IN THE first ever vacancy circular issued by newly formed Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) itself from its own office located at third floor, Tower –II, Jeevan Bharati Building, Connaught Circus, New Delhi, applications are invited for 189 vacant posts ranging from deputy director and assistant administrative officers to executive assistants. Till recently, the department of personnel and training (DoPT) came out with vacancy circulars to fill up posts such as Deputy Director General (JS level) and Assistant Director General (deputy secretary/director level).
These new 189 posts which are relatively at junior levels, will be filled up on deputation/short term contract basis (for 3 years, extendable by another 2 years) for its headquarters in Delhi and regional offices located at Chandigarh, Lucknow, Mumbai, Delhi, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bangalore and Hyderabad. There are 39 vacant posts of deputy director at the pay scale of Rs 15600-39100 with a grade pay of Rs 6600, 39 posts of assistant administrative officers, 39 posts for assistants, 5 posts of principal private secretaries, 11 posts of private secretaries and 56 posts of executive secretaries. Significantly, excellent computer skill is made a desired qualification for deputy director level officers too.
The last date for receiving the applications is January 8, 2010. For further detail, log onto UIDAI website www.uidai.gov.in / www.uidai.nic.in.
Actual Vacancy Circular, dated December 14, 2009
Punjab govt transfers 10 IAS officers
Punjab government on Monday evening transferred 10 IAS officers including D S Bains, principal secretary, local government as principal secretary in employment generation and Suresh Kumar, principal secretary in power and irrigation department as principal secretary in technical education and industrial training. The other officers who were transferred are Mandeep Singh Sandhu, Arun Goel and C Roul among others, media reports said.
JUST recently Indian minister of state for external affairs Shashi Tharoor landed up into a huge controversy for his tweets when he called economy class travel as "cattle class" after the government issued an advisory for the ministers not to fly business class as a part of austerity measure. Now, a British bureaucrat has published a guide to Twitter etiquette and strategy so that civil servants who are regularly using the popular microblogging service, Twitter, could follow some basic dos and don'ts.
Yes, the Twitter can rock as this is being increasingly used by government departments, Members of Parliament etc. and it has the potential to deliver many benefits in support of the government's communications objectives, the British government guide said. But there's a warning! "Inappropriate content being published in error, such as... protectively marked, commercially or politically sensitive information... Require clearance of all tweets through nominated people in digital media team," the official guide said.
(Courtesy: Tom Green from Oxford University, UK for alerting babu blogger)
Hey there! babublogger is using Twitter. Check at http://twitter.com/babublogger
No army officer receives gifts from American company
No case relating to Army officers being obliged by gifts from American companies, has been brought to the knowledge of the government, defence minister AK Antony said in written reply in Rajya Sabha on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has issued instructions to identify sensitive posts in various ministries or departments of the Union government, and asked those departments (under its advisory jurisdiction) to rotate officials working in sensitive posts to avoid development of vested interest by the people working on these posts. This information was given by the minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances & pensions Prithviraj Chavan in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha on Wednesday.
THE government has given a reminder to all chief secretaries of state to forward the names of the willing and eligible officers to fill up the vacancies of Assistant Director Generals (ADGs) at the level of deputy secretary or director for Nandan Nilekani-chaired UIDAI or Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) under the Planning Commission.
As the last date of application now is extended to the first week of January, 2010, it may indicate that the UIDAI has not been able to attract the right applicants so far. It was believed that the process of filling up the said posts was already completed. Babus of India (BoI) could not verify the reasons behind the extension of the last date of application.
The posts to be filled up now are located in seven cities --- Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ranchi, Guwahati and Bangalore, also indicating that the government has probably zeroed in the candidate for Hyderabad which also figured in the vacancy circular dated September 25, 2009. The last date of application was the third week of October, 20009.
"It is again requested that the names of willing officers at the deputy secretary/director level who are eligible to work at the Centre under the Central Staffing Scheme may please be recommended to this office", said the reminder issued by the establishment officer of the department of personnel and training (DoPT).
