EC-Mamata Row: Who are the IAS, IPS officers Banerjee agrees to transfer, “only for time being”?

THERE is nothing unusual in Election Commission’s transfer-dictate to bureaucrats in states. But West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s  threatening on Monday not to follow the EC order would have created an unprecedented constitutional crisis which was averted only after Didi blinked on the next day and agreed to follow the poll panel’s order. Her face-saver: transfers would be made "only for the time being”. First, here are the names of the bureaucrats who Banerjee had initially refused to…

Ex-PMO official Sanjay Mitra to be new West Bengal chief secretary

WEST Bengal will have a relatively young officer, 1982 batch IAS and ex-PMO hand Sanjay Mitra as the new chief secretary. The 53-year old officer who enjoys good personal rapport with Mamata Banerjee’s confidante Gautam Sanyal (Read: Sanyal is Mamata's Pulok), was one of the two prominent Mitras handpicked by Banerjee when she moved from Delhi to Kolkata last year to take over as West Bengal CM. No prize for guessing...

Other Mitra: Ex-PMO official Sanjay Mitra may eventually become chief secretary

FORMER joint secretary in PMO and 1982 batch West Bengal cadre IAS Sanjay Mitra may finally get his due. According to reports, desks are being cleared for Mitra to become first an additional chief secretary and then chief secretary of Mamata Banerjee’s West Bengal. Incidentally, Mitra who had worked in PMO for almost seven years was handpicked by Ms Banerjee. But he was then relegated to the backyard of Kolkata’s...

Korbo, Lorbo…Mamata asks Bengal IAS to perform; to meet IPS officers today

Mamata Banerjee (File Photo)

ON A day West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee acted as a cheerleader and lifted the KKR’s IPL trophy in a victory rally in Kolkata, she also addressed about 250 IAS officers of the state urging them to pull up their socks. Like most other states, West Bengal too has a shortage of about 50 IAS officers where the sanctioned posts stand at 330. Ms Banerjee is likely to talk to state’s IPS officers today. Did she talk about Korbo, Lorbo...?

Why Bengal CM was kind towards rail minister’s PS Vandana Yadav?

LAST year, West Bengal chief minister Miss Mamata Banerjee turned down the requests of many IAS and IPS officers who wanted to come to New Delhi on Central deputation. The most prominent rejection was then Birbhum district magistrate and 2002 batch IAS Soumitra Mohan who finance minister Pranab Mukherjee wanted to be his private secretary in place of Manoj Pant who was to fly to Washington DC to become senior adviser to ED in World Bank. Miss Banerjee was however very kind towards one officer: 1998 batch IAS Vandana Yadav who was allowed to come on Central deputation. She became Mukul Roy’s private secretary in the ministry of shipping.
Now, Ms Yadav has been laterally shifted from the ministry of shipping to the ministry of railways. Ms Yadav will now be Roy’s private secretary in the Rail Bhawan. But why Ms Yadav in the first place got Mamata Banerjee’s nod to come to Delhi when CM even refused to consider Pranab Mukherjee’s pleas? Here is the answer...

Did Mamata’s trusted bureaucrat Gautam Sanyal know about rail fare hike?

IF sacked railway minister Dinesh Trivedi’s claims are correct, Mamata Banerjee’s secretary Gautam Sanyal, a Central secretariat service officer, knew in advance that rail fare would be hiked. Trivedi has not named Sanyal but told a news channel that he kept Mamata’s closest bureaucrat posted about an imminent rail fare hike. Everyone could guess that the concerned bureaucrat would have to be none other than Sanyal.

Those outside Kolkata’s corridors of power are not very familiar with Sanyal, the new poster-boy of India’s babudom. In June 2009, Sanyal became joint secretary in food processing ministry. But this Central Secretariat Service officer fast-tracked his career once he landed up in Rail Bhawan as OSD to Mamata Banerjee. Once Ms Banerjee became chief minister of West Bengal, Sanyal too took a flight to Kolkata. He retired, but Didi stunned the IAS lobby by keeping Sanyal as her key secretary. There were rumours that Sanjay Mitra, former PMO official would move to chief minister’s office as secretary to CM after Sanyal’s retirement. But that did not happen.

