A civil servant owning an aircraft, yacht or ship? New rule demands declaration

Who owns this Yacht?

ARE you an Indian civil servant owning an aircraft, yacht or ship? According to new rules of furnishing information on assets and liabilities, published in the Gazette of India on July 14, 2014, a civil servant needs to give those details too. Form-II (serial no: VII) of submission of assets and liabilities under Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013 asks those details. Here are 10 things about submission of a civil servant’s assets:

3 IAS Raided: Questions raised on political correctness of Karnataka Lokayukta's raid

Siddaiah

THE Karnataka Lokayukta’s raiding of three IAS officers in a single day may have generated hopes among anti-graft activists, but the very selection of the men from the elite service has also left a question mark. Is this an act of political vendetta or a genuine attempt to get rid of corruption? The question is more important in the backdrop of the creation of a Lokpal at the Centre and Lokayuktas across the country.

Who was Raided?

Siddaiah, a 1986 batch IAS

* Worked as a secretary in CM’s secretariat (2004-06)

* Secretary to Deputy CM (2006-07)

* Commissioner, Bangalore Development Authority (2008-10)

* Commissioner, Bangalore Mahanagara Palike

Assets Found

Assets of Rs 1.90 crore

* Allegedly owns 120 acres of land in Badigere village near Harohalli

* A house on 4,000 sq ft plot in Dollars Colony

* 1.6 kg gold and 13 kg silver from his house

Question Mark

* Siddaiah unearthed Rs1,539-crore tender scam leading BJP corporators and MLAs gang up against him

* The whistle-blower IAS was unceremoniously shunted out of the BBMP on November 28, 2011.

* Siddaiah’s proximity to the opposition Congress is well known and there are rumours that he could be the Congress candidate from Nelamangala

Who was Raided?

MV Veerabhadraiah, promoted IAS

* Currently, Deputy General Manager, Upper Krishna Project

Assets Found

Assets of Rs 2.33 crore

* A commercial complex at Magadi Road

* Houses at Vijayanagar and Nelamangala

* Housing sites in Banashankari.

 Question Mark

* Close to JD(S)

* Sought voluntary retirement in 2008 to contest Madhugiri by-election on a Janata Dal (Secular) ticket. Denied VRS.

The third IAS raided was Karnataka Neeravari Nigama Ltd Managing Director Mohammed A Sadiq. The assets of Sadiq, a 1993 batch IAS, have been valued by Lokayukta at Rs 1.64 crore.

Action and Appointments

a) The ACC has approved the extension of appointment of Dr Prajapati Trivedi as secretary (performance management) and chairman, National Authority for Chemical Weapons Convention, Cabinet Secretariat, beyond January 1, 2012 and till Dr Trivedi attains the age of 60 years which is August, 2013.

b) Vijaya Kanth, a 1975 batch officer from Indian Railway Account Service (IRAS), has taken over as the new Financial Commissioner (FC) (Railways) and ex-officio secretary to the Government of India. Prior to her appointment as FC in Railway Board, Ms Kanth was General Manager, Northeast Frontier Railway (Construction) Organization, Guwahati.

A “private” dinner for fellow IAS haunts Madhya Pradesh chief secretary Avani Vaish

A DINNER for fellow IAS officers arranged on October 8, 2010, has haunted Madhya Pradesh chief secretary and 1975 batch IAS Avani Vaish in days to come. The state Lokayukta has now registered a complaint that Madhya Pradesh IAS officers Association organized a dinner for 250 IAS officers and the payment of Rs 1,43,901 was made by the government. Had the IAS officers divided the bill, all that each officer needed to pay was mere Rs 575, and sixty paisa.

Lokayukta PP Naolekar clarified that it was “not an FIR”, but information was being sought on the complaint against the chief secretary regarding the IAS dinner. Vaish told a national newspaper that there was no “hanky- panky”, and it was a dinner hosted by the chief secretary and the government paid the bill. He claimed that no rule was violated.

But RTI activist Ajay Dube who filed the complaint argued in an affidavit that rules were violated as state government cannot foot the bill of a private organization, and MP IAS Officers Association is a private organization. The Lokayukta is expected to take the final call.

On a post dated May 27, 2011, BoI (babusofindia.com) reported the incident.

Also Read

Who is Avani Vaish?

Government accepts GoM decisions on corrupt babus

The government has accepted a few recommendations submitted by Group of Ministers (GoM) headed by finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on tackling of corruption.

Two important decisions are as follows:

a) Continuation of minor penalty proceedings against public servants even after retirement with provision for a ceiling of 10% cut in pension for a period not exceeding five years. Such cut in pension in minor penalty proceedings would, however, be non-mandatory.

b) Change in the present penalty of `compulsory retirement` (with full pension) to “compulsory retirement with a cut in pension upto 20%”.