Bihar government is contemplating to hand over paper leak case to CBI to appease anger of senior IAS officers

WITH IAS officers’ revolt in Bihar against the arrest of their colleague and 1987 batch IAS Sudhir Kumar getting louder every passing day, the state government has been contemplating to hand over the case to the CBI as it could appease the anger of the top bureaucrats running the state administration. The revolt of the top bureaucrats in the state was palpable after the IAS officers decided not to take any verbal instructions from any higher office, including the office of the chief minister. And then on Sunday, about 50 IAS officers were seen…

Nitish’s Top Bureaucrat: Meet Bihar’s new chief secretary A K Sinha

Sinha: A Key Officer in Bihar's Dream Project

DURING the last few months, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has been aggressively chasing his dream of building a Dubai-like world city on the bank of the Ganges. He managed to get noted architect Hafeez Contractor to map out the plan of building high-rise apartments with water sports facilities on the river side. And now, chief minister elevated his trusted officer for the project, 1976 batch IAS Ashok Kumar Sinha, as Bihar’s next chief secretary.
Unlike most IAS officers…

School of Thought: More schools may come up in corrupt bureaucrats' houses

The IAS officer's confiscated house at Bailey Road, Patna 

Students enjoy the spoils of suspended babu – is what one of the national dailies gave a headline to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar’s politically brilliant idea of converting suspended 1981 batch IAS Shiv Shankar Verma’s Patna mansion into a school for Dalit children. As children were puzzled to find a new environment, a three-story house with marbles from Rajasthan and furnished with expensive interiors, Bihar chief minister was reportedly “excited” over the development and vowed to humiliate more corrupt bureaucrats in this innovative fashion.

With 16 more such cases of confiscation in the pipeline, the question is whether Bihar CM would succeed in creating more such schools.

Meanwhile, Verma has reportedly moved the Supreme Court, challenging Patna high court order of August 19, 2011, upholding the confiscation of his property under the provisions of Bihar Special Courts Act, 2009. Originally hailing from UP, Verma has been under suspension from July 2007 after Special Vigilance Unit raided his place and assets worth about Rs 1.4 crore were unearthed.

According to media reports, 361 of 3,321 primary schools in Patna district alone do not have buildings of their own. Armed with a new legislation, chief minister Kumar said he would like to see more schools run from palatial buildings of corrupt government officials.

As Kumar’s earlier move of keeping bureaucrats’ list of properties in public domain forced the Centre to do the same for its own officers, it remains to be seen whether New Delhi too comes up with a better idea of what to do with confiscated properties of corrupt bureaucrats.

Babus in Demand: NAC needs desk officer

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council is looking for a Desk Officer who could either be a serving officer on deputation or a section officer who has retired in the last six months, or is about to retire. Whereas the serving officers need to apply through the government channel, the retired officer can send his application straight to Under Secretary, NAC, 2 Motilal Nehru Place, Akbar Road, New Delhi, or email it to sravi@nic.in

Bihar Shows The Way: On January 31 Nitish govt to make bureaucrats' assets public

THERE is nothing unofficial about it. Nitish Kumar government of Bihar has asked its bureaucrats to compulsorily submit details of their assets which would be made public by January 31. That’s not all. Those who fail to declare their assets may not get their salary too, media reports said.

Already politicians of the country need to declare their assets every time they file their nominations for contesting any elections. Now, bureaucrats in Bihar will have to file the details moveable, immoveable assets along with property details of their spouses and children. With 242 IAS officers in the state, Bihar will be the first state to publicly declare the assets of bureaucrats.

On its guidance for 2011, BoI (babusofindia.com) wrote on December 31 that sooner or later, Indian bureaucrats may have to place the movable and immovable assets in public domain in the same way as Indian politicians currently do. “The latest salvo has come from Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who with a renewed mandate is determined to bring in transparency and accountability to administration. Remember Nitish Kumar is the flavour of the season, and his direction to the state’s IAS officers to declare their assets and those of there kin by January 31, may have ripple effects in other states too,” BoI report said.

In fact, during the beginning of 2010, senior bureaucrats in Delhi had a brainstorming on the subject, but the consensus remained a firm “no” to disclosure. But the question is how long bureaucrats will say “no” to it?

Action and Appointments

a) Ramanand Tiwari, a 1972 batch retired IAS and chief information commissioner of Maharashtra government continues to attend office even after the state government had recommended his suspension and reportedly barred him from remaining present in office till the inquiry into Adarsh scam gets over.

Year 2011: Will bureaucrats be forced to disclose their assets?