Secretary to CM in any state is a highly powerful post, but in case of West Bengal it commands a lot of respects too. After all, some of the distinguished bureaucrats held that rank in the state. For example, bureaucrats like Bhaskar Ghose (who later become information and broadcasting secretary), Subir Dutta (later became Union defence secretary) and SN Menon (became Union commerce secretary) were all secretaries to CM.

In October 2011, BoI wrote: “Gautam Sanyal to Mamata is what Pulok Chatterji is to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Sanyal is Mamata’s Pulok”.

Gautam Sanyal is Mamata’s Pulok; shows how a CSS officer can upset IAS power

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. The IAS babus could not even believe that a CSS officer at the rank of a joint secretary was actually dominating the IAS. There were reports that the state chief secretary was reluctant to appoint him as principal secretary to CM as he was not so high in the seniority list.

According to reports, Sanyal is now given one year’s extension after his retirement making him probably the first retired bureaucrat to head the chief minister’s office in Kolkata. There were rumours that Sanjay Mitra, former PMO official would move to chief minister’s office as secretary to CM after Sanyal’s retirement. But that did not happen. Sanyal became Mamata’s close confidante when she was the railway minister in during the NDA government. He continued to enjoy her trusts in UPA-II as well. In Rail Bhawan, Sanyal was the bullet train to reach Mamata immediately.

In fact, Gautam Sanyal to Mamata is what Pulok Chatterji is to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Chatterji, for example, is so close to Sonia Gandhi that he was recalled mid-way from his Washington DC posting in World Bank to take over as principal secretary to PM after it was realized that a man close to 10 Janpath should anchor the PMO and bridge the gap between the government and the Congress party. Sanyal is undoubtedly Mamata’s Pulok.

Those who became secretary to West Bengal chief minister in the past included veteran bureaucrats like Bhaskar Ghose (later become information and broadcasting secretary), Subir Dutta (later became Union defence secretary) and SN Menon (became Union commerce secretary).

Bureaucrats blamed for misleading Left Front government on Singur land row



Deserted Singur

AS IT has turned out now that Mamata Banerjee actually handled the Singur land row better than the Left veterans, former Left administration has begun to make the bureaucrats the fall guys. According to reports, a former CPI(M) minister blamed the bureaucrats for misleading the government on Singur land issue. Former West Bengal land and land reforms minister Abdur Rezzak Mollah has said that the babus misled the erstwhile Left Front government that land in Singur could not be returned to farmers. The former minister has now supported the Singur Bill which is being tabled in state assembly with an objective to return land to the agitating farmers. The Tata Motors, which built 80% of its factory in Singur for its Nano car project, shifted their base to Gujarat because of Banerjee-led agitation. The Singur episode became the turning point for Trinamul Congress’ landslide victory in Bengal.

40 officers attend Jaya's tea party
Around 40 IAS, IPS and IFS officers of Tamil Nadu cadre attended a tea party organized by chief minister J Jayalalithaa in New Delhi recently. Those officers who attended it included director general CRPF K Vijayakumar, K Skandan, Rajiv Nayan Choubey, Sandeep Rai Rathore, R Gopalan, Ajay Bhattacharya, Shakti Kanta Das, Ashok Kumar Gupta, C Chandramouli, Shashi Shekhar and Ashutosh Shukla, according to media reports.
The party turned out to be fruitful for many New Delhi-based senior officials, but for many, the new CM’s appeal for their return journey to Chennai was not well digested. After all, most Tamil Nadu cadre officers prefer to be on deputation in New Delhi rather than being posted in Chennai.

