How To Avoid Bureaucracy: Japan PM’s experiments fail

IN AN unprecedented development, Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan has sidestepped the country’s bureaucratic channels and in turn created a temporary response team to the nuclear crisis. Kan, known for his anti-bureaucracy stance, has included his own advisers in the response team. The move has angered Japan’s career officials who are now subtly spreading the message that the earthquake-tsunami-nuke leak crisis is not being handled properly, local media reports say.

Kan has also junked nuclear emergency plans that were largely written by bureaucrats. Kan’s top aid Yukio Edano told a section of media that usual bureaucratic system is slow and there’s no way such a method could respond to a disaster of this scale.

But Kan’s office is getting flaks for avoiding normal bureaucratic procedures to handle the crisis. When there was a fire, Kan’s office reportedly gave the order to send police trucks rather than fire tenders!

(In Picture: Japan PM’s Official Residence)

Govt invites suggestions on prevention of bribery of foreign public officials

The government has invited comments and suggestions from people on “The Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials and Officials of Public International Organizations Bill, 2011” which was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 25, 2011. Those who are interested may send their views or suggestions on the Bill by 30th April 2011,a DoPT circular dated April 11, 2011 says.

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Bill on Prevention of Bribery of Foreign Public Officials

Action and Appointments

P Hazarika, a retired IAS officer from Guwahati, presently working as officer on special duty in the Sports Authority of Assam has been appointed as an advisor for Goa National Games Secretariat. Goa will organize the National Games 2011.

Bureaucracy bashing has turned a fashion statement for Global Netas

HAS bureaucracy bashing become a fashion statement for global Netas right from British Prime Minister David Cameron to Japanese premier Naoto Kan?

As David Cameron entered No 10 Downing Street recently, he talked about a “post-bureaucratic age” which would not allow “the old top-down, big government solutions”. New Japan PM Naoto Kan’s insult to bureaucracy has been pretty well known in power corridors of the world’s second largest economy. As soon as Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) took over in August, 2009, he called bureaucrats “a bunch of idiots who just got good grades in school.”

Kan who hailed from a middle class background, shot into fame in mid-1990s, for exposing the wrongdoing of his own bureaucrats. As the health minister then, he exposed his own ministry’s cover-up of HIV-tainted blood. Kan’s bureaucracy bashing has undoubtedly helped him achieving political mileage.

In fact, when DPJ registered a landslide victory last year in Japan, senior civil servants were in a state of nervousness, as the party had openly declared that it would bring in more elected representatives to fill up top bureaucratic posts and end the practice of Amakudari, under which Japanese senior bureaucrats take up high-profile positions in the private and public sectors after retirement. (Read: Japanese bureaucrats after retirement)

Meera Shankar’s party in US to honour FM

The Ambassador of India in US Meera Shankar hosted a banquet dinner in the honour of visiting finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday at India House in Washington. Commerce minister Anand Sharma, Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, leading business leaders from India including RIL chairman Mukhesh Ambani, Max India chairman Analjit Singh, HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, CEO of Infosys Technologies S Gopalakrishnan, chairperson of Biocon Kiran Majumdar Shaw and Apollo MD Preetha Reddy were present along with other dignitaries.

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