizens within 2 months

OFFICIALS will no longer be able to sit over files comprising complaints and grievances of aam aadmi after the government issued directions to all ministries and departments to redress grievances of the citizens within a period of two months. Also, with the introduction of a Centralized Public Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS), citizens will be able to view the status of his complaint on the web, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions, Prithviraj Chavan said in a written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Thursday. During the last three and half years (up to June 30, 2009), the total number of cases of public grievance received in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) was 109620. For cabinet secretariat, the number for the same period was 101995, the minister informed the Parliament. Steps to weed out corruption in corridors The government has taken up a few steps to implement its policy of “Zero Tolerance against Corruption”. These include: 1) Issue of Whistle Blowers Resolution, 2004 2) Enactment of Right to Information Act, 2005 3) The pro-active involvement of ministry/department through Annual Action Plan on Vigilance as a preventive measures 4) Issues of comprehensive instructions on transparency in tendering & contracting process by the CVC 5) Introduction of e-Governance and simplification of procedures and systems 6) Issue of Citizen Charters.