DIDIGIRI: Mamata may ask West Bengal cadre IAS, IPS on deputation to return home

WEST Bengal chief minister designate Mamata Banerjee may ask Bengal cadre bureaucrats to return home while engineering a major bureaucratic reshuffle in the state. According to local media reports, the process of identifying senior bureaucrats who are expected to play key roles in the next few years has already begun.

A leading newspaper from Kolkata said that some IAS officers working with the Union ministers from Bengal could also be given new assignments in the state. The Telegraph said Jawhar Sircar, the current union culture secretary, is among the officers the Trinamool leadership is keen to bring back to the state. Despite the euphoria about the end of the 34-year-old Left rule, many secretary level officers are unlikely to show interests in going back to Kolkata at the fag end of their career.

There are about 30 Bengal cadre IAS and IPS officers who are on deputation in Delhi.

Significantly, during her stint as Union railway minister, Mamata Banerjee was very keen in not sending railway officers to other Central departments on deputation. Also, she wanted her officers on Central Staffing back to the railways as soon as they complete their tenure.

Action and Appointments

a) Andhra Pradesh  government on Monday did a major reshuffle of IAS officers. Among others, the government swapped the roles of Busi Sam Bob, principal secretary, industries and commerce and T S Appa Rao, principal secretary, municipal administration and urban development. It is expected to improve municipal administration as municipal administration minister M Mahidhar Reddy and Appa Rao have reportedly differed on many key issues.

b) Raja Ram Sah, a 1995 batch IRS (IT) officer, has been appointed as director in cabinet secretariat, New Delhi.

c) Ms Asha Rani Rungta, a 1994 batch IPTA officer, has been shifted as Controller of Finance in Dr BR Amberdkar University. 

Trinamool Congress appeals bureaucrats to maintain safe distance from Left

FOR Trinamool Congress which could end the decades long Left rule in Wes Bengal in 2011 assembly polls, the main challenge lies in a possible connivance of bureaucrats and police officers with the CPI(M) cadres. A few days ago, opposition Trinamool Congress appealed to all the bureaucrats and the police personnel to maintain a safe distance from the CPI(M) till the assembly elections are over. The Trinamool Congress, headed by Union railway minister Mamata Banerjee, has found instances in which the ruling Left is deliberately using bureaucracy for political gains.

Recently, in a place called Khejuri, a CPM leader allegedly asked the Superintendent of Police of East Midnapore district to allow a safe passage for the armed cadres hired from outside to recapture the area. But the police officer refused to obey the command and instead preferred to go for indefinite leave, according to local media report.

After the incident, a few police officers have called on Mamata Banerjee to express their frustration over such developments. The Election Commission of India will monitor the developments of the state in a fortnight’s time.

Bihar cadre IPS Nehchal Sandhu appointed as new IB chief

Nehchal Sandhu, a 1973 batch Bihar cadre IPS, currently Special Director, Intelligence Bureau has been appointed as Officer on Special Duty in the Intelligence Bureau with effect from December 1, 2010. He will take over as Director, Intelligence Bureau for a period of two years with effect from January 1, 2011. He will succeed Rajiv Mathur, a 1972 batch UP cadre IPS. He is a recipient of Indian Police Medal in 1988 and President’s Police Medal in 1998.

No shortage of Personnel in Air Force

The available strength of pilots and personnel below officer’s rank in Air Force is sufficient to meet the current operational requirements of the Indian Air Force. There is no significant shortage of personnel below officer rank. However, vacancies including newly created posts are filled up in a phased manner. This information was given by defence minister AK Antony in a written reply in Lok Sabha on Monday.

Rights or Wrong: Didi’s mamata for West Bengal forces Rail files to land up in Kolkata

WHO will deny that railway minister Mamata Banerjee has been out of the track when it comes to executing work in Rail Bhawan? From the day she took charge as the railway minister, incidentally in Kolkata rather than Delhi, she has been camping more in West Bengal eying the hot seat in Writers Building. And there were a number of occasion, senior officials have flown to Kolkata carrying official files for clearances.
The Indian railways, for the first time, has officially accepted that files were indeed carried to Kolkata for Banerjee to consider though it played down the events saying it was done only in emergency cases. “It is clarified that hardly ever files have been carried to Kolkata for clearing from the Railway Minister, except in a few emergency cases,” said an official statement from the spokesperson clarifying the news item related to expenditure on movement of official files published in a section of media on August 23, 2010. It has further termed the news item “erroneous” which said that the railways spent around Rs11 lakhs in one year for sending file-carrying officials to Kolkata!

