Home secretaries Pillai & Sikder to chair India-Bangladesh talks on Monday

HOME secretary G K Pillai and his Bangladeshi counterpart Abdus Sobhan Sikder may thrash out some of the disputes between the two countries in home secretary-level talks between the two countries beginning on Monday. A 5-member Bangladesh delegation, headed by the Bangladesh home secretary Sikder is reaching New Delhi on Sunday for the talks that will take up a range of issues including security, border management and enhanced cooperation between law enforcement agencies. A joint statement is expected to be signed on December 2, 2009. C P Joshi wants state bureaucrats to take personal interests in Panchayats Union Minister of Panchayati Raj & Rural Development C P Joshi wants state bureaucrats to take personal interest in promoting the cause of Panchayats so that the system all over the country is comparable or even better than that of the best performing states. While speaking to principal secretaries from various states, the minister said that the immediate areas where Panchayats should focus are those related to Human Development Index and activities covering elementary education, health & sanitation, integrated child development, women development etc. Read: G K Pillai's Straight Talk on North East, SEZ and Maoism (November 11, 2009)

IAS officers reportedly sabotage a fellow IAS receiving a prestigious state award of Chhattisgarh

A LAST minute decision of debarring public servants from receiving state awards by the Chhattisgarh government forced an IAS officer to face the humiliation of reaching an award venue only to return empty handed. A Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer of 1999 batch Sonmoni Borah reached an award function in state capital Raipur on November 1 only to realise that his name was deleted at the last moment reportedly at the behest of a few senior IAS officials close to chief minister Raman Singh. Shahid Veer Narayan Singh Award, which is conferred every year on the state’s Foundation Day, was earlier received by an IPS officer Ramesh Sharma, now IG of Bilaspur. Mr Borah, the Bilaspur district collector, was selected for this year's Shahid Veer Narayan Singh Award for his “exemplary service in the field of development” among tribal and backward communities by a committee under the chairmanship of Sohan Potai, a tribal MP from Kanker and four other tribal MLAs. Significantly, diktat from the Chhattisgarh government came at a time when Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), which maintains the profiles of IAS officers, has decided to include awards, citations, articles, books etc.in the Executive Record Sheets, or ER sheets of IAS. Sources said that Borah’s name was deleted at the last moment following a section of senior civil servants of the state raising an objection and conveying their views to chief minister Raman Singh who was then in South Africa.

Home secretary Pillai leaves for Kathmandu today for high level talks The Union home secretary G K Pillai is leaving for Kathmandu today for home secretary level talks between India and Nepal. The talks will be held on the 6th and 7th October. During his visit, Mr Pillai is likely to call on the Prime Minister and Home Minister of Nepal. The last home secretary level talks between the two countries were held on 31st October and 1st November, 2008 in New Delhi. Action & Appointments a) D R Meena, ILS, presently additional secretary, department of legal affairs, has been appointed as secretary department of legal affairs for a period of one year from the date of assumption of charge of the post in place of T K Viswanathan, ILS who completed his tenure on 31st October, 2009. b) Ms Kiran Dhingra, a 1975 batch UT cadre IAS and secretary in the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation will hold additional charge of the post of secretary in the ministry of shipping for a period of three months with effect from 1st November, 2009. c) The competent authority has approved the induction of Ashok Tewari, a 1993 batch IPS from Himachal Pradesh cadre as DIG in the CBI for a period of 5 years in accordance with the IPS Tenure Policy, 2000 with effect from the date of his joining in the CBI.

