CAT's conference on Sunday to deliberate on early settlement of bureaucrats' disputes

IN AN attempt to resolve disputes in a speedy manner, Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) has initiated a dialogue process involving all stakeholders including law ministry and ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions. The CAT, which adjudicates disputes on recruitment, promotion etc. of government employees, will have its all India conference on Sunday to come out with its suggestions or decisions to improve its functioning and speed up administration of justice. Whereas Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan will inaugurate and deliver the keynote address, the Union minister for law & justice M Veerappa Moily and minister of state for personnel, public grievances & pensions Prithviraj Chavan will address the gathering. Chairman of CAT Justice V K Bali, several Judges of the Supreme Court, Attorney General, Solicitors General will be among those taking part in the conference. The Conference is aimed at holding a frank discussion on service laws and other issues that have a bearing on the functioning of CAT. The CAT is responsible for adjudication of disputes with respect to recruitment and conditions of service of civil servants, and posts in Union, local authorities within the territory of India or under the control of Government of India. This was done in pursuance of the amendment of Constitution of India by Articles 323A.

3rd Army Open Ladies Amateur Golf Championship ends in Delhi If you thought, golf is played only by India Inc, you are making a gross mistake. A record number of 111 players from all over the country took part in 3rd Army Open Ladies Amateur Golf Championship, held in New Delhi on October 28-30, 2009. The championship was inaugurated by Brig Kuldip Singh, VSM Dy GOC, Delhi Area & Captain of the Course. Among those who showed their talents included Gauri Monga, Gurbani Singh, Millie Saroha, Neelam Pratap Rudy, Neetu Aggarwal and Siddhi Kapoor. Significantly, golf is getting popular among Indian bureaucrats too, as there are about 700 IAS and IPS officers who play golf regularly. Read: Golf players in power corridors, June 17, 2009

Road & Roadblock: Why does govt need Gajendra Haldea, a 1973 batch IAS?

IN A recent get-together of the 1973 batch IAS officers, someone said, “He is the road, and he is the roadblock” introducing road transport and highways secretary Brahm Dutt as “road” and all powerful infrastructure man in Planning Commission Gajendra Haldea as “roadblock”. Probably, he is the most hated IAS officer in Delhi’s power corridors as he is considered to be the stumbling block for many projects ranging from road and highways, railways to urban development. He is not liked by those manning the core sector wing, read PPP, in the ministry of finance too. Nor is he the darling of infrastructure bigwigs who want to make quick bucks at the expense of government exchequer! For highway builders, he is the Enemy No 1. Yet, the man at the Plan Panel, who has all the blessings of deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, is unmoved by any amount of criticism. A big supporter of public private partnership model which is meant to lessen burdens on government expenditure, Mr Haldea has become a whistleblower within the government which at times earns him the reputation of a roadblock. He does not mind creating a roadblock to a project or a process if he notices any ploy to extract government fund. But no one can challenge him in infrastructure space which he mustered for nearly two decades, first in the ministry of finance and then in Planning Commission. Many people don’t know that all model concession agreements (MCAs) for PPP projects in India are the offshoot of his book “Indian Highways: a Framework for Commercialisation” which was published in 2000 by NCAER. No wonder, all government model concession agreements, prepared by the PPP cell of the Planning Commission for the last several years, have copyrights of Mr Haldea. Many within the government were fiercely opposed to his move as how an IAS officer can have a copyright on all government documents. But he has done it! Just open any government MCA, be it on highways, shipping, railways or airport modernization, you will find his name prominently inserted in the copyright clause. Who says you can’t be a challenger while remaining in government?

No special protection for officials if Article 311 is amended

India’s law minister M Veerappa Moily has talked tough on corrupt civil servants arguing that there was a need to “revisit” constitutional provisions giving protection to officers. The remark is significant which came just a day after Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan pointed at delays in granting sanction to prosecute corrupt government officials. Mr Moily said on Sunday that he would initiate action to amend the Article 311 of the Constitution which comes in the way of bringing corrupt civil servants to book.