IF YOU are an Indian bureaucrat battling hard to argue why your assets should not be disclosed in public domain, you are probably fighting a lost battle. Have a reality check. Sooner or later, Indian bureaucrats may have to place the movable and immovable assets in public domain in the same way as Indian politicians currently do. No one knows whether that could take place in 2011 itself, or it may take a few more years, but the reality is that the bureaucrats’ lone battle to get their assets outside the purview of the RTI is becoming increasingly difficult.

The latest salvo has come from Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar who with a renewed mandate is determined to bring in transparency and accountability to administration. Remember Nitish Kumar is the flavour of the season, and his direction to the state’s IAS officers to declare their assets and those of there kin by January 31, may have ripple effects in other states too.

During the beginning of 2010, senior bureaucrats in Delhi sat together to deliberate at length whether bureaucrats should compulsorily disclose their assets or not, but the consensus was a firm “no”.

In February, 2010, BoI reported how Madhya Pradesh government was keen to bring assets of about 300 IAS officers of MP cadre under the ambit of RTI after a series of I-T raids in the MP and its neighbouring Chhattisgarh. For the record, I-T department does not hand over personal details of any citizens including bureaucrats. But an order of the Central Information Commission, pronounced by Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi said that disclosure of information such as assets of a public servant cannot be construed as an invasion on the privacy of an individual. The order said, “...If people who aspire to be public servants must declare their property details, it is only logical that the details of assets of those who are public servants must be considered to be disclosable”.

During the year, the same debate came up in other states like Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat too. In Gujarat, for example, the issue is being sorted out in High Court as Arvind Agrawal, a 1984 batch Gujarat cadre IAS and MD of Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation, took up the case of bureaucrats in the court and challenged the CIC order asking the state government to furnish Annual Property Returns of its senior bureaucrats.

But Nitish Kumar’s dictate could finally be the game-changer. His government said that the asset declaration of IAS officers should also include the details of their ancestral property besides that of their wives and close relatives. What’s more, similar intructions could be drafted for the state’s IPS and other officers too.

So, does it make it a sense to presume that Indian bureaucrats would be fighting a lone battle in defending their reluctance to disclose properties and other assets? Maybe, the year 2011 may bring more clarity to this intricate issue.

Read

The officers who have declared assets

Gujarat Case on disclosure 

Bureaucrats face the biggest challenge

Nitish's Bill to punish lazy babus

Action and Appointments

a) Pankaj Sharma, a 2000 batch ICAS has been appointed as deputy secretary in the department of economic affairs under the ministry of finance.

b) Biswanath Dhar, a 1989 batch ITS who was appointed as Assistant Director General (director level) in the Unique Identification Authority of India under the Planning Commission at Guwahati, has been debarred from deputation for a posting under the Central Staffing Scheme for a period of five years with effect from September 3, 2010 as he failed to join the above mentioned post.

Nitish Kumar’s Right to Service Bill to punish lazy bureaucrats in Bihar

THE Central government may have failed to introduce Civil Services Bill which was drafted almost two years ago, but Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar riding high on his landslide victory is moving ahead fast in undertaking massive administrative reforms in his state.

Bihar government plans to introduce a Right to Service Bill, which envisages a stipulated time for services to citizens, such as issuing a ration card, power connection and birth and death certificates. And once the Bill is passed, there will be a major crackdown on efficient and lazy bureaucracy in the state. Currently, citizens need to wait for a long time to get these basic services, but this new Act will ensure severe punishment for bureaucrats who fail to deliver those basic services on stipulated time.

The Central government’s Civil Services Bill is however different in nature. Indian bureaucrats have been closely watching the development related to the Bill as it envisages to break them free from the clutches of their political masters in matters related to transfers among others.

A number of former bureaucrats including ex-revenue secretary NK Singh (1964 batch IAS) and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh or RCP, (1984 batch IAS), are close confidantes of Nitish Kumar who guide him on administrative measures for the state. Both Singh and Ram Chandra Prasad Singh are now Rajya Sabha MPs.

Also Read

What Centre wants through Civil Services Bill?  

Will bureaucrats be punished through demotion?

Why is the delay? 

CBI website hacked?

The website of India’s leading investigative agency, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), has been reportedly hacked by a group who calls themselves “Pakistani Cyber Army”. No official statement has been issued so far about who are these hackers, or whether the server of the National Informatics Centre (NIC) has been hacked. Significantly, NIC is the root server which controls most Indian government sites.

The CBI is one of the investigative agencies that are currently probing 2G Spectrum Scam, Bribe-for-Loan scam and Commonwealth Games scam. Only a few days ago, Amar Pratap Singh, a 1974 batch IPS officer from Jharkhand cadre, was appointed as the new Director of the agency replacing Ashwani Kumar.