BoI Ranking: India’s Top 3 Most Powerful Woman Bureaucrats are Nirupama Rao, Meera Shankar & Sudha Pillai

HAD current secretary to Planning Commission Sudha Pillai made it to the top as cabinet secretary, India’s top two bureaucrats today would have been women making history in India’s power corridors. Despite being at the top in the merit-cum-seniority list of IAS officers, Ms Pillai missed the bus as the incumbent K M Chandrasekhar was given one year’s extension after the new government was formed. Nevertheless, Nirupama Rao became the foreign secretary in July this year after another powerful IFS and Rao’s batch-mate Meera Shankar (See Picture with US Prez) was made India’s ambassador to US. After BoI’s (babus of india) selection of 5 most powerful bureaucrats, which incidentally had no woman contender, here is the list of top 3 most powerful woman bureaucrats based on feedback of politicians and senior bureaucrats who have an insight of the country’s power corridors. Interestingly, it’s a mere co-incidence that spouses of all three most powerful women bureaucrats who BoI has selected, happen to be senior IAS --- Sudhakar Rao, Ajay Shankar and G K Pillai respectively.

No 1: Nirupama Rao Being the number one Indian Foreign Service officer and only the second woman in the history to become India’s foreign secretary, Nirupama Rao is India’s most powerful bureaucrat today. An MA in English literature, this 1973 batch IFS from Kerala has held key diplomatic positions including minister for press affairs at the Indian Embassy in Washington, deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of India, Moscow, MEA’s official spokesperson and India’s ambassador to China, and yes, she proved her mettle in every important post. No wonder, she was a favourite officer of former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh, and was considered highly efficient during BJP’s regime too. Her biggest challenge today is not just to ensure meaningful diplomacy with Pakistan, but to keep China engaged in a continuous dialogue process. Read: Rao’s take on art of diplomacy (August 25, 2009) No 2: Meera Shankar India’s ambassador to US Meera Shankar who has recently become a newsmaker for writing a letter to Prime Minister’s principal secretary TKA Nair giving details about US companies bribing Indian government officers, is BoI’s choice to be the second most powerful woman bureaucrat today. Born on October 9, 1950, this 1973 batch IFS was earlier India’s ambassador to Germany, and had an earlier innings at Washington (1991-’95) when India liberalized its economy under Dr Manmohan Singh’s tenure as the country’s finance minister. Wife of India’s industry secretary Ajay Shankar, a 1973 batch UP cadre IAS, Mr Shankar’s biggest challenge today is to muster the country’s economic diplomacy and help India achieve a higher than expected growth rate. No 3: Sudha Pillai This 1972 batch Kerala cadre IAS is still considered to be an asset by Team Manmohan Singh, though many in power corridors strongly believe that it was intentional on the part of the government for not giving the highly-sensitive post of cabinet secretary to a woman officer who has better understanding of only social sectors. Her biggest challenger in the race for the post of cabinet secretary was her husband and batch-mate from the same cadre G K Pillai who too lost out after the incumbent Mr Chandrasekhar was given extension. Mr Pillai was then made home secretary with a two-year-term. There’s no doubt that Ms Pillai is still the most powerful women IAS officer today, and keeping in mind her grip on India’s social sector, she is tipped to become the member secretary in the Planning Commission with a rank of a minister! Read: Pati, Patni and Post: It’s Pillai Vs Pillai for next cabinet secretary (May 11, 2009) Read: India’s Top 5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats (August 24, 2009)

No dearth of manpower to make Delhi safe before C’Wealth Games, says Maken; State DGPs sensitized

THERE would be no dearth of manpower to make Delhi safe in the run-up to the Commonwealth Games, said minister of state for home Ajay Maken indicating that more police officers could be engaged in duties in the capital city of Delhi to make the mega event incident-free. Also, Director Generals of Police of various states are being sensitized to ensure a safe and secure environment in Delhi which is hosting the Games one year from now. The minister was speaking at the conference of security liason officers of Commonwealth countries and representatives of Commonwealth Games Associations (CGAs), begun in New Delhi on Wednesday. Union home secretary G K Pillai and chairman of the organizing committee of Commonwealth Games 2010, Suresh Kalmadi also addressed 76 delegates from 26 participating countries. Mr Maken in his remarks said that the ministry of home affairs (MHA) was fully geared up to make these games free from any security related incidents. The minister said that several task specific and inter-ministerial committees were constituted and their progress was reviewed at different levels, to bring together all concerned agencies for speedy coordination and implementation.

