Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s parents wanted him to be an IAS, but…

Receiving Padma Vibhushan from Prez Pratibha Patil (May 5, 2008)

CO-FOUNDER of Infosys and one of leading IT czars in India, NR Narayana Murthy, has said his parents wanted him to be a civil servant. "When I was a high school student, my parents wanted me to clear the IAS examination and become a civil servant," Murthy writes in a special edition of a…

Liberhan demolishes UP bureaucrats; Says they chose to remain deaf, dumb and blind before Ayodhya incident

IF YOU thought Liberhan Commission report on the demolition of Babri mosque has indicted only the politicians and spared the bureaucrats, you are making a mistake. Justice M S Liberhan spotted a nexus between civil servants and politicians leading to December-1992 event, and even quoted Jawaharlal Nehru to say what civil service founded by Lord Cornwallis should stand for. The report of the Liberhan Ayodhya Commission of Inquiry said that bureaucrats became a part of the cartel of the then UP chief minister (Kalyan Singh) and willingly helped the party's manifesto, propagate the caste and communal oriented politics."The police and the administrators were the executors of the designs of the RSS, VHP, BJP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena etc.," section 168.8 of the chapter 14 of the report (page no 950) said. Using harsher words, the report said, "They (civil servants) could have at least attempted to stem the tide of communalism and the rape of democracy. But they chose to remain deaf, dumb and blind throughout and instead became a willing part of the cartel... The police and the bureaucrats of the state not just turned a blind eye to the misadventures of the polity but actively connived with the chief minister and the Sangh Parivar by systematically paralyzing the state machinery" The report further alleged that many of those civil servants were rewarded with plum postings after the demolition as well as tickets for contesting elections. Justice Liberhan also hinted that then UP chief minister Kalyan Singh's mass transfer of some of the officers out of action, and getting in officers of political choice was a part of a larger design. And finally here's the sermon. "The civil service founded by Lord Cornwallis was meant to provide continuity in governance. Speaking at the inauguration of the Indian Institute of Public Administration at Delhi in 1954, Jawaharlal Nehru offered these words of advice to civil servants 'Administration is meant to achieve something and not to exist in some kind of an ivory tower following certain rules of procedure and Narcissus-like looking on itself with complete satisfaction. The test after all, is the human being and their welfare". (In Picture: Dr Manmohan Singh being presented the Liberhan Commission Report by Justice MS Liberhan, in New Delhi on June 30, 2009. The Union home minister P Chidambaram is also seen). For actual text of "The civil servants and police officers of Uttar Pradesh", go to page number 948 to 950 of the Chapter 14 of the report. CISF personnel hired out to private cos Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel are being hired out to private companies. So far Infosys Technologies has hired 101 personnel whereas Electronics City, Bangalore hired 68 personnel. While agreeing for deployment of CISF in private sector establishments, it is ensured that it will not compromise the security of the other sensitive establishments in public sector, minister of state for home Ajay Maken said in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

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.

Corporate Citizen: Infosys co-chairman Nilekani to head Unique Identification Authority of India

IN A rare instance of choosing a corporate honcho over a politician or a bureaucrat to spearhead a mega government initiative, Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of leading software company Infosys Technologies, has been invited to join newly created Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as chairman in the rank of a cabinet minister, a government release said on Thursday. The invitation has come from Prime Minister himself. The government made a provision of Rs 100 crore in the interim budget for 2009-10 for its ambitious unique identification project which would give a unique number to every citizen of the country. No wonder, Mr Nilekani will be supported by a huge contingent of civil servants across the country as 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 with a pay scale is Rs 37400-67000 (PB-4) along with a grade pay of Rs 10,000. BoI (Babus of India) had earlier mentioned that Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a 1987 batch Orissa cadre IAS, was appointed for a period of five years as deputy director general (DDG) of Unique Identification Authority of India in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000 (PB 4), with a grade pay of Rs 10,000. Mr Nilekani, who was one of the key corporate leaders to create a niche for Indian IT industries globally, is expected to bring in new ideas to this gigantic task involving each of the country’s 100 crore population. Mr Nilekani recently wrote a book titled Imagining India: Ideas for the new century (See pic). Mr Nilekani, warm welcome to power corridors of Delhi!

RTI decisions should not be taken up Benches set up by CIC, says Govt Uneasy tension between India’s personnel ministry and Central Information Commission (CIC) has been continuing, as department of personnel and training (DoPT) has now highlighted a circular brought out a month ago saying that under the provision of Section 12(4) of the RTI Act, the chief information commissioner is not empowered to constitute Benches for taking decisions on complaints and appeals. “In view of legal position, it is advised that decisions on the complaints and appeals should be taken by the Central Information Commission as defined in Section 2(b) of the RTI Act, 2005 and not by the Benches of the Commission,” the government’s clarification said.

My Take: Be a netizen and help making e-civil service a reality

AS THE world is getting flat thanks to the IT revolution pioneered by a few countries including India, why should Indian civil servants shy away from making themselves equipped with GenNext tools of the virtual world? Why can’t Indian bureaucrats use the online platforms more often to interact with citizens who are fast becoming netizens? In fact, I am inspired to write his comment after I read an article by D C Misra, former chairman of Task Force for IT policy for Delhi in a national newspaper a few days ago. Mr Mishra very rightly pointed out in his article how after the outstanding success in e-commerce in railway reservation among others and e-banking, there is no reason why 24x7 online public service delivery, or in other words e-civil service, will remain a distant dream in India. Already, smaller European cities have begun introducing online interaction platforms between government city managers and ordinary citizens. And believe it or not, some of the Indian IT companies including Infosys Technologies have been trail blazers in making them equipped for future. I may not like to name anyone, but many of our top bureaucrats can’t even check their e-mails, and are heavily dependant on their private secretaries to type out simple notes. Mr Mishra further pointed out in his article that the central issue in governance today is the yawning gap between the state and citizens. Yes, it’s the age of Facebook and Twitter, and not of anachronistic one-way traffic from government to citizens! As all officers above the rank of deputy secretary are now eligible to carry an official laptop, according to the recent DoPT circular, let’s start it right away. If you are not a netizen yourself, you would always be a stumbling block, knowingly or unknowingly, in creating e-civil service across the country.

Babus In Demand Nominations are invited from all India Group A services officers of deputy secretary or director level for filling up four posts of joint development commissioners for the newly created Special Economic Zones under the ministry of commerce at Mandals (Andhra Pradesh), Navi Mumbai (Maharashtra) and Bharuch & Surat (Gujarat). The department of personnel and training (DoPT) has recently sent a message to all chief secretaries to recommend names of suitable candidates. Two HC Judges transferred Justice Uma Nath Singh, Judge of the Punjab & Haryana High Court has been transferred as a Judge of the Allahabad High Court with effect from 1st July, 2009. Similarly, Justice Sushil Harkauli, Judge of the Allahabad High Court has been transferred as a Judge of the Jharkhand High Court and is directed him to assume charge of the new office on or before 1st July, 2009.