Babus in Demand: UIDAI wants retired bureaucrats as performance monitors

Nandan Nilekani-headed UIDAI has invited applications from retired bureaucrats including from defence services and PSUs to work as performance monitors of enrollment centers under its Delhi regional office. The applications are invited from “socially committed people willing to render their services to the Aadhaar project”, as monetary incentives are very low.
The remuneration is as low as Rs 500 for monitoring one center with the condition that no one would be allowed to monitor more than 30 centers per month. That means a highly spirited ex-bureaucrat can earn...

Nilekani’s UID team Vs Sam Pitroda’s bureaucrat-less innovative agenda

Sam Pitroda...

IN power corridors of Delhi, Sam Pitroda and Nandan Nilekani have similar identities. Both are immensely successful private sector honchos with zeal to bring about changes in governance. Both enjoy cabinet minister’s status, and are currently entrusted with two future-looking projects. For Nilekani, it’s about giving a unique identity number, or Aadhaar, to resident Indians. Pitroda’s mandate is to connect a billion people through public information, infrastructure and innovation. In a way, both are UPA government’s poster-boys showcasing reforms and technical innovations.

Yet, there is a serious difference between Pitroda and Nilekani. Pitroda, known for his characteristic bureaucrat-bashing, has roped in a slim and sophisticated non-bureaucrat team with the only exception of 1990 batch IAS Kalpana Awasthi. Ms Awasthi is his OSD at the rank of a joint secretary in Government of India. Nilekani on his part has heavily banked on IAS and other Group A service officers to make his UID mission a success like his Infosys innings. Nilekani’s key lieutenant, Ram Sewak Sharma is a 1978 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS, and even his private secretary MS Srikar is a 1999 batch Karnataka cadre IAS. Not just that, all deputy director generals posted across the country are from IAS or other Group A services.

...Nandan Nilekani

In contrast, Pitroda’s associates are Cambridge-educated Sukhman Randhawa who interned at BBC and the Penguin Group in London, and Mitakshara Kumari who had graduated from UK's University of Sussex and worked with European Union at Brussels. The other associates include Rahul Nayar who did his M.Phil in technology policy at Cambridge, and Vikas Bagri who was a part of initiating a rural BPO.

The comparison would not have been necessary if Nilekani had continued a smooth, seamless journey at UID. But if the problems and negative publicity that Nilekani’s UID mission has earned in the last few months are any indicators, his IAS managers have not done a very good job. The Parliamentary standing committee virtually junked Nilekani’s new bill. The home ministry has repeatedly raised objections to UID entering into its turf, and none other than Planning Commission which houses UIDAI is asking Nilekani “not to change track and stick to his original mandate”.

Now, the talk of the corridor is: why the hell Nilekani’s managers, read IAS, have failed to do the basics of inter-ministerial co-ordination? What’s more, some of his managers who got attracted to him because of the challenge and glamour associated with the project, are now looking at exit routes. Some of them reportedly want to move to not-so-glamorous and small ministries.

But here is the danger. Nilekani’s failure means end of the road for the government to woo any more high-performing corporate honchos.

Cabinet secretary contender M Ramachandran could be made Election Commissioner of India

URBAN development secretary and 1972 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS, M Ramachandran, who missed the bus to become the country’s top bureaucrat, may now be considered for the post of Election Commissioner that will be vacant after Chief Election Commission and 1969 batch retired IAS Navin Chawla retires in July this year, and Election Commissioner Dr SY Quraishi, a 1971 batch retired IAS, possibly takes over as CEC, a person close to the development said.

In fact, the second one-year extension of current cabinet secretary KM Chandrasekhar dashed the hopes of all 1972 and 1973 batch IAS officers to grab the top bureaucrat’s post, and leading the pack was none other than Dr Ramachandran. Though no one questions the efficiency and integrity of Mr Chandrasekhar, there has been a general discontentment and tension among top IAS officers about the trend set by Mr Chandrasekhar’s four-year term for a post that by rules has a two-year-long tenure.

However, if Mr Ramachandran who retires in the end of this month, gets the post of Election Commissioner, he will have almost a five-year term, apart from having a chance of becoming the Chief Election Commissioner at a later stage. The Election Commissioners including the Chief Election Commissioner retire at the age of 65.

Also, there are speculations that another 1972 batch IAS and tourism secretary, Sujit Banerjee, could get an extension till the Commonwealth Games are over. Mr Banerjee retires in July this year.