A special drive by global metal company Vedanta to hire Ex-Army officers

Vedanta Resources Plc, a London listed FTSE 100 diversified metal and mining group, has begun a special drive to appoint what it said “high caliber ex-Armed forces commissioned officers” for their projects in the states of Rajasthan, Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Goa and Tamil Nadu. The positions will be at the level of Vice presidents, General Managers and Managers. If you feel you are the right candidate, you can visit their website or check out the major newspapers where they have placed advertisements.

Action & Appointments a) Ranjan Chatterjee, a 1976 batch Assam cadre IAS has been appointed as a consultant in the Planning Commission in the pay of additional secretary for a period of three years or until furthers. b) The tenure of Ashok Kumar, a 1982 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IPS as Joint Director in the CBI has been extended for a period of two years till May 5, 2011. c) Anil Kumar, a 1973 batch UP cadre IAS and secretary of the ministry of women and child development will hold additional charge of the post of secretary of the ministry of social justice and empowerment during the period of leave of K M Acharya, a 1974 batch MP cadre IAS from 19th September, 2009 to 28 September, 2009. d) Ashish Bahuguna, a 1978 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS, presently in the cadre, has been appointed as additional secretary in the department of agriculture and cooperation in the ministry of agriculture. e) A K Mangotra, a 1978 batch Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS, presently in the cadre, has been appointed as additional secretary and financial adviser in the department of food and public distribution in the ministry of consumer affairs. f) Vivek Katju, a 1975 batch IFS has been appointed as secretary (west) in the headquarters of the ministry of external affairs in place of Nalin Surie, IFS. g) The deputation tenure of Kishore Jha, a 1982 batch Manipur-Tripura cadre IPS as joint secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat has been extended. h) Dr Rajesh Kumar, a 1988 batch Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS has been appointed as Executive Director (IT) in the Food Corporation of India (Joint Secretary level) for a period up to January 1, 2013 or until further orders.

Imagine secretary Pillai or Chawla debarred from briefing press; but new Japanese govt bans bureaucrats holding press meets

IMAGINE home secretary G K Pillai being debarred from holding press meets, or finance secretary Ashok Chawla being told that you can’t brief the media on the budget or inflation! It may sound odd, but that’s precisely going to happen in Japan. In fact, Japan’s new government announced on Wednesday that it would stop holding news conferences by top bureaucrats because only elected representatives, not bureaucrats should represent the ministries. The newly appointed chief cabinet secretary said it after the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) Yukio Hatoyama took oath as Japan’s new Prime Minister. Mr Hatoyama’s team has former bureaucrats in it, but the government had already proclaimed that it would curtail the power of 3,60,000-strong Japanese civil servants. Significantly, former finance ministry bureaucrat Hirohisa Fujii is now the new finance minister. New foreign minister, Katsuya Okada, is a former bureaucrat. Naoto Kan, as the head of the new National Strategy Bureau, is however charged with wresting control of policy-making from the country’s powerful bureaucracy. Read “Japanese bureaucrats may no longer be able to practise age-old Amakudari; what’s about Indian retired babus?” posted on September 3, 2009. Minister S Jaipal Reddy wants bureaucrats to write books Urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy wants bureaucrats to write their rich experiences in book form as it was done by his secretary M Ramachandran. This is very much in line with the government’s recent decision to document books, articles, citations, and awards that an official has written or received, in Executive Record Sheets, or ER sheet --- the only publicly available document to track an officer’s career. Mr Reddy may or may not be aware of the recent DoPT circular, but speaking at a function of launch of urban development secretary’s book, “An Alternative Approach to Project Planning in Public Works – The Indian Context” in New Delhi on Tuesday, he encouraged civil servants to document their experiences by writing books. Read, “Government encourages IAS officers to take up writing seriously; medals and citations to count from now”, posted on July 22, 2009.