Read the actual text of the Wireless Message (Reminder), dated December 4, 2009
Related Posts:
1) Nilekani needs additional DGs in eight cities (October 2, 2009)
2) JS level officers wanted for heading the Project’s 5 regional offices (October 12, 2009)
Babus as Authors
Urban development secretary M Ramachandran has come out with yet another book, this time on urban renewal. The book, Urban Renewal: Policy and Response, was released by S Jaipal Reddy in New Delhi on Monday in a function which was attended by several senior bureaucrats including principal secretary to Prime Minister TKA Nair who described Mr Ramachandran as his "good friend and colleague". In addition to most senior IAS from the ministry of urban development attending the function, additional secretary in the ministry of rural development Arvind Mayaram and additional secretary in Panchayati Raj ministry J M Phatak were in the guest list. Former Tamil Nadu cadre IAS and CEO of IL&FS UIML L Krishnan was also present in the function.
THE government has requested Indian Administrative Service, or IAS officers to submit their awards, citations, articles, books etc. in a revised format, but capped the number of such entries only at 10. The Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), which maintains the profiles of IAS officers, had earlier decided to include such items in the Executive Record Sheets, or ER Sheets of IAS.
It was now decided that the number of such entries cann't be more than 10. The recent DoPT circular also said that in the event of an officer writing another article or book, or receiving an award, she is free to remove an earlier entry to make way for a more recent achievement. Yet, the number of total entries cannot be over 10. The DoPT issued two circulars on the subject recently --- on October 26 and October 30, 2009. Currently, ER Sheets are mere biodata covering personal details of the officers including educational qualifications, experiences, postings and trainings. A DoPT circular dated July 20, 2009 however said that necessary permission for accepting the awards or citations needs to be duly accorded.
Among the high profile book launches by IAS officers this year include "Bankruptcy to Billions", by 1982 batch Bihar cadre Sudhir Kumar jointly with Shagun Mehrotra, "Branding India - an incredible story" by 1980 batch Kerala cadre IAS Amitabh Kant and “An Alternative Approach to Project Planning in Public Works - The Indian Context”, by urban development secretary M Ramachandran. In fact, Mr Ramachandran who is front-runner for cabinet secretary's post next year is coming out with another book on India's urban saga.
Read: DoPT Circular
Also read: Sudhir Kumar should help Lalu recalculating Rs 90,000 crore railway surplus (July 13, 2009)
M Ramachandran presents the first copy of his book to PM (July 8, 2009)
Action & Appointments
Atul Chaturvedi has taken over as steel secretary. He succeeds P K Rastogi who superannuated on the 31st October. A 1974 batch IAS of UP cadre, Mr Chaturvedi was the secretary, department of fertilisers in the ministry of chemicals and fertilisers.
Read: Atul Chaturvedi's profile
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.
IN A lighter vein, principal secretary to Prime Minister T K A Nair gave a strong message to Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) chairman Nandan Nilekani that implementing a large project within the government set-up was not an easy task at all. Speaking at a function of the formal launch of urban development secretary M Ramachandran’s book, “An Alternative Approach to Project Planning in Public Works – The Indian Context” in New Delhi on Tuesday, Mr Nair said, “Now Nandan will realize what a project implementation in public sector means”, making everyone in the gathering including urban development minister S Jaipal Reddy break into laughter. For the beginners, Mr Nilekani who was the co-founder of Infosys Technologies, a start-up which has now become India’s second largest software exporter, joined government in one of the rare instances of a private sector honcho experiencing the corridors of power.
Significantly, Mr Nair further suggested that Mr Nilekani should finally write a book for which he should keep everyday notes on the progress of his project that will give every Indian citizen a unique identity number. Read, “Will Nilekani make Ram Sewak Sharma a secretary at the rank of additional secretary?” posted on July 24, 2009. Also read, “Urban development secretary M Ramachandran presents the first copy of his book to PM” posted on July 8, 2009.
Doc’s assessment of Indian Police force
(Excerpts from Dr Manmohan Singh’s speech at All India Conference of DGPs and IGPs in New Delhi on Tuesday)
Praise
Many terrorist modules have been dismantled and arrests of several important terrorists have taken place. It is on account of your alertness that we have not had a serious terrorist attack since November last year.