Retired CBDT and CBEC Members included in Nilekani-led Advisory Group

The Technical Advisory Group for Unique Projects (TAGUP), under the chairmanship of Nandan Nilekani, will have SS Khan, former member, CBDT and PRV Ramanan, former member, CBEC as its members. The other members will be CB Bhave, chairman SEBI, R Chandrasekhar, secretary, department of IT, Dhirendra Swarup, former chairman PFRDA and Dr Nachiket Mor, president, ICICI Foundation for Inclusive Growth.

Action and Appointments

a) The extension of tenure of VK Sadhu, a 1976 batch CSS and Principal Commissioner (joint secretary level), of Delhi Development Authority upto December 31, 2011, has been approved.

b) The ACC has not approved the proposal for the appointment of Raghava Chandra, a 1982 batch MP cadre IAS as joint secretary in the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), in place of Kumar Sanjay Krishna, a 1985 batch Assam cadre IAS who is now a principal secretary in the cadre.

c) The proposal of the ministry of defence for extension of Central deputation tenure of T Ramachandru, a 1984 batch Orissa cadre IAS for a period of three months upto September 12, 2010, has been approved.

d) Arun Kumar Bal, a 1986 batch West Bengal cadre IAS has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of defence.

South Sumatra pioneers in outsourcing of civil servants; govt there not to recruit staff on contract

IN A classic case of how future bureaucracy may look like, the administration in South Sumatra is now preparing a blueprint to implement an outsourcing system whereby private companies would be given contracts to supply civil servants. The government, in turn, would not recruit any more contractual workers on its own, and many of the existing temporary staff may find their way to become permanent employees, a report in the The Jakarta Post said.
Under a new regulation, all provincial administration agencies will subcontract the service to third parties or outsourcing companies, the paper said. The report further quoted South Sumatra Civil Service Agency head Muzakir saying that handling the matters related to temporary employees working in government agencies would no longer be the responsibility of the administration. The outsourcing also means the end of service of many existing civil servants working in a contract basis. “Their performance will also be evaluated periodically, and the contracts of those who are deemed lazy will be terminated,” Muzakir said, according to the report.
South Sumatra is a province of Indonesia with a population of mere 69 lakhs.

Is Pitroda following Nilekani or vice-versa?
Is Sam Pitroda following Nandan Nilekani, or it’s the round way round. If government gossips are taken seriously, Mr Pitroda’s relatively long innings in the government has been a comfort factor for former Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani to take risk in government and take up the challenge of a new government project after having an outstanding career in India’s second largest software export company.
Whether that’s true or not, Mr Pitroda is following Mr Nilekani in Yojana Bhawan, literally. Former chairman of the National Knowledge Commission has recently moved into Room No 125 of the Planning Commission which was recently vacated by Mr Nilekani to shift out to his new UIDAI office in Jeevan Deep building in New Delhi’s Connaught Place area.
Is Nilekani preferring IAS to corporate guys?

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New Cadre Allocation Policy for IAS
Cadre-wise list of IAS (From 2005 to 2008 batch)

Nine events of 2009 that may impact India's corridor of power in 2010 and beyond

AS the year 2009 nears end, Babus of India (BoI) presents 9 events that may impact the corridor of power in 2010 and beyond.


1) Third Party Assessment Of IAS
Third party assessment of Indian bureaucrats began with a pilot project of selecting 80 out of 130 empanelled officers for the posts of joint secretary. The experiment was done with a panel of four retired bureaucrats as experts, and it could turn out to be a regular feature in selecting bureaucrats for various posts in the years to come.


2) Not Every IAS, IPS Or IFS Be Dhoni Or Tendulkar
The government came out with a guideline saying saying that officers should not be given 10 out of 10 in a routine manner by the reporting or reviewing authorities, and this should be restricted to 20% of the officers under their supervision, and any grading of more than 8 for each attribute must be justified by giving reasons in writing in a separate sheet.

3) No To Random Transfers
If Dr Manmohan Singh’s new government has its way, bureaucrats may not be at the mercy of their political masters in matters related to transfers. If the government is able to convert the proposed Civil Services Bill into an Act of Parliament, the success of government programmes will be linked to the performance of bureaucrats who run those at the ground level, and politicians will have the least control over those bureaucrats, initial reports on the content of the Bill have suggested. Though the bill could not be introduced during the year, there is a possibility that it would come up next year.

4) File Notings In Public Domain
The government officials need to be much more careful in file notings as those are already in public scrutiny under the RTI. The summoning of two DoPT officials by CIC to explain why they should not be prosecuted under RTI provisions, finally led the government agree that file notings would come under the RTI. It means whatever you write in official files would be under public scrutiny.