A top cop of 1974 batch joins MHA as special secretary, internal security

A SENIOR IPS officer Utthan Kumar Bansal is joining the ministry of home affairs (MHA) as special secretary, internal secretary, in the vacancy of Raman Srivastava, IPS. An Indian Police Service officer of 1974 batch Uttar Pradesh cadre, Mr Bansal was recently posted at Chandigarh as the ADG, (West) in Border Security Force (BSF). As the special secretary in-charge of internal security, his first challenge will be to curb the growing Naxal violence in many parts of the country. G K Pillai, a 1972 batch Kerala cadre IAS, is the home secretary of the country. Meanwhile, the continued assignment of additional charge of the post of DG & Mission Director, Unique identification Authority of India to R Bhattacharya, IAS (AP, 78), who is now a senior adviser in the Planning Commission, has been approved beyond June 30, 2009 and until the successor to the post of DG & Mission Director, UIAI joins. Know Your IPS Name: Utthan Kumar Bansal Cadre: Uttar Pradesh cadre IPS Batch: 1974 Educational Qualifications: MSc (Mathematics) Date of Birth: November 8, 1952 Date of Joining: July 22, 1974 Police medals: PM-1995, PPM-2001 Pay scale till recently: Rs 37400-67000 with a grade pay of Rs 12000 Email ID: ukbansal@mail.svpnpa.gov.in BoI extraa… Should bureaucrats of the country occasionally wear Khadi dress, thereby encouraging GenNext to use that form of textile? A symbol associated with India’s freedom struggle, Khadi is widely used by politicians of the country. The government announced on Wednesday a rebate up to 20% of all Khadi dress sold at the outlets run by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). If you know IAS and other civil servants using Khadi, kindly mail at babu.blogger1@gmail.com

Yet another Pati, Patni & Post tale: Anjali Prasad to replace her husband as DIPP joint secretary

IN YET another tale of Pati, Patni and Post, a 1983 batch Uttaranchal cadre IAS Anjali Prasad may join the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP) under the ministry of commerce and industry as a joint secretary, the post which is lying vacant after her husband N N Prasad, a 1981 batch Uttaranchal cadre IAS got a foreign posting couple of months ago. This is, however, a case where the wife incidentally receives the same post held by her husband earlier, unlike BoI’s earlier tale of “Pati, Patni and Post” in which then commerce secretary and present home secretary G K Pillai was competing with his wife labour secretary Sudha Pillai to clinch the cabinet secretary’s post. But neither of those 1972 batch Kerala cadre IAS succeeded as the current incumbent K M Chandrasekhar got one year’s extension. Significantly, Ms Prasad, a product of Delhi School of Economics, who held various responsibilities at the state level in the field of industry, commerce and finance, also had diplomas on WTO dispute settlement and WIPO diploma in Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). Her husband Mr Prasad, who as a joint secretary in DIPP played a key role in sensitizing the IPR issues, joined as the Chef De Cabinet to the Director General of WIPO, Dr Francis Gurry in Geneva two months ago. The WIPO is the world intellectual property organization and one of the 16 specialised agencies under the United Nations. Ms Prasad is the daughter of former IAS, A N Verma who served as the principal secretary to Prime Minister during Narasimha Rao’s time.

