Who is Tom Jose? Why is his letter to a fellow IAS creating a storm in Kerala

Tom Jose

A LETTER written by Tom Jose, a 1984 batch Kerala cadre IAS, to his senior IAS and Union urban development secretary Sudhir Krishna has created a political storm in Kerala last weekend. The letter dated September 26, 2012, which was made public by a CPI (M) Member of Parliament, has reportedly sought details about…

Is E Sreedharan blaming Haldea for Kochi Metro’s massive cost overrun?

E Sreedharan

Metro Man E Sreedharan, currently handling the Kochi Metro rail project, blamed bureaucracy for a cost overrun of Rs 2600 crore. Though Sreedharan did not name any bureaucrat in the interview given to CNBC-TV18, those who have tracked corridors’ inside stories would safely guess he was blaming a bureaucrat in Planning Commission known for his proximity to deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Is he indirectly blaming highly powerful yet controversial bureaucrat Gajendra...

6 contenders including 4 railway officers, 2 insiders in race for Delhi Metro MD post

SIX contenders including four railway officers are in race for prestigious post of Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC). On October 14, a three-member panel including the current MD E Sreedharan will interview six short-listed candidates. Over two dozen technocrats and bureaucrats had applied for the post after 78-year-old Sreedharan made it crystal clear that he would demit office by December 31, 2011 and an advertisement asking for suitable candidates was placed. DMRC’s annual turnover is about Rs 12,000 crore.

Here are the six short-listed names:

a)      Mangu Singh (Director, Works, DMRC)

b)      Sharat Sharma (Executive Director, Electrical, DMRC)

c)      Vipin Sharma (AGM North Frontier Railway)

d)      Sudhir Mittal (South Eastern Railway CPO Construction)

e)      RK Gupta (MD, Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation)

f)        Vijay Anand (Director, Rail Vikas Nigam Limited)

E Sreedharan reportedly said in the past that he would prefer an insider rather than an outsider to replace him. Though Mangu Singh and Sharat Sharma are currently working in DMRC, 1981 batch Indian Railway Service of Engineers officer Vijay Anand too worked in DMRC as director, projects.

The other two panelists of the selection committee are Union urban development secretary Sudhir Krishna and Delhi chief secretary Praveen Kumar Tripathi. Sreedharan has been saying all along that a very capable and experienced professional is to be selected to head such a prestigious organization. He also wanted the selected candidate to work with him for three months before the new person takes charge as Delhi Metro chief.

16 Bihar officers promoted as IAS

The Centre has cleared Bihar government’s proposal to promote 16 state civil services officers as IAS. They are Dhirendra Mohan Jha, Anil Kumar Verma, Lakshmeshwar Jha, Virendra Kumar Singh, Parmanand Jha, Ram Babu Singh, Dharmeshwar Thakur, Vijay Kumar Singh, Raghwendra Jha, Ram Roop Singh, Upendra Kumar, Anil Kumar, Rajiv Kumar Singh, Misbah Bari, Sanjay Kumar Singh, Ifthkar Masan

Action and Appointments

a) The Appointments Committee of Cabinet has approved extension of Central deputation tenure of Dr Amar Singh, a 1981 batch MP cadre IAS who is currently working as Executive Director (T), Food Corporation of India. The extension is for three months till January 6, 2012.

Antony asks defence finance officials to provide innovative solutions to efficiently manage funds

TALK on completion of government projects on time seems to be the flavour of the season after India is being criticized globally for its tardy implementation of key projects related to Commonwealth Games scheduled to be held in October 2010 in New Delhi. No wonder, without naming projects where India’s record has turned miserable, defence minister AK Antony underlined the need to complete projects within the stipulated timeframe when he addressed a gathering in New Delhi on Wednesday after inaugurating a complex of the Defence Accounts Department (DAD). (Picture: During the inauguration of the DAD building) He commended the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), which was the construction agency, for not only completing the project on time but also avoiding cost overruns. The minister further gave a very important message to defence finance officials: “Your officers must not only monitor the progress of budget utilization, but also come up with innovative solutions to help the Services manage their funds in an efficient and a transparent manner”. babu blogger’s take: What Mr Antony however did not openly say was how finance and accounts officials tend to pose as roadblocks in timely completion of projects as they create a sense of fear while scrutinize accounts. Remember, E Sreedharan of Delhi Metro is a retired railway official who can afford not to follow rule books, and instead go by his reverse clock alone. Most government officials handling big infrastructure projects in India are scared of being hauled up by vigilance department if not by the CBI, and hence don’t mind missing the target if need be! Top NE cops to meet on Friday Ministry of home affairs (MHA) is organizing a meeting on October 9, 2009 in Guwahati to facilitate interaction between North-Eastern states to coordinate in dealing with the militant groups operating in their states and to formulate effective counter-insurgency operations. The meeting will be attended by the home secretaries and DGPs of the North Eastern States. The meeting would also discuss the issues relating to modernization of state police forces, rehabilitation of surrendered militants, filling up of vacancies and sanction of additional posts in the state police forces, according to a government release. Search Your Own Name If you are a bureaucrat, you can just write your or your colleague’s or senior’s name in our newly installed “Google Custom Search” above, and see for yourself how babu blogger has featured you or your senior. You can also write your batch (for example 1974 batch) or the cadre’s name (say Rajasthan cadre) in the search engine located at the top to check out whether you have missed out any major news that impacts you. Also, try to locate anything and everything related to Indian bureaucracy through this new search engine. Keep reading babu blogger’s take on events that are happening in India’s power corridors.