5) Performing Officers To Get Higher Increment
If DoPT has its way, performing government officials may end up receiving better yearly increment than what was even promised in the 6th Pay Commission recommendations. While modifying the recommendations of the 6th Pay Commission that up to a 20% of the performers among officers may be given an annual increment of 3.5% instead of a normal practice of 2.5%, the government proposed that performers may be granted even 4% of increment.

6) Dr Singh Is Keen On Implementing Ethical Governance Codes
Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh wants design of government’s development programmes to be transparent, simpler, decentralized and less discretionary so as to bring in accountability to the administrative system. While addressing a conference of CBI and state anti-corruption bureaus recently, Prime Minister of India said that recommendations of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) on ‘Ethics in Governance’ were examined in great detail, and some of those could be implemented.

7) Nilekani And Pitroda's Entry Into Babudom
In a rare instance of choosing a corporate honcho over a politician or a bureaucrat to spearhead a mega government initiative, Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of leading software company Infosys Technologies, was appointed as chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as chairman in the rank of a cabinet minister. Similarly, IT czar Sam Pitroda was appointed as adviser to PM on infrastructure, innovation and information. The move is significant as more such technocrats could get preference over seasoned bureaucrats or politicians for getting appointment in key government posts in 2010 and beyond.

8) Facing The Challenge Of Disclosing Assets
Bureaucrats are under pressure to disclose their assets under the Right To Information Act (RTI). After agreeing to disclose file notings which civil servants successfully blocked for quite sometime, they may have to make public their total assets, a norm which is being routinely practised by politicians. Senior bureaucrats in the government of India participated in a DoPT-initiated meeting in November to discuss the matter.

9) New Instructions To Help Babus Communicate With Netas 
In yet another tale of Netagiri and babudom, Indian political masters imposed a set of additional instructions on how officers should behave with the Members of Parliament. This set of detailed instructions issued on the conduct of government servants in official dealings and correspondence with the Members of Parliament are in addition to the provisions in the Conduct Rules, and the Manual of Office Procedure.

UIDAI's structure is now official; JS and deputy secretary level officers to dominate

FINALLY, there has been a clarity on how many officials, and non-officials will get a berth in newly formed Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which will give a 16-digit identity number to each and every citizen in India. In fact, a number of IAS and Group A service officers have already applied for various posts in the Delhi-headquartered UIDAI, being chaired by former Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani. Here is the organisational structure of UIDAI and openings at various level. Though UIDAI would be headquartered at Connaught Place area in Delhi, it will have its technological centre in Bangalore. In addition, it will have eight regional offices in the country --- Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Director General and Mission Director, UIDAI (hereinafter referred to as DG – additional secretary level) will head the administrative organization. Already, Ram Sewak Sharma, a 1978 batch Jharkhand Cadre has been appointed as DG. There will be 6 Deputy Director Generals (DDG - joint secretary rank) and each DDG will have 3 Directors (director/deputy secretary rank), 3 Deputy Directors, 3 Desk Officers and 3 Assistants --- all of whom will be posted at the headquarters. Also, UIDAI's Delhi office will also have a Finance Wing headed by a Chief Controller of Accounts who may be designated as DDG (Finance). It means UIDAI's Delhi office will have a manpower strength of over 100. Each of the eight regional offices of UIDAI will be headed by a Deputy Director General (DDG). Each DDG will have 3 Directors, 3 Deputy Directors, 1 SAO and as many Senior Systems Analysts as the number of states/UTs in that region, 3 Desk Officers and 3 Assistants. The regional offices will also have a finance wing. There will be a Project Management Unit consisting of experts in various fields which would be part of the UIDAI team. The newly launched UIDAI website has declared that there would be openings for general public as well. "At present, the Authority is in the process of putting a team in place.We will intimate the public on openings as they are available. This website in due course will have the possible opportunities that people would have to contribute to the UIDAI," the section called "Working for the UIDAI" in the site says. Related Stories 1) Is Nilekani preferring IAS to corporate guys? (November 23, 2009) 2) TKA Nair's advice to UIDAI chairman (September 16, 2009)

UIDAI Vacancy: Govt sends reminder on recruitment of UIDAI assistant DGs; last date now extended to 1st week of January, 2010

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.

Ramachandran's Earlier Book

Jobs at UIDAI: Is Nilekani preferring IAS to corporate guys?