Back to North Block: GK Pillai to take over as new home secretary

INDIA'S two most important bureaucrats, cabinet secretary and home secretary, may now be able to discuss security related matters in Malayalam. There is no prize for guessing who is India’s next home secretary! Present commerce secretary G K Pillai, a 1972 batch Kerala cadre IAS, will move to North Block as an OSD (Home) now, and will finally take over as home secretary on June 30, 2009 when current incumbent Madhukar Gupta, a 1970 batch IAS, retires. Mr Pillai, who was also a contender for the post of cabinet secretary along with his wife labour secretary Sudha Pillai, will have a now have a two-year-term in North Block. The government had earlier given one year extension to K M Chandrasekhar, Mr Pillai’s senior from Kerala cadre. Mr Pillai is quite familiar with the home ministry where he was the joint secretary in charge of North East from 1996-2001 before becoming the principal secretary to Kerala CM A K Antony, now defence minister in Manmohan Singh’s cabinet. This has led people in power corridors speculate that Mr Pillai could be selected for defence secretary after the incumbent Vijay Singh retires next month. Now, there have already been speculations over who would become the next defence secretary. Keep reading Babu Blogger’s posts. Delhiite Khullar appointed as commerce secretary THE government has also appointed disinvestment secretary Rahul Khullar of 1975 batch as the next commerce secretary. The man who is one of the few senior officers belonging to the capital city of Delhi, had earlier worked in commerce ministry in various capacities including as joint secretary, additional secretary and special secretary. A doctorate in economics, Mr Khullar also completed a course in economics from Boston University, US. Babus In Demand THE government has asked for nominations for newly instituted “Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration” to acknowledge, recognize and reward the extraordinary and innovative work done by officers of Central and state governments. All officers of Central and state governments individually or as group or as organizations are eligible for consideration. The last date of receipt of nominations is August 17, 2009. For details, log onto http://darpg.nic.in/ or http://www.asci.org.in/ You can also pick up the phone to contact director (administrative reforms) in the department of administrative reforms and public grievances at 011-23362369

Chandrasekhar gets extension; Ramachandran & Chawla to be key contenders for cabinet secretary’s post next year

WITH the government’s decision to give one year extension to current cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar from June 13, 2009, the hope of a woman officer getting the top administrative post in India is over. Had the extension been not given, labour secretary Sudha Pillai, who currently tops the merit-cum-seniority list of IAS officers of 1972 batch, would have clinched the cabinet secretary’s post, which would have been in sync with President of the nation being a woman, and Lok Sabha speaker is all set to be a woman. While writing the piece “Pati, Patni and Post: It’s Sudha Pillai vs. G K Pillai for next cabinet secretary” on May 11, 2009, BoI (Babus of India) mentioned, “Babu Blogger spoke to a number of IAS officers to come to a conclusion that no government can afford to be so gender bias to deprive Ms Pillai though some said in private that no woman would eventually be given that key post….” Significantly, with the current battle being over, urban development secretary M Ramachandran of 1972 batch and finance secretary Ashok Chawla of 1973 batch will be the key contenders for cabinet secretary’s post next year. Mr Ramachandran will qualify to be a contender as he retires just a few days after Mr Chandrasekhar’s one-year-term comes to an end. Once he is selected as the cabinet secretary, he will get a fixed two years term. Finance secretary Chawla, who is known to be politically well connected, is currently ranked at 15 in the merit-cum-seniority list of 1973 batch IAS list, but by mid-June next year, all those above him barring four officers, would be retiring. Even those four officers would not qualify to be contenders for the highest administrative post in the country as they are either in states or are now holding only secretary-equivalent posts. So who are you betting for the next turn --- Mr Ramachandran or Mr Chawla?

Barbora assumes charge as new vice chief of the Air staff Air Marshal Pranab Kumar Barbora assumed charge as the new vice chief of the Air staff at air headquarters on June 1, 2009. He was formerly the air officer commanding-in-chief of IAF’s western air command (WAC) and eastern air command (EAC), a defense ministry release said. Born on December 10, 1950 in Shillong, Mr Barbora was commissioned into the IAF as a fighter pilot on June 13, 1970. A highly experienced aviator with over 3500 hours to his credit, he took part in the 1971 war.

