More about Patna Municipal Commissioner Kuldip Narayan, his proposal of rail ticket auction, other “fuzzy thoughts”

Kuldip Narayan: "A simple person in wilderness"

THE Patna High Court on Monday stayed the suspension of 2005 batch IAS Kuldip Narayan as Patna Municipal Commissioner, giving relief to the officer known in his circle as honest and the one who took on the city’s builders lobby. Though the officer was suspended for his inability to spend allocated fund for two consecutive financial years, it was highly suspected that he became the victim of the powerful political-builders nexus. As the case is on, with the High Court asking the state government to submit papers related to the case on Tuesday, BoI here attempts to know the officer more: how he proposed auctioning of cinema and railway tickets (like spectrum) and how he openly criticised the...

Know more about Kuldip Narayan, IAS; Is his suspension a handiwork of Patna builders’ lobby?

Kuldip Narayan

IN A late night order on Friday, Bihar government suspended chief executive officer-cum-commissioner of Patna Municipal Corporation Kuldip Narayan for his failure to utilize allotted fund meant for development of civic amenities in FY2012-13 and FY2013-14. But, as it seems apparent, this 2005 batch IAS officer known for honesty and integrity, has become a victim of all-powerful builders’ lobby in Patna. The Bihar chapter of IAS officers’ association which had earlier met chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi is demanding security cover to Narayan for alleged threat on him by…

BoI heroes of 2011 scripted future agenga, influenced some and inspired many

It was quite a rough and tough year for Indian bureaucrats. But there were a handful of bureaucrats who refused to give in to the unusual circumstances that overshadowed the corridor's positive developments. This lot of movers and shakers were ahead of the curve. And they demonstrated their ability, innovative ideas and leadership to race ahead of their peers. Here are the BoI heroes of 2011 who refused to fail:

Kuldip Narayan, IAS

In January 2011, even before Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar's deadline expired, two Bihar IAS of 2005 batch, Kuldip Narayan and Balamurugan D, set the ball rolling by declaring their assets and liabilities including minor details such as buying of televisions and mobile phones. It was a different matter that every bureaucrat across the country and even the ministers of Manmohan Singh's cabinet later had to declare their assets once the anti-graft campaign of Anna Hazare wooed lakhs of Indians to the streets.
Read

What did they declare?

Sudhir Chandra, IRS

When 1973 batch Indian Revenue Service officer Sudhir Chandra took over as the chairman of Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) on December 31, 2010, he ordered the backdoor of his historically significant corner room of North Block opened. The door which remained closed for over 60 years leads to a balcony overlooking the monumental beauty of Raisina Hills --- The Rashtrapati Bhawan. The pillared balcony has reminiscence of history thanks to the emblem of Lord Mountbatten-headed South East Asia Command being carved on a plaque there. Some of his decisions turned controversial, but his firm direction for early refund rejoiced millions of Indian tax payers.
Read

North Block's corner room overlooking Rashtrapati Bhawan

Former Bureaucrats

As many as 83 distinguished Indian bureaucrats with a combined work experience of about 2,500 man-years are pinning hopes that a court verdict could put in place a mechanism that would insulate bureaucrats from political pressure. Former Union cabinet secretary TSR Subramanian and 82 other distinguished ex-bureaucrats petitioned in Supreme Court seeking urgent administrative reforms. A Supreme Court bench issued notice to the Central and state governments after showering praises on the petitioners that they raised some important questions.
Read

Who are these 83 bureaucrats?

Ranjan Mathai, IFS
It was not an easy decision, but the government zeroed in on  Ranjan Mathai, a 1974 batch IFS officer, as India's foreign secretary. The Ambassador in Paris was ahead of his peers and batch-mates in the race to replace Ms Nirupama Rao, a 1973 batch IFS, who later became India's ambassador to US post retirement. BoI (babusofindia.com) in a report dated as early as February 28, 2011 said why Mathai would clinch the coveted foreign secretary’s job.
Read