What make retired NE bureaucrats shine?

Harishankar Brahma, a 1975 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS and former power secretary, has been appointed as an Election Commissioner. That he belongs to ST and North East is believed to have helped him piping many other bureaucrat contenders for this coveted post. Brahma is the second person from the North East after JM Lyngdoh, who retired as Chief Election Commissioner in 2004, to become Election Commissioner. A former IPS officer RS Mushahary was made Governor of Meghalaya by the UPA government.

Action and Appointments

The three-day DGPs/IGPs conference, organized by the Intelligence Bureau will be held in New Delhi from Wednesday. It will be inaugurated by the Union home minister P Chidambaram. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh will address the conference on Thursday. 

RTI Act unlikely to be amended; rejection of frivolous requests could be made possible by changing rules

THE RTI Act is unlikely to be amended despite there has been a voice within the government that vexations and frivolous requests under the Act need to be rejected by amending the Act. There were media reports saying that there was a rift between Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on whether the Act which has been projected as a major tool to bring in transparency, should be amended at all. According to Mrs Gandhi and the party spin doctors, there is no need to amend the Act as it could be politically detrimental, though some part of the Act has brought inconvenience to the functioning of the government.

In a carefully prepared written reply in Parliament, minister of state in the ministry of personnel, public grievances and pensions, Prithviraj Chavan, hinted that there was no need to amend the Act, and that if need be, the issues involved may be addressed by amending the rules.

“While no indication can be given at this stage regarding the amendments which will be incorporated in the Act as discussions with the various stakeholders are yet to be held, the proposal under consideration covers, inter-alia, amendment to enlarge the scope of suo-motu disclosure, to avoid frivolous or vexatious representations, to modify the provision about disclosure of cabinet papers, to make a provision for giving current charge of Chief Information Commissioner to any Commissioner, to provide the constitution of Benches of the Commission and to incorporate a new section empowering the Commission to make regulations,” he said in the reply.

In a related development, government of Uttar Pradesh sent a proposal for grant of Rs 7.50 crore for construction of building for the State Information Commission under the proposed Government of India scheme for providing assistance to states for this purpose. But the Central Government has not taken any decision on the proposal of the state government, Mr Chavan said in Rajya Sabha on Thursday without answering the question “why”.

Action and Appointments

a) Railway minister Kumari Mamata Banerjee presented the 55th Railway Week National Awards for Outstanding Services-2010, in New Delhi on Thursday. (See picture on right)

The ministers of state for railways E Ahamed and K H Muniyappa and the chairman, Railway Board, SS Khurana were also present on the occasion.

b) Urban development secretary M Ramachandran took part at the signing ceremony of the “Reciprocal Common Transport Agreement” among NCR states of Haryana, Delhi and Rajasthan for unrestricted and seamless movement of traffic in NCR region. The function (See picture on left) took place in New Delhi on Thursday.

Chidambaram as Cheerleader: Govt to build 1 lac houses for paramilitary forces personnel on PPP mode

IF NOT Roti and Kapda, the Makan may do the magic for motivating India’s paramilitary forces working in difficult terrains. To boost the morale of Central Para Military Forces (CPMF) personnel, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) has taken up an ambitious mega housing project for construction of about 1,00,000 houses across the country for personnel from Border Security Force(BSF), Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF), Indo-Tibetan Border Police(ITBP), Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) and Assam Rifles(AR) etc.

The massive exercise to be taken up initially in 30 sites out of 245 identified spots, will follow the Public Private Partnership mode, and is likely to be completed in about four years.