NANDAN Nilekani, a corporate honcho now in government, is preferring to take bureaucrats, mainly IAS, on board for executing key managerial assignments in various offices of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) which has begun the process of giving a unique identification number to each of 1 billion Indian citizens. Despite the government allowing UIDAI to recruit private sector, though on government salary and on contract basis, the UIDAI has preferred the route of recruiting bureaucrats at the rank of joint secretary and deputy secretary/director. The difficulty in getting right private sector people with government salary is believed to be one of the main handicaps of UIDAI of recruiting key managers from corporate world. To give a sense of government salary structure, a joint secretary with over 20 years of experiences gets a pay of Rs 37400-67000/-(Pay Band-4 in government language) with a grade pay of Rs 10000, and other parks like accommodation. People in power corridors, however, feel that UIDAI chairman Mr Nilekani wants a brigade of IAS officers to manage the show as they are well-equipped and most suitable to understand the complex government procedure to make this fl edging project a success. Though UIDAI is in pressing need of key people right away, the recruitment of government officers needs its own time, and once selected the said officer will have to be relieved by the concerned state. Poaching private sector managers and appointing them on contract basis could have been less time-consuming than recruiting bureaucrats. The UIDAI which will have its new office in LIC building in CP, New Delhi, is likely to have a back-hand set-up of technicians in Bangalore. Till now, seven government officers including Ram Sevak Sharma (Director General and Mission Director), Ms K Ganga, Deputy Director General and five deputy secretary or director level officers were recruited to the Authority. Three more officers is likely to be on board soon, and the process of recruitment for another 10 officers is underway, sources said.

Read: Implementing govt projects is not easy, TKA Nair tells Nilekani (September 16, 2009) Nilekani needs additional DGs in 8 cities (October 2, 2009) JS level officers wanted (October 12, 2009)

Vacancy at UIDAI: JS level officers wanted for heading the Project’s 5 regional offices

THE number of senior government officials at the rank of joint secretaries working full-time for Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will be much less than what was initially planned for. With the government wishing to appoint JS level officials only in UIDAI’s five regional offices, Lucknow, Mumbai, Ranchi, Guwahati and Bangalore, it’s almost clear now that the number of JS working for this coveted project under corporate honcho and co-founder of software exporter Infosys Technologies Nandan Nilekani could be much less than 35. In fact, BoI (babus of india) first reported on May 26, 2009 that the government wanted to fill 35 joint secretary level officials, one each at the state capital, for the UIDAI project for which DoPT wanted suitable candidates to apply. In a wireless message to chief secretaries of all states and Union Territories now, the DoPT wanted names of suitable candidates to be recommended, for which the pay band will be Rs 37400-67,000 (PB 4) with a grade pay of Rs 10,000. Read the WIRELESS MESSAGE. (October 7, 2009) Recently, government brought out a circular to fill up posts of additional director general (ADG) at the level of deputy secretary or director, in the UIDAI offices, located in eight cities --- Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Straight From Files Nilekani needs additional DGs in eight cities (October 2, 2009) Will Nilekani make Ram Sewak Sharma a secretary? (July 24, 2009) To recruit 35 joint secretary level officials (May 26, 2009)

Prez to inaugurate 4th Annual Convention on RTI on Monday The fourth annual convention on RTI, organised by the Central Information Commission, will be inaugurated by the President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil. Lord Meghnad Desai will deliver the keynote address. Chief Information Commissioner, Wajahat Habibullah, central information commissioners, policy makers, social activists, academicians and NGOs, among others, will take part in the deliberations over two days. Delegates from some of the SAARC countries will also be participating in the convention as delegates.

Arunachal’s Chief Election Officer to file report on free distribution of two wheelers to voters The Election Commission had received inputs from observers that two wheelers were distributed on large scale to voters in Arunachal Pradesh and they are plying on the road without registration numbers. The Commission had directed CEO, Arunachal Pradesh to forward a factual report and ensure that state government immediately take action under relevant provisions of Motor Vehicle Act. Till now, 494 unregistered motorcycles or vehicles have been impounded and FIRs lodged, an EC release said.

Will Pitroda & Nilekani be able to do what ex-Ford Motor veteran McNamara did it to US admin?

