FM asks IRS officers to be hardworking and efficient; appeals citizens to change mindset

FINANCE minister Arun Jaitley on Monday stressed upon the ‘culture of correctness’ and ‘fairness’ that every revenue officer should follow in their assignments. Be hardworking and efficient while ensuring integrity and credibility —said FM while inaugurating professional training of 68th batch of IRS (Customs and Central Excise) officers at NACEN Campus at Faridabad in Haryana on Monday. Here are 10 highlights of the FM’s address:

8% growth, rationalization of Central schemes, appointment of bank CMDs – what top 3 finance ministry secretaries had to say

Adhia (left), Watal during the press meet

FINANCE ministry top bureaucrats on Monday talked about the health of Indian economy: A possible 8% growth, government’s role in passing over benefits of RBI’s soft monetary policy, 5% fall in direct tax collection, rationalization of Central schemes and revamping the process of selection of directors, CMDs of public sector banks, among others. The bureaucrats who participated in the press meet included finance secretary and 1978 batch IAS Ratan P Watal, DEA secretary and 1980 batch IAS Shaktikanta Das, revenue secretary and 1981 batch IAS Hasmukh Adhia, Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian, among others. Here are 10 things which the top North Block bureaucrats had to say:

Budget preparation begins amid shaky economic ground; what did 5 Finmin secretaries discuss on Monday?

Finance Ministry secretaries discuss about economy, budget

A DAY before Prime Minister’s meeting on global economic scenario with captains of industry including Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani, Tata group chairman Cyrus Mistry and Airtel group chairman Sunil Mittal, RBI Governor, top government officials, bankers and leading economists etc. today at his residence in 7 Race Course Road, the finance ministry on Monday had an all-secretary meeting. Chaired by newly-designated finance secretary and 1978 batch IAS Ratan P Watal (who is also in charge of expenditure department), the meeting took stock of the present economic crisis and discussed about creating a mechanism of better co-ordination among five departments belonging to the finance ministry, as the preparation of the next General Budget, to be presented in February 2016, had actually begun. Now, such meetings involving all five finance ministry departments will be held on…

Hasmukh Adhia: Accountant, IAS, PhD in Yoga and new financial services secretary

MANY may still remember prime minister Narendra Modi’s photo at a yoga session with Gujarat bureaucrats when he was the state chief minister and key driver in a programme called Karmayogi Abhiyan, which was meant for transforming Gujarat bureaucrats into Karmayogis by imparting training. The training included working skill, pranayam and yoga. And one of the key bureaucrats who had impressed the then chief minister was 1981 batch IAS Dr Hasmukh Adhia. Now Adhia, who has a degree in accountancy and PhD in Yoga, has been appointed as secretary in the department of financial services. He is also a…

Know Your Babu: Financial services secretary Gurdial Singh Sandhu; Mayaram soon to be designated as finance secretary

RAJASTHAN cadre IAS of 1980 batch Gurdial Singh Sandhu has been appointed as new secretary in the department of financial services under the ministry of finance. In somewhat like a musical chair, Sandhu will take the place of 1979 batch Gujarat cadre IAS Rajiv Takru who is…

Actor Hasleen Kaur, shooter Gagan Narang to share their ideas of India with finance ministry officials

Model Hasleen Kaur

MODEL and former first runner-up at Femina Miss India Hasleen Kaur is scheduled to share her ideas of India this weekend at a government-organized retreat in Surajkund, located at the outskirt of Delhi. And her audience? All top finance ministry officials who will be camping there in a three-day-long retreat beginning...

Usha Ananthasubramanian: First CMD of all-women Bharatiya Mahila Bank specializes on statistics, ancient culture…

BANKER Usha Ananthasubramanian has duel masters on diametrically opposite subjects: one on statistics and the other on ancient Indian culture. On the top of it, she understands branding. So, when finance minister P Chidambaram was on a lookout for a candidate to head India’s first all-women bank, Bharatiya Mahila Bank, he spotted…

JD Seelam: How an IAS officer’s high risk appetite makes him a Union Minister

COME August, IAS-turned Congress leader from Andhra Pradesh Jesudasu Seelam will turn 60. That means, had he continued in bureaucracy which he had left in 1999 to join active politics, Seelam would have retired in two months and gone into oblivion like most of his senior colleagues in bureaucracy. On Monday, this two-time Rajya Sabha MP…

Finmin deputy director PGS Rao’s 2G note on Chidambaram jolts UPA

Dr PGS Rao, the finance ministry bureaucrat and author of the 14-page note dragging home minister P Chidambaram into 2G scam, would have walked into North Block grossly unnoticed. Not any longer.