According to MHA, the housing satisfaction level among Central Para Military Force personnel is 15.4% which is considered to be a de-motivating factor. Though the CPWD has been constructing houses for the force personnel and the pace of construction has been less than what is required to meet the authorized satisfaction level of 25% for the force personnel. On an average, about 4,000 houses are being added every year. The MHA had engaged consultants with the assistance of the ministry of finance and the Asian Development Bank which completed the Feasibility Study in January, 2010. For floating the bids, MHA has appointed M/s Price Waterhouse as Transaction Advisors.

Mamata announces cash award for crew members of Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani

Railway minister Mamata Banerjee has announced special award to crew members of Bhubaneshwar Rajdhani which derailed near Gaya on Monday. Some of the Railway staff including crew members who were working this train showed exemplary devotion to duty by exercising vigilance and alertness and applied emergency brakes as soon as the bomb blast occurred. Ms Banerjee sanctioned an award of Rs 30,000 each to the two loco pilots RK Singh and co-pilot A.K.Khalku, and Rs 20,000 each to the Guard R Minj and the train superintendent AC Ojha.

A common man’s letter to PM, copied to babu blogger

One Mr Chandan from Jharkhand, describing himself as a common man, has written a letter to Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh with CC to babu.blogger1@gmail.com. Though we have decided not to reproduce the letter because of certain unverified allegations, here are a few edited excerpts of the letter with the subject, “The Common Man’s Fight against Corruption”. Here it goes, “Dear sir, since the last two years, I have been fighting against the prevailing corruption in the Jharkhand state. When I started, I was all alone…. In the matter of Madhu Koda and his associates, the Central Agencies were very aggressive and their act had forced me to believe that in India, the truth prevails and the system does work…” Here is at least one firm believer of our political and bureaucratic system!

Should IAS Sudhir Kumar rewrite his book on railways turnaround?

CALL it bankruptcy to millions rather than billions! Should Sudhir Kumar, influential 1982-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer and ex-OSD to former railway minister Lalu Prasad rewrite his much talked about book “Bankruptcy to Billions: How the Indian Railways Transformed” if current railway minister Mamata Banerjee's white paper painting the turnaround saga in black, comes true? Will Harvard University which too did a case study on Indian Railways' financial success now review its conclusions in the backdrop of the white paper's claim that a cash surplus of nearly Rs 90,000 crore ($18 billion) during Lalu Prasad's tenure as railway minister, was an inflated figure thanks to the changes made in accounting methods. The introduction of a concept called "investible surplus", also inflated the cash reserve by another Rs 23,584 crore ($4.7 billion), the paper said. The question is now whether Sudhir Kumar who was OSD to Mr Prasad from September 1, 2004 to May 22, 2009 will rewrite his book, explaining his side of the story. Mr Kumar who has been a joint secretary in the ministry of power since May 22, 2009, attracted quite a lot of enemies in the Rail Bhawan because of his handholding in all important events of the ministry. No wonder, Indian Railways with 1.4 million employees is one of the very few government ministries which are not headed by all powerful IAS officers. Reacting to babu blogger’s earlier post on why Sudhir Kumar should help Lalu, never known to be a mathematical wizard, in recalculating Rs 90,000 cr surplus in railways, one of the readers commented, “Could it be a case of Alice in Wonderland?”. Post your comments too. Earlier Post Sudhir Kumar should help Lalu recalculating Rs 90,000 cr surplus (July 13, 2009) Action & Appointments a) A Didar Singh, a 1976 batch Punjab cadre IAS, presently Member (Finance), National Highways Authority of India, has been appointed as secretary in the ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs in the vacancy of K Mohandas, a 1974 batch Kerala cadre IAS who is the new shipping secretary. b) Pradeep Kumar Pujari, a 1981 batch Gujarat cadre IAS has been appointed as Executive Director (North) in the Food Corporation of India (joint secretary level), under the department of food and public distribution.