IT CZAR Sam Pitroda’s appointment as the Advisor to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on infrastructure, innovation and information after Infosys Technologies co-founder Nandan Nilekani’s appoitment as chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) may bring in some changes the way the government functions. As both of these private sector honchos are pampered by giving the rank of a cabinet minister, a few more high profile private sector veterans may be attracted to join the government laterally. In fact, 68-year-old Pitroda, who is also the chairman of National Knowledge Commission, has prior experience in working with government though Mr Nilekani has no sarkari exposure earlier. No wonder, Mr Pitroda's talents were recognised during the NDA regime when he received Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for excellence in Public Administration and Management Sciences. (See Picture with former PM A B Vajpayee and ex-President of India KR Narayanan) Significantly, post-retirement assignment of two senior bureaucrats in India, principal secretary to PM TKA Nair and national security advisor MK Narayanan hold the rank of ministers of state only implying that Dr Singh has attached much importance to both these specialists by according cabinet minister’s rank. The big question here is whether Mr Pitroda and Mr Nilekani could do what former president of Ford Motor Company Robert McNamara did to the US administration in 1960s when he was made Defense Secretary under President Kennedy. As was acknowledged in a sub-section called Reforms in Public Administration in the USA, one of the reports of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission has mentioned how Mr McNamara introduced the culture of questioning all assumptions and assertions, of quantifying costs and benefits, of using techniques like project evaluation and review (PERT) and critical path method (CPM) to cut costs and delivery times of projects, the use of mathematical techniques for optimizing resource allocation (operations research), network planning, value engineering, and a detailed planning, programming, and budgeting system. No wonder, the managerial culture introduced by Mr McNamara gradually spread to several other departments of US federal government! Straight From Files TKA Nair’s advice to Nilekani on project implementation (September 16, 2009) Action & Appointments a) Alok Prasad, a 1974 batch IFS officer and currently India’s envoy to Sri Lanka, has been appointed as deputy National Security Adviser. Prasad will hold the office for two years or until further orders, according to the decision of the ACC. He was also India’s High Commissioner in Singapore and deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of India, Washington from 2000 to 2004. b) Former finance secretary and chairman of Thirteenth Finance Commission Dr Vijay Kelkar has unanimously been elected as chairman of the Forum of Federations, an international organization headquartered in Ottawa. It seeks to strengthen democratic governance by promoting dialogue on the practices, principles, and possibilities of federalism through partner governments, a government release said on Thursday. c) Avinash K Srivastava, joint secretary in the ministry of corporate affairs has been nominated as the official spokesperson of the ministry for interacting with the media representatives. He is a 1982 batch UP cadre IAS.

A Panther black Ford Ikon parked near Pranab babu’s white ambassador creates a drama outside the North Block on Tuesday

A BLACK Ford Ikon parked not so far away from finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s white ambassador outside a North Block gate made a new security guard so upset that he wanted the driver to take it away immediately to the general parking lot. It was Tuesday afternoon when babu blogger witnessed the high-voltage drama of the Ikon’s driver refusing to obey the security personnel’s order saying that the car belonged to a secretary, and he had every right to park it right there. But the security personnel on his part refused to believe the driver as he believed no government officer’s car could be a black one if not a white ambassador. But that’s the reality in the parking lots of Delhi’s power corridors. More and more non-ambassador cars donning red lights and ferrying ministers and officers are quite visible in Lutyen’s Delhi now. In fact, home minister P Chidambaram was the first to get a new Ford Fiesta car replacing the Maruti Esteem used by him during the previous United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government. But it’s white in colour which makes it still acceptable amongst white ambassadors. Yet, among the new Ford Ikons bought for finance ministry officials, there were ones in Panther black colour making them stand out in the parking lot. According to media reports, the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals — a central purchase organisation of the Central government under the ministry of commerce and industries —approved Ford Fiesta and Ford Ikons after those cars were found more suitable than ambassadors. In fact, chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) and Infosys Technologies co-founder Nandan Nilekani disappointed many techies from Bangalore who wanted him to travel in a red light-fitted white ambassador in Delhi. Mr Nilekani instead preferred a Tata Indica, and that’s too without a siren! Action & Appointments a) Justice Jiwan Chandra Singh Rawat, Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court has been transferred as a Judge of the Jharkhand High Court. He may assume charge of his office in the Jharkhand High Court on or before October 3, 2009. b) Justice Tarun Agarwala, Judge of the Allahabad High Court has been transferred as a Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court. He may assume charge of his office in the Uttarakhand High Court on or before October 3, 2009. Japan’s new PM not to reprimand excellent bureaucrats Japan’s new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said in his first press conference a few days ago that he might have begun the process of bestowing more power to the country’s elected representatives but had “no reason to reprimand excellent bureaucrats who work hard for the Japanese people”. It was a big relief to the bureaucrats around the world as Japan’s initiatives against bureaucracy could have impacted babudom around the world. After all, those who engage in Yen carry forward trade know it well that a little appreciation of Yen leads to the tumbling of equity markets across the globe!