Caution
But our success in preventing terrorist attacks can be sustained only at the price of unrelenting vigilance… We also need to understand better why many more local youth are being induced into participating in terrorist activities and how they are being recruited, indoctrinated and trained. The factors that cause social disharmony and alienation should be clearly known so that we can work to eliminate them. I urge you to pay particular attention to these aspects.
Left Extremism
The Left Wing Extremism is, perhaps, the gravest internal security threat our country faces. We have discussed this in the last five years and I would like to say frankly that we have not achieved as much success as we would have liked in containing this menace.
New-age Policeman
We need a new-age policeman who is more professional, better-motivated, suitably empowered, well-trained, one who places greater emphasis on technology for investigation and other tasks. Read, “Doc’s prescription to diplomats: Link diplomacy to India’s domestic economy, says Manmohan Singh” posted on August 26, 2009
THE list of babuz, 09, is finally out. These 5 master bureaucrats have the power and ability to fix problems, manage crises, push agenda and get things done. They have clouts not just because of their posts and positions, but for their sharp managerial skills, leadership qualities and last but not the least their sound relationship with India’s political heavyweights.
Methodology of Selection
After taking feedback of over 30 senior bureaucrats and politicians who have mustered in understanding ups and downs of actors in Delhi’s power corridor, babu blogger has finally zeroed in five top babuz, or five most powerful bureaucrats in the country.
Consensus and Controversy
Whereas there was a consensus on Pulok Chaterji being the most powerful bureaucrat despite being stationed in US now, there was a tie between cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar and finance secretary Ashok Chawla for the third position. Also, there were anonymous comments in the blog saying that none of the Indian babuz has the intellectual caliber of Henry Kissinger after babu blogger had claimed that these powerful bureaucrats were Dr Manmohan Singh’s Kissinger-type master bureaucrats.
babuz No 1: Pulok Chaterji
A 1974 batch IAS from Uttar Pradesh cadre, he is now posted in Washington DC as an executive director of the World Bank. A secretary in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) till recently, Mr Chaterje’s personal equation with Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s family can’t be ignored by anyone in the government including those who are senior to him. The buzz is that the man who had a say in virtually every appointment of the government during Dr Manmohan Singh’s first innings, may soon come back to power pockets of Raisina Hill. Also read, “babuz no 1: Pulok Chaterji is India’s most powerful bureaucrat; find out who are no 2, 3, 4 & 5” posted on August 17, 2009.
babuz No 2: TKA Nair
Retired over a decade back, this 1963 batch Punjab cadre officer and principal secretary to Prime Minister, was also the secretary to former prime ministers I K Gujral and Atal Bihari Vajpayee. As babu blogger had written earlier, “And his immense clout explains why Reliance Industries’ (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani or Jet Airways chairman Naresh Goyal knows who to meet in the Raisina Hills to explain their side of the story on recent gas row and misery of aviation sector respectively,”.
babuz No 3: K M Chandrasekhar
A 1970 batch IAS of Kerala cadre, K M Chandrasekhar is well regarded among top echelon of civil servants in India. He was the architect of government’s 100 days agenda which various ministries were forced to initiate even before the new government was formed.
babuz No 4: Ashok Chawla
A 1973 batch IAS from Gujarat cadre, finance secretary Ashok Chawla would have been equally powerful today, had the BJP come to power after the last general election. A former civil aviation secretary, Mr Chawla served as secretary of department of economic affairs (DEA) only to be elevated as finance secretary eight months later. He is a contender to be the next cabinet secretary.
babuz No 5: M Ramachandran
Urban development secretary M Ramachandran, a 1972 batch Uttaranchal cadre IAS, is gathering clout in power corridors as he is the top contender to be the cabinet secretary next year. Known for following rule books to the core, Mr Ramachandran is pioneered reforms in India’s urban sector. Also read, “Chandrasekhar gets extension; Ramachandran & Chawla to be key contenders for cabinet secretary’s post next year” posted on June 2, 2009.