Crucial changes on the anvil in UPSC exams, says chairman; No of attempts could be reduced

THE Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has recommended major changes in civil services examinations including a reduction of number of attempts to appear for the examination. The Commission has recommended to the government that a Civil Services Aptitude Test should replace the existing Civil Services (Preliminary) examination, chairman of the Commission Prof D P Agrawal said in his address during UPSC Foundation Day lecture series on governance in New Delhi on Thursday. According to the new proposal, there will be two objective type papers common to all candidates. The emphasis will be on testing the aptitude of the candidate for the demanding life in the civil service as well as on the ethical and moral dimensions of decision-making, a government release said. Mr Agarwal further said that the proposed scheme would have the advantages of testing candidates' decision making skills and aptitude for civil services, and also providing a level playing field and equity, as all candidates will have to attempt common papers. Mr Agrawal also advocated for a reduction in the number of attempts allowed at the examination. Also, if recommendations made by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) get through, the performance of officers selected through civil services exam will be tracked, particularly during the initial years. The Chairman said that the Commission receives over a million applications for all the 14 regular examinations and other recruitment it conducts every year. He further said that the Commission was contemplating moving to examination through computers, once the initiative is approved by the government. The UPSC was setup 83 years ago. Railway minister and senior bureaucrats write to each rail employee In an unprecedented appeal by Union railways minister Mamata Banerjee along with both ministers of state for railways E Ahamed and K H. Muniyappa and the entire railway board and the chiefs of various unions of railway employees in a single written joint appeal to railwaymen have called upon them to strengthen the railway system through sincere efforts and hard wok. The joint appeal has called upon them to continue their hard work and dedication for realizing the motto ‘Service with Smile’. The letter of appeal has warned the employees saying that resorting to short-cut methods in discharge of duties is unacceptable. The officer signatories to the joint appeal include chairman, Railway Board, S S Khurna, financial commissioner Ms Sowmya Raghvan, member electrical Sudesh Kumar, member engineering Rakesh Chopra, member mechanical Praveen Kumar, member traffic Shriprakash, secretary, Railway Board, K B L Mittal etc.

Action & Appointments Gh Hasnain Massodi has been appointed as an Additional Judge of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court for a period of two years with effect from the date he assumes charge of his office.

Gopi Arora will continue to inspire public servants in the time to come, says PM

PRIME Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has condoled the passing away of former civil servant Gopi Arora and said he would continue to inspire public servants in the time to come. In a condolence message to his wife, Dr Singh said: “It is with great sadness and a sense of personal loss that I learnt of the passing away of your husband Shri Gopi Arora. Gopi was an exceptionally brilliant civil servant who served the country with great distinction. In his long and distinguished public career, he held many important positions and excelled in each one of them. Gopi’s powerful intellect was matched in equal measure by kindness and generosity of spirit. Ever helpful, he will be remembered with deep affection and respect by all those whose lives he touched. His career will continue to inspire public servants in the time to come. I extend my deepest condolences to you and other near and dear ones of Gopi in this difficult time. May God give you the strength to bear with your loss. I pray for peace of the departed soul." Though most politicians want bureaucrats to be behind-the-curtain actors, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who himself began his career as bureaucrat (he was DEA secretary) gives due recognition to civil servants quite publicly. (Picture: Dr Singh going round an exhibition at the inaugural session of the 3rd Civil Services Day, in New Delhi on April 21, 2008)

Railway recruitment: Exam could now be in local language Railway minister Mamata Banerjee has sacked chairmen of all 20 Railway Recruitment Boards (RRBs) across the country who were appointed during Lalu Prasad's time. A senior railway official is appointed in the post of RRB chairman for a three years' period. Whereas conducting railway recruitment exams in Urdu was already announced, some media reports suggested quoting unnamed sources that the recruitment was likely to be held in other local languages too to make it easier for local youth geting jobs. Currently, railway examinations are conducted only in English and Hindi.