Mathai Vs Rest

Gautam Sanyal, CSS

Gautam Sanyal, a Central secretariat service officer, is the new poster boy of India’s babudom. Till a few months ago, he was the all-powerful OSD to Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee. But after Ms Banerjee became chief minister of West Bengal, Sanyal too took a flight to Kolkata and became the most important officer in Bengal’s power corridors giving heartburns to many IAS officers.
Read

Sanyal, Mamata's Pulok Chatterji

Sanjiv Bhatt, IPS

IS Gujarat’s much talked about IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt slowing becoming a real-life Singham, an Ajay Devgan-starred character of a police officer who finally motivates his seniors to join him in a fight against the evil? Bhatt who was arrested on September 30, 2011 on a compliant filed by police constable, is now getting a strong backing from fellow IPS officers of the state.
Read

Real-life Singham

Vini Mahajan, IAS

Vini Mahajan, one of the most influential bureaucrats in Indian Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and 1987 batch Punjab cadre IAS, will remain at the power centre of Delhi at least till April 2012 after she managed yet another extension. Despite being in controversy in the so-called "official" leakage of the 2G note dragging home minister P Chidambaram, Mahajan remained influential at the nerve-center of Raisina Hills. Her mentor TKA Nair may lose his sheen, but Ms Mahajan has not lost her ground.
Read

Unconditional Extension

Satyapal Singh, IPS
Satyapal Singh, Additional Director General of Police in Maharashtra and the man who was personally reviewing the security of anti-graft crusader Anna Hazare by visiting Anna’s native village in Ralegan Siddhi is an unusual police officer. His domain knowledge and understanding of Yoga, Vedas and Swami Vivekananda could make many religious experts envious.And he close to Baba Ramdev too.
Read

Anna's protector, Baba's friend

Neelam Sharma, IFS

Indian Foreign Service officer Neelam Sharma’s decision to marry her batch-mate (2009 batch) and Gujarat cadre IAS Kuldeep Arya was contested by Haryana's Khap Panchayat. It questioned how the IFS officer, a Brahmin, dared to fall in love with a man from another caste. Currently posted in Moscow, IFS Neelam Sharma stood her ground and managed the event like an able diplomat. 
Read
A diplomat's wedding

Two young IAS officers of 2005 batch set the ball rolling by declaring assets including jewellery, cars, TV and mobile

AS Bihar government’s January 31 deadline for all officers to declare their assets drawing near, two IAS officers of 2005 batch, Kuldip Narayan and Balamurugan D set the ball rolling by declaring their assets and liabilities including minor details such as buying of televisions and mobile phones.

Significantly, Saran district magistrate Kuldip Narayan and Gopalganj district magistrate Balamurugan D have put up their declaration in official websites for public view. Hailing from UP, Narayan is a mechanical engineer from IIT Kanpur whereas Balamurugan D from Tamil Nadu is an agriculture graduate.

In his four-page declaration, Narayan mentioned about the current valuation of his mutual funds at Rs 1.15 lac and shares worth Rs 40, 069. Neither he nor his wife possesses any agriculture land. Narayan has Rs 5.85 lac in PPF whereas his wife has Rs 2.47 lac in PPF account. He has also mentioned the valuation of his wife’s gold ornaments, a Samsung TV and even a mobile handset.

Balamurugan D, another 2005 batch Bihar cadre IAS, mentioned in his publicly displayed return how his father and his younger brother have not divided their properties in their ancestral house in Tamil Nadu. Balamurugan D too gave details about cash in hand (mere Rs 1,160) and deposits in bank account (Rs 32,534) accounted up to January 19, 2011.

In April 2007, Kuldip Narayan, a Brahmin, hogged the limelight when he got married an Indian Economic Service official, Renulata who happens to be an OBC. The media highlighted the marriage as it defied Bihar’s caste logic in matrimonial and political alliance. (In Picture: Kuldip Narayan and Renulata, 2007)

Whereas it’s much easier for these two young officers to declare their assets publicly, it remains to be seen whether those who have amassed wealth would find it comfortable to do the same.

The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has asked all officials not just to declare assets of self and immediate relatives but to put those in public domain. This has further put pressure on other state governments and even the Central governments to issue such dictates amid allegations of corruption in public life.

View

Kuldip Narayan’s property return

Balamurugan D’s property return