Read, "Imagine secretary Pillai or Chawla debarred from briefing press; but new Japanese govt bans bureaucrats holding press meets" posted on September 16, 2009

Brand babu: Change the meaning forever…

IF all-powerful Indian bureaucrats feel that they will someday be able to wipe out the word babu, which still carries a negative connotation thanks to the colonial baggage, it’s just impossible. It’s a small and sweet-sounding word which people would continue to use and hear in lieu of the tongue twister “bureaucrat” or more official type “civil servant”. Though most civil servants blame media, and probably rightly so, for corrupting the word babu to make it synonymous with comfort and laziness, it’s a fact that media will continue to use it for humour and space. It’s space because “bureaucrat” is a lousy word for a headline, and “civil servant” is too big to fit into a space which demands large font-size! Mind you, the word “bureaucracy” is no longer a positive word, and it won’t take much time for the media to belittle the word “civil servants” either. Before I air my views, let’s first see how popular dictionaries are interpreting the word. In dictionary.com which is considered to be the Bible for tech savvy netizens looking for word meanings, here are the meanings for babu: a) Hindu title of address equivalent to Sir, Mr., or Esquire. b) A Hindu gentleman. c) A native Indian clerk who writes English. d) Usually Disparaging. Any native Indian having only a limited knowledge of English. Will you agree with this set of meanings for babu? I don’t. Let’s now read what Wikipedia, which is the most respected free encyclopedia used by net users across the world, has to say. It says, “In British India, ‘babu’ was a term used to describe a native Indian clerk. The word was originally used as a term of respect attached to a proper name, the equivalent of ‘mister’, and ‘babuji’ was used in many parts to mean ‘sir’; but when used alone without the suffix, it was a derogatory word signifying a semi-literate native, with a mere veneer of modern education. In the early 20th century the term babu was frequently used to refer to bureaucrats and other government officials, especially by the Indian media; in this sense the word hints at corrupt or lazy work practices. It can also mean the pimp or client of a sex worker. The term babu has thus fallen out of favour in polite society, since it may be taken as an insult.” I strongly feel that Indian bureaucrats should engage in a brand-building exercise to convert “babu” into a neutral word if not bringing it straight into the positive zone. First, the connotation of the word will automatically change if administrative reforms are being carried out from time to time. I feel many Indian bureaucrats are very hard working and disciplined and there are cases where they have proved to be better managers than India Inc’s top ranking CEOs. I personally know many bureaucrats who are not only the products of top Indian B-schools, but have the quality of the best managers of the country. Here is my big dilemma: If a St Stephens pass-out or an IIM guy joins Infosys or HSBC, he earns respects and reputation, forget his fat salary for a moment. But how can the same person turn into a lazy babu if he cracks the UPSC exam to join as an IAS? That’s the irony which administrative reformers need to look at very carefully. The 6th Pay Commission has introduced, though symbolically, a performance incentive for those who are better than the rest. I feel it’s the high time healthy competition should be encouraged within the government. The time-bound promotion needs to be weeded out if the government wants its schemes to be successful, and more significantly, if India aspires to be a truly developed nation by 2020. Also, why not encourage entry of professionals into the bureaucratic set-up at mid-career level? If Nandan Nilekani can join the government, or Cornell professor Kaushik Basu taking up a full-time job in North Block sacrificing his high salary, there would be many mid-career professionals with rich experiences in their own domain, won’t mind taking a joining bureaucracy and becoming babus? Let’s induct professionals at the joint secretary level and make them the mission heads of various programmes across the country. Yes, babu remains in your mind-space. Let’s change its meaning forever. If you spot a smart bureaucrat call him a smart babu, if he is lazy call him a lazy babu. And those who are smart, dedicated and yet powerful, babu blogger loves to call them, babuz --- both for singular and plural. babu survives, and maybe for a better tomorrow…

Implementing government projects is not easy, principal secretary to PM, TKA Nair tells UIDAI chairman Nilekani

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

Will Nilekani make Ram Sewak Sharma a secretary at the rank of additional secretary?