Indian Railways bails out stranded Air India passengers across country

MANY stranded Air India passengers including bureaucrats of various ranks had to board trains to continue their journey on Tuesday as India’s national carrier was severely disrupted thanks to the ongoing strike by senior pilots beginning Saturday last. In fact, many senior government employees who by rules had to take Air India to avail of LTC claims for their vacation virtually hit the air-pockets because of the sudden development in Air India. Significantly, Indian Railways swung into action and set up train passenger reservation counters and ‘May I Help You’ booths at all important airports throughout the country on Tuesday for the convenience of stranded passengers who want to travel by trains. What’s more, zonal railways were asked to coordinate with airline officials to facilitate the movement of stranded passengers for using train travel option. Stranded passengers were asked to contact the nearest passenger reservation centres or visit the website http://www.irctc.co.in for e-ticket. Railways minister Mamata Banerjee further stepped in to bail out Air passengers by announcing that additional coaches could also be tagged on to superfast trains to carry the passengers. Also, the railways would run special trains from Wednesday to carry the air passengers from Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore to their respective destinations. She also asked union minister of state for shipping Mukul Roy to run an additional service of the Shipping Corporation of India on Wednesday to bring back the air passengers stranded in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Meanwhile, it was a tough day for senior civil aviation officials including secretary M Madhavan Nambiar and Director General of DGCA who on Tuesday met the representatives of all the airlines to ensure that passengers traveling by Air India had to undergo minimum inconvenience due to cancellation, re-routing and merging of Air India flights. Air India CMD Arvind Jadhav is also an IAS of 1978 batch.

Lt Gen Badhani takes over as DG Border Roads Lieutenant General M C Badhani took over as the 20th Director General Border Roads in place of Lieutenant General A K Nanda. The BRO, which was established in 1960, has earned the reputation of being the only road construction agency to maintain roads in difficult and inhospitable terrain and climate. An alumnus of National Defence Academy Khadakvasla, Pune, Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, College of Defence Management, Secunderabad and National Defence College, New Delhi, Lieutenant General Badhani had an illustrious service in the Army for 38 years.

All about Maya & Mamata: Babus under pressure in UP; Rly officials in deputation may not get extension

IAS and IPS officials occupying key posts in Uttar Pradesh are continuing to work under severe strain as they could be the next scapegoats for anything that goes wrong in chief minister Mayawati’s fiefdom. Whereas random transfer has become a common tool in the state to punish officials, chief minister has now said that senior officers including superintendent of police and deputy inspector generals would now be held accountable if the law and order situation in UP does not improve. Though the dictate sounds fine at the theoretical level, officials in the state feel that this could be yet another weapon to punish officials who are not toeing chief minister’s political line. The only good takeaway from the chief minister Mayawati’s recent initiative is the creation of another post of an additional director general of police (law and order). Now, ADG Brij Lal will look into law and order in west UP, whereas ADG AK Jain will take charge of eastern districts of the state. Only two days ago, 16 officials, including three senior IAS officers, were suspended for their alleged involvement in the irregularities in the allotment of plots to hospitality groups in Noida for building hotels for the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The case is under investigation. Read "All about Maya: IAS, IPS face transfers in UP" posted on May 25, 2009. Meanwhile, railway officials posted on deputation are fearing of an early comeback to their parent ministry as railway minister Mamata Banerjee may not allow them to continue on deputation beyond their three years term. Though most officials usually manage an extension of their deputation up to five years, officers on deputation are concerned of a new rule that may stop railway officers to continue on deputation beyond three years. babu blogger has learnt that Ms Banerjee had already rejected a few cases of extension beyond three years for which parent department’s permission is mandatory.