My Take: 30 days of writing on Indian civil servants

WHEN I began writing this blog on Indian civil servants exactly a month ago, a sense of silence prevailed in power corridors of Delhi as the political masters were fighting their electoral battles in various parts of the country. The files were moving in slower pace and babus spent more time guessing who would form the next government. In fact, I made my debut in blogging by posting a report on April 28, 2009, that DEA secretary Ashok Chawla, a 1973 batch IAS officer, was likely to be the next finance secretary of the country. When Mr Chawla was appointed as finance secretary 14 days later, one of my non-bureaucrat friends called me up to say Wah! Yes, he was excited by my postings on power corridors of Delhi, but he was not alone. In the next few days, the nation’s top babus got themselves excited over the unfolding of the Great Indian political saga. Even before the new government took charge, top bureaucrats began finalizing what should be the priority of the next government in the first 100 days of office. During the last one month, BoI (Babus of India) covered a range of topics from North Block officers’ poll prediction to railway officers’ anger towards Lalu Prasad. Yet, if you ask my favourite posting, I would say, it’s Pati, Patni and Post: Sudha Pillai Vs G K Pillai for the next cabinet secretary. Not because I got a number of emails reacting to the post, but I was happy to cover all aspects of the development including the possibility of the current incumbent K M Chandrasekhar getting a year’s extension thereby denying either of the husband and wife duo to reach the civil servant’s top slot. I must acknowledge here that a couple of very senior bureaucrats objected to the choice of the name as they feel the word babu is not an accepted term, and is mainly a creation of media. Yet, most civil servants that I know have said that the name does not matter so long as contents excite them or rather force them to open babusofindia.com in the first half hour of their working day itself. Yes, babu blogger is ready to make one simple promise. If you are a civil servant, or someone who likes to know what’s up in power corridors of India, BoI would not disappoint you. After all, the power of a simple info can sometime make your day…

Powerless Corridors: Officials in commerce & industry ministries felt the heat as there was a day-long power cut on Monday

Don’t call them power corridors anymore. Top bureaucrats and other employees of Delhi’s Udyog Bhawan housing the ministries of commerce and industry felt the heat, literally, on Monday, May 18, as there was a major power failure for over eight hours crippling AC plants, telecommunication, computers to name a few. The work in the two crucial ministries virtually came to a grinding halt on a day when many officials of these two pro-industry ministries would have rejoiced the 30-stock BSE index Sensex surging a record high of over 2000 points. No wonder, even the senior bureaucrats had to call their peons themselves as even calling bells were not functioning. Whereas secretary of DIPP (Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion) Ajay Shankar was lucky as he was in US on a personal visit, his counterpart in commerce ministry G K Pillai had no choice but to undergo the sufferings. Despite the near-emergency situation in the building, and a virtual blackout in corridors of the two ministries, a section of officials including Mr Pillai and their support staff had to prepare for the special meeting called by cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar on action plan of the first 100 days of Dr Manmohan Singh’s second innings.

Pati, Patni and Post: It's Sudha Pillai vs. G K Pillai for next cabinet secretary

It’s Pillai vs. Pillai for the top administrative post in India. Labour secretary Sudha Pillai and her spouse and IAS batch-mate commerce secretary G K Pillai have turned out to be key contenders for the post of cabinet secretary, which will lie vacant in mid-June when current incumbent K M Chandrasekhar retires. Whereas Ms Pillai tops the current merit and seniority list of IAS officers of 1972 batch, her husband comes just next to her among 32 officials of the same-batch, who are working at different capacities in the government. If Ms Pillai finally makes it to the key post which will be decided by the next Prime Minister of the country, she will be the first woman to reach the top administrative position. Both Mr and Ms Pillai are from Kerala cadre, which means another Kerala cadre official will definitely succeed Mr Chandrasekhar of 1970 batch who is also from the same cadre. Some of the other prominent officers of the same batch include secretary to PMO M N Prasad (Bihar cadre), information and broadcasting (I&B) secretary Ms Sushma Singh (Jharkhand cadre) and urban development secretary M Ramachandran (Uttaranchal cadre). Babu Blogger spoke to a number of IAS officers to come to a conclusion that no government can afford to be so gender bias to deprive Ms Pillai though some said in private that no woman would eventually be given that key post, and Ms Pillai would be rehabilitated somehow to make way for G K Pillai. But what’s if Mr Chandrasekhar’s term which expires on June 13, 2009, gets extended for one more year. Babu Blogger will give you later a few more perspectives on who else would be benefited if such a development takes place.