WILL 1978 batch IAS officer from Jharkhand and former IITian Ram Sewak Sharma don a formal designation of the CEO of Nandan Nilekani-led Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI) which would create a database of identity details of every Indian citizen? Whereas department of personnel and training (DoPT) in its recent appointment notice said that Mr Sharma had been appointed as Director General & Mission Director of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIAI), in the rank and pay of additional secretary, Mr Nilekani while taking charge as the chairman of the Authority (See picture above) on Thursday said Mr Sharma would join as “secretary and CEO” of the organization. Friends of babu blogger said that the corporate honcho, who was the co-chairman of Indian IT company Infosys Technologies, might have got confused with the sarkari ranks and dubbed a 1978 batch IAS a “secretary” whereas officers two years senior to him were yet to get the rank of a secretary. Though that could be a technical mistake of mixing up the posts of “secretary” and “additional secretary”, but it remains to be seen whether Mr Sharma is actually given a corporate title, “CEO” in the rank and pay of an additional secretary rather than continuing with the sarkari title, Director General or Mission Director as per DoPT’s earlier release. CVC prosecutes against 10 officers; 6 from I-T department The Central Vigilance Commission launched prosecution against 10 officers including six from Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), two from Department of Telecommunications and one each from Central Board of excise and Customs (CBEC) and ministry of home affairs (MHA). The commission disposed of 485 cases during June 2009 and advised initiations of major penalty proceedings against 134 officers. Of these, 46 were from public sector banks, 25 from MCD, 13 from ministry of railways, 7 from Khadi & Village Industries Commission etc. Action & Appointments a) Lok Ranjan, a 1989 batch IAS from Manipur Tripura cadre, presently working as director in the department of revenue has been appointed as joint secretary in the same department, in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000/- (PB-4) plus grade pay of Rs 10000. b) The proposal of the ministry of home affairs for inter-cadre transfer of Bharat Rahul Manhardan, IPS (AP, 2007) from Andhra Pradesh to Rajasthan on the ground of his marriage to Ms Mamta Bishnoi, IPS (RJ, 2007) has been approved. c) The proposal for inter cadre transfer of Nitish Kumar Jha, IAS (Manipur-Tripura, 2002) and Ms Radhika Jha, IAS (Sikkim, 2002) from their respective parent cadres to Uttarakhand cadre has been approved. d) Vijay Anand, IRS (C&CE, 1980) has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of space, in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000/- (PB-4) plus grade pay of Rs 10000, for a period of five years or until further orders.

Know Your Babu: A 1978 batch IAS to be Mission Director of Nilekani’s unique ID venture

NANDAN Nilekani’s UID project will now have a dedicated project director. Ram Sewak Sharma, a 1978 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS, has been brought in from the state to appoint as Director General & Mission Director of Unique Identification Authority of India, in the rank and pay of additional secretary. A post graduate in mathematics, Mr Sharma hails from Uttar Pradesh and is now serving as principal secretary in state science and technology department. Major Postings Director, Finance & Company Affairs in department of economic affairs (DEA) under finance minister, New Delhi (From May 1, 1995 to November 17, 1998) Joint secretary in ministry of Finance & Company Affairs (From November 17, 1998 To August 4, 2000) Member Secretary (JS Level) in Personnel & General Administration (From October 26, 2002 to December 31, 2002) Managing Director (additional secretary level) State Electricity Board, Jharkhand (From March 30, 2006 to October 30, 2006) Principal Secretary (additional secretary level) at Info Tech Department, Jharkhand (From May 3, 2007 to September 16, 2008) Principal Secretary (Additional Secretary Level) in Science & Technology Department, Ranchi (From September 19, 2008 till now) Action & Appointments Joint secretary in the National Authority for Chemicals Weapons Convention Ms Ajanta Dayalan, IA&AS (1978 batch) has been appointed by lateral shift as the joint secretary in cabinet secretariat (main) in place of Dr A R Sihag, a 1983 batch Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS. National Authority for Chemicals Weapons Convention also comes under the cabinet secretariat.

FM wants tax officials to be like honey bees and meet targets without coercive methods

FINANCE minister Pranab Mukherjee said he wanted tax officials to be like honey bees who don’t harm flowers, as he talked about a future tax system which generates revenues on a sustained basis without use of coercive tax collection methods at the end of each year to meet targets. He said it while presenting the General Budget in Lok Sabha on Monday. He said he wanted tax collectors to “be like honey bees collecting nectar from the flowers without disturbing them, but spreading their pollen so that all flowers can thrive and bear fruit.” The tax officials have now been directed to work on SARAL-II forms for early introduction. UIDAI marks the beginning of private sector entry into government Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) marks the beginning of an era where the top private sector talent in India steps forward to take the responsibility for implementing projects of vital national importance, said finance minister Pranab Mukherjee while presenting the general Budget. He also added that the project is close to his heart. The project which will be spearheaded by former Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani, will roll out first set of unique identity numbers in 12 to 18 months. The Budget made a provision of Rs 120 crore for the project where a number of civil servants have been lobbying to get involved. Action & Appointment A) Raghu Menon, a 1974 batch IAS of Nagaland cadre, has been appointed as secretary, ministry of Information and Broadcasting in the vacancy of Ms Sushma Singh, a 1972 batch IAS of Jharkhand cadre who retired recently. Jawahar Sircar, a 1975 batch West Bengal cadre IAS who is secretary, ministry of culture, will relinquish the additional charge of the post of secretary, I&B. B) Central deputation tenure of Umesh Kumar, IPS (AM, 1984), IG, CISF has been extended for one year beyond June 11, 2009 or until further orders.