THE dateline is New Delhi’s Nirman Bhawan. And byline? Yes, urban development secretary and 1972 batch Uttaranchal cadre IAS M Ramachandran has turned into an author. He presented the first copy of his book titled, “An Alternative Approach to Project Planning in Public Works - The Indian Context”, to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Monday, July 6, 2009.
FINANCE secretary Ashok Chawla, a 1973 batch IAS from Gujarat cadre, has proved once more that he is one of the most powerful bureaucrats in the country holding additional charges of two departments which were earlier held by full-fledged secretaries.
Mr Chawla, who was recently elevated from the post of secretary in the department of economic affairs (DEA) to finance secretary, has now been given additional charge of the post of secretary, department of disinvestment under the ministry of finance for a period of three months or until further orders, a government announcement said. The appointment, which gives Mr Chawla a conplete control of three out of five departments in finance ministry, is effective from June 11, 2009. The post was vacant after disinvestment secretary Rahul Khullar, a 1975 batch IAS, was made commerce secretary. Earlier, he was given additional charge of the department of financial services since May 1, 2009 where an additional secretary level officer, a 1977 batch IAS officer G C Chaturvedi, was appointed to lead the department.
Now, out of five departments in finance ministry, only two has full-fledged IAS at the helm --- secretary Sushama Nath in the department of expenditure and revenue secretary P V Bhide. The bestowing of additional charge of the disinvestment department to Mr Chawla is a significant development in the backdrop of a possible announcement in forthcoming Budget that the government may take a slew of measures on divestment, thereby converting the department into an active zone.
Significantly, Mr Chawla and urban development secretary M Ramachandran are the two key contenders for cabinet secretary’s post next year.
URBAN development secretary M Ramachandran, a 1972 batch IAS, may emerge as a surprise candidate for the post of defence secretary after current incumbent Vijay Singh retires in the end of July.
Though current secretary of the department of defence production Pradeep Kumar, also a 1972 batch IAS from Haryana cadre, is believed to be the front-runner for the post thanks to his experiences in defence department for sometime now, the government may place Mr Ramachandran for the post as a run-up to his candidature for India’s next cabinet secretary. In fact, Mr Ramachandran, who has played a key role in implementing the government’s flagship urban programme JNNURM, is a key contender for the post of cabinet secretary when K M Chandrasekhar’s one-year extension term comes to an end in June next year. It’s believed that Mr Ramachandran’s experiences in defence would make him even a better candidate for cabinet secretary’s post.
Extension & Appointment of Officers
Central deputation tenure of M Deena Dayalan, IA&AS (1978), joint secretary & financial advisor, in the department of expenditure has been extended beyond July 11, 2009 till his date of superannuation on February 28, 2010.
IPS Posting: The proposal of the ministry of home affairs for the induction of the following IPS officers into the ‘hard-core’ of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) has been approved. The officers are:
(i) S K Sinha, IPS (Bihar, 1983)
(ii) Ms Kala Ramachandran, IPS (Haryana, 1994)
(iii) A K Shukla, IPS (MT, 1986)
(iv) M Madana Mohan, IPS (MT, 1987)
(v) Rithwik Rudra, IPS (Himachal Pradesh, 1993)
Dr Zaidi’s Additional Charge: The government has approved the assignment of additional charge of the functions of Representative of India (ROI) on the Council of International Civil Aviation Organization, (ICAO) to Dr Nasim Zaidi, IAS (UP, 1976), Director General of Civil Aviation under the ministry of civil aviation, for a period of three months beyond April 22, 2009 or till new incumbent on the post of ROI, ICAO is appointed.
Babus In Demand
The government wants application for filling up the post of Financial Advisor (Joint Secretary level) in Khadi & Village Industries Commission at Mumbai, under the ministry of micro, small and medium enterprises in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000 (PB-4) and grade pay of Rs 10,000 on deputation basis.
IAS officer in MP suspended on sodomy charges
An IAS officer in Madhya Pradesh was suspended on charges of committing sodomy on a Panchayat secretary in Bhopal on Friday. Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan himself announced the suspension of Bhopal district Janpad Panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Gyaneshwar Patil, who was allegedly caught by a group of mediapersons when he was with a panchayat employee in the office washroom.
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.
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. 