Non-Sarkari Feel: Nilekani’s secretariat in Planning Commission has wooden flooring

A CORNER area of the third floor of the Planning Commission is ready for accommodating the support staff of newly-created Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)’s chairman Nandan Nilekani. The area with wooden floor and glass separators looks more like a small corporate office, and is strikingly different from other parts of the Yojana Bhawan located in New Delhi’s Parliament Street. Mr Nilekani, who is resigning as co-chairman of software giant Infosys Technologies, is likely to be given a room in the first floor somewhere near deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s office. All Members of the Planning Commission too have their rooms in that floor. The UIDAI office may finally be shifted out of the Planning Commission once it has the full strength. Some of the staff, who had come from other government departments on a temporary basis, began work in UIDAI. Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a 1987 batch Orissa cadre IAS, was appointed for a period of five years as deputy director general (DDG) of the Authority, but he has not joined the office as yet. One of the deputy director generals of National Informatics Centre Dr (Ms) Shefali S Dash, who temporarily joined the Authority, has now been playing a key role in setting up the office. The Planning Commission of India had already begun the process of recruiting 35 officers at the level of joint secretary or equivalent both at the Centre and states. Once the forthcoming Budget allocates the fund, the UIDAI will have the requisite infrastructure both in New Delhi and state capitals across the country. But for now, officers in Planning Commission have begun to gossip how easy or difficult it would be for Mr Nilekani to cope up with government’s rule books. You need a sanction even for buying a pen, they said. After all, the only big sarkari success story, Delhi Metro man E Sreedharan, had a long innings in working with the government! Babus In Demand National Institute of Disaster Management, which is an arm of the ministry of home affairs, intends to empanel consultants both from government and private sector. The Institute is looking for both retiring and serving civil servants to work as consultants. For further details, please log on www.nidm.gov.in Appointment Special secretary (internal security) in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) Raman Srivastava has been appointed as Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) with effect from August 1, 2009, a government release has said. He will replace M L Kumawat who retires on July 31, 2009. Mr Srivastava is a Kerala cadre IPS officer of the 1973 batch.

Incredible! Amitabh Kant is front-runner for DMICDC's CEO; may handle USD 90 billion project

FORMER tourism joint secretary and 1980 batch Kerala cadre IAS Amitabh Kant is now the front-runner for heading Delhi Mumbai industrial corridor development corporation (DMICDC) which is the nodal body to execute USD 90 billion India-Japan friendship project, sources close to the development told babu blogger. Mr Kant, who is best known for his six-year-old (2001-2007) stint as joint secretary of tourism ministry, is credited with championing the ‘Incredible India’ campaign (See photograph above). Last month, Tata group chairman Ratan Tata released a book – “Branding India-An Incredible Journey”-- authored by Mr Kant who is now principal secretary and special commissioner (industries) of Government of Kerala. Significantly, the government short-listed a number of infrastructure honchos for the post of chief executive of DMICDC last year, and interviews were conducted in September 2008. But Mr Kant was nowhere in the picture when a search committee including cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar, DIPP secretary Ajay Shankar and Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) MD E Sreedharan, screened a few possible names for the post. The main contenders then included senior director of ICICI Venture and former IAS Shailesh Pathak, L&T infrastructure finance’s CEO Suneet Maheshwari, Gammon India’s MD Parvez Umrigar, I D International’s Hong Kong-based director Alok Jain, Ascendas Property Management Services India’s head, IT-SEZ, Rajeev Chadha, former IAS and currently CEO of Tata Realty and Infrastructure Sanjay G Ubale, KEC International’s CEO Ramesh Chandak and Petronet MHB’s MD S B Pandey. But a number of them including Mr Pathak and Mr Ubale were not so keen in taking up the job then. In fact, former industry secretary Ajay Dua was instrumental in shaping the concept of DMICDC, and it was widely believed that Mr Dua would be appointed as its chief executive post retirement. But the government decided to put an age-cap making it impossible for any retired person to contest for the post. It now remains to be seen whether Mr Kant, an officer from Kerala, clicks in power corridors of Delhi when Kerala is the ultimate flavour of the season in Raisina Hill!