Maybe, you can’t still recognize him even if you walk past him while going on a morning walk at Mandir Marg in New Delhi’s Gole Market where he resides. Rao, a deputy director (infra and energy) in department of economic affairs under finance ministry, was never seen behind Pranab babu when he talks to media in front of the Finmin’s main gate.

The note prepared by Rao and “seen by” finance minister Pranab Mukherjee has already sent tremors in UPA-II government as it clearly stated that Chidambaram, then finance minister, could have tried harder to force A Raja, then telecom minister to auction valuable spectrum, instead of merely agreeing to Raja’s methods. The note was already produced in court as a piece of evidence in support of Chidambaram’s alleged role in 2G spectrum case that according to Comptroller and Auditor General caused a loss of whopping Rs 1.76 lakh crore to the exchequer.

Rao’s note dated March 25, 2011, was sent to Vini Mahajan, joint secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office. An RTI applicant procured it through the official channels from the PMO.

The principal opposition party BJP wants Chidambaram to resign in the wake of the finance ministry note “seen by” none other than UPA heavyweight Pranab Mukherjee. Law minister Salman Khurshid however dismissed Rao’s note saying that it “comes from a junior official in the (finance) ministry...it’s not a paper that is being sent either by a senior functionary or a minister”.

In government hierarchy, a deputy director comes much below in the line up which is as follows: Secretary---Additional Secretary---Joint Secretary---Director---Under Secretary…

Action and Appointments

a) R Gopalakrishnan, a 1979 batch MP cadre IAS and additional secretary to Prime Minister, has been appointed as Member Secretary, National Innovation Council, in the rank and pay of additional secretary, for a period of two years. Gopalakrishnan, who had earlier served as private secretary to former MP chief minister Digvijay Singh, relinquished his charge in the Prime Minister’s Office after completing his tenure on September 23, 2011. He joined PMO soon after UPA-I came into power in 2004. 

Finance ministry restricts foreign junkets, buying of new vehicles for bureaucrats

NO more buying of SX4, Ford Fiesta for Central government babus! In a strict finance ministry order dated July 11, 2011, the “purchase of vehicles including those against condemnation of the existing vehicles, will not be permitted.” The order signed by new expenditure secretary Sumit Bose however exempted operational requirements of defence forces, Central paramilitary forces and security related organizations.

The finance ministry has further put restrictions on foreign junkets and foreign study at government expenses. The order said that the higher level officers are discouraged to travel abroad, and “officers of the appropriate level dealing with the subject are sponsored.”

Here are the sets of restrictions in government’s new austerity drive meant mainly for bureaucrats.

* It would be the responsibility of the secretary of each ministry or department to ensure that foreign travel is restricted to most necessary.

* Ministries or departments would lay down quarterly ceilings based on the annual budget under foreign expenses which they may not exceed during the quarter in question.

* Where travel is unavoidable, it will be ensured that officers of the appropriate level dealing with the subject are sponsored instead of those at higher levels. The size of delegation and the duration of visit will be kept to absolute minimum.

* Proposals for participation in study tours, workshops, conferences, seminars, presentations at government costs will not be entertained except those that are fully funded by sponsoring agencies.

* There will be total ban on creation of Plan and Non-Plan posts, except for new organizations which are set up during the course of the current year based on already approved schemes.

Action and Appointments

The government has launched a drive to fill up backlog of vacancies of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs and Persons with Disabilities by March 31, 2012. Two earlier drives launched in 2008 and 2009 respectively enabled various offices to fill up about 26750 such vacancies. 

DEA secretary Ashok Chawla likely to be next Finance Secretary

Secretary of department of economic affairs (DEA) Ashok Chawla is likely to be the next finance secretary of India, as the current incumbent Arun Ramanathan is retiring on April 30, 2009. Mr Chawla, a 1973 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer, had earlier served as the civil aviation secretary in addition to handling the additional charge of secretary, information & broadcasting (I&B). Mr Chawla had earlier served as an additional secretary in the DEA under the ministry of finance. Sources in finmin said that either a 1974 or 1975-batch IAS officer would take over as the secretary of financial services, a department under the finance ministry which Mr Ramanathan has been looking after so far. And that means, Mr Chawla of 1973 batch, will be the senior most secretary in the Finmin, and would thus be designated as the finance secretary. Meanwhile, Mr Ramanathan, a 1973-batch IAS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre is likely to be appointed as chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). He is already one of the three short-listed candidates for the coveted post. At present, TRAI member, Finance, A K Sawhney has been looking into the day to day activities after Mr Nripendra Misra retired on March 22, 2009.