Sudhir Kumar should help Lalu recalculating Rs 90,000 crore railway surplus

SUDHIR Kumar, influential 1982-batch Bihar cadre IAS officer and ex-OSD to former railway minister Lalu Prasad should help his former boss re-calculating accounts of the ministry in the last five years after current railway minister Mamata Banerjee questioned the claims of Rs 90,000 crore surplus funds in the interim budget presented by Mr Prasad before the Lok Sabha elections. Mr Kumar who co-authored the book titled “Bankruptcy to Billions: How the Indian Railways Transformed”, wrote in details about the secret of railways’ success to position itself as a cash-rich organization. In fact, Ms Banerjee, who is now coming out with a white paper on funds with the railways, said that a corpus of just Rs 8,361 crore remained after expenditure of Rs 13,600 crore on account of Pay Commission award last year and Rs 2,600 crore this year. The issue became complicated further when Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh had refused to give Mr Prasad, his former cabinet colleague, a clean chit and said the proposed white paper promised by the railway minister would uncover the reality and clear the air. Significantly, Lalu Prasad who is known for his political sharpness and wits, is not a mathematical wizard to find the railway books right. Nor will railway officers who were forced to take a backseat during his tenure would come forward to help the Bihar strongman by doing some accounting wonders! In fact, a number of railways officials were then perturbed by the fact that an IAS officer, Mr Kumar, was virtually running the show as Mr Prasad gave him a free hand to initiate any policy change and micro-manage everything to make Indian railways profitable. Mr Kumar was then so powerful that many Rail Bhawan officials including railway board members became virtual rubber stamps endorsing Mr Kumar’s line of strategy. Also, Mr Kumar remembered by heart many of the accounting figures and played a crucial role setting yearly target for the railways. Significantly, the Indian Railways with 1.4 million employees is one of the very few government arms which are not headed by IAS officers.

Mamata announces a slew of welfare measures for railway employees; should civil servants expect sops from Mukherjee on Monday?

THE 1.4 million-strong railway brigade across the country has reasons to cheer after railway minister Mamata Banerjee announced a number of sops to railway employees in her Rail Budget presented in Lok Sabha on Friday. Before coming to what finance minister Pranab Mukherjee can do for government employees including officials during the General Budget to be presented on Monday, let’s list some of welfare measures announced by the railway minister for railway employees. a) The contribution of Staff Benefit Fund would be enhanced to Rs 350 per railway employee by one year. According to the announcement in Rail Budget, out of this contribution, a sum of Rs 100 per employee will be used exclusively for activities relating to women empowerment. This would also include the provision for vocational and occupational skill development training for physically and mentally challenged wards of railway employees, especially the girl child and higher education for girls. b) Ms Banerjee also announced the proposal to construct 6560 staff quarters during the year 2009-10. A thrust would be given under the Corporate Welfare Plan for improvement of staff quarters and colonies. The Budget also proposes to set up indoor stadia in major railway divisions and zones to promote sports and cultural activities amongst the railway employees. Scholarship for higher education of girl children of Group D staff will be launched. Seven nursing colleges on railway land in Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai (Kalyan), Chennai, Secunderabad, Lucknow and Jabalpur will be opened on Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode. The Budget also envisages to establish medical colleges attached to existing railway hospitals through PPP mode to give higher education facilities to the wards of railway employees. The locations where such colleges are planned include: Chennai, Hyderabad, Bilaspur, Lucknow, Barasat, Bhubaneswar, Mysore, Kharagpur, Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Jodhpur, Gardenreach, Nagpur, Ahmedabad, B.R. Singh Hospital, Bhopal, Jammu and Trivandrum. It was also announced that the General Managers would be empowered to sanction cases upto Rs 4 lakh for special medical treatment of railway persons. The Budget also provides for construction of dormitories for ladies and gents who accompany the patients at 16 hospitals having 150 beds and above. Burn Units will be provided at major railway hospitals of Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Secunderabad, Bangalore and B R Singh Hospital, Kolkata.

Mukherjee on Monday: What Babus should expect from General Budget? No major initiative is expected to be announced in the Budget which will have a direct impact on civil servants except finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s direct tax sops would make bureaucrats happy as well. The possible raising of the income tax slabs or restoration of standard deduction would help the bureaucrats as well to save some hard cash.