Non-Sarkari Feel: Nilekani’s secretariat in Planning Commission has wooden flooring

A CORNER area of the third floor of the Planning Commission is ready for accommodating the support staff of newly-created Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI)’s chairman Nandan Nilekani. The area with wooden floor and glass separators looks more like a small corporate office, and is strikingly different from other parts of the Yojana Bhawan located in New Delhi’s Parliament Street. Mr Nilekani, who is resigning as co-chairman of software giant Infosys Technologies, is likely to be given a room in the first floor somewhere near deputy chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia’s office. All Members of the Planning Commission too have their rooms in that floor. The UIDAI office may finally be shifted out of the Planning Commission once it has the full strength. Some of the staff, who had come from other government departments on a temporary basis, began work in UIDAI. Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a 1987 batch Orissa cadre IAS, was appointed for a period of five years as deputy director general (DDG) of the Authority, but he has not joined the office as yet. One of the deputy director generals of National Informatics Centre Dr (Ms) Shefali S Dash, who temporarily joined the Authority, has now been playing a key role in setting up the office. The Planning Commission of India had already begun the process of recruiting 35 officers at the level of joint secretary or equivalent both at the Centre and states. Once the forthcoming Budget allocates the fund, the UIDAI will have the requisite infrastructure both in New Delhi and state capitals across the country. But for now, officers in Planning Commission have begun to gossip how easy or difficult it would be for Mr Nilekani to cope up with government’s rule books. You need a sanction even for buying a pen, they said. After all, the only big sarkari success story, Delhi Metro man E Sreedharan, had a long innings in working with the government! Babus In Demand National Institute of Disaster Management, which is an arm of the ministry of home affairs, intends to empanel consultants both from government and private sector. The Institute is looking for both retiring and serving civil servants to work as consultants. For further details, please log on www.nidm.gov.in Appointment Special secretary (internal security) in the ministry of home affairs (MHA) Raman Srivastava has been appointed as Director General of the Border Security Force (BSF) with effect from August 1, 2009, a government release has said. He will replace M L Kumawat who retires on July 31, 2009. Mr Srivastava is a Kerala cadre IPS officer of the 1973 batch.

Corporate Citizen: Infosys co-chairman Nilekani to head Unique Identification Authority of India

IN A rare instance of choosing a corporate honcho over a politician or a bureaucrat to spearhead a mega government initiative, Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of leading software company Infosys Technologies, has been invited to join newly created Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) as chairman in the rank of a cabinet minister, a government release said on Thursday. The invitation has come from Prime Minister himself. The government made a provision of Rs 100 crore in the interim budget for 2009-10 for its ambitious unique identification project which would give a unique number to every citizen of the country. No wonder, Mr Nilekani will be supported by a huge contingent of civil servants across the country as the Planning Commission of India had already begun the process of recruiting 35 officers at the level of joint secretary or equivalent both at the Centre and states with a pay scale is Rs 37400-67000 (PB-4) along with a grade pay of Rs 10,000. BoI (Babus of India) had earlier mentioned that Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a 1987 batch Orissa cadre IAS, was appointed for a period of five years as deputy director general (DDG) of Unique Identification Authority of India in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000 (PB 4), with a grade pay of Rs 10,000. Mr Nilekani, who was one of the key corporate leaders to create a niche for Indian IT industries globally, is expected to bring in new ideas to this gigantic task involving each of the country’s 100 crore population. Mr Nilekani recently wrote a book titled Imagining India: Ideas for the new century (See pic). Mr Nilekani, warm welcome to power corridors of Delhi!

RTI decisions should not be taken up Benches set up by CIC, says Govt Uneasy tension between India’s personnel ministry and Central Information Commission (CIC) has been continuing, as department of personnel and training (DoPT) has now highlighted a circular brought out a month ago saying that under the provision of Section 12(4) of the RTI Act, the chief information commissioner is not empowered to constitute Benches for taking decisions on complaints and appeals. “In view of legal position, it is advised that decisions on the complaints and appeals should be taken by the Central Information Commission as defined in Section 2(b) of the RTI Act, 2005 and not by the Benches of the Commission,” the government’s clarification said.