YEAR END SERIES: 10 Key Appointments of Bureaucrats in 2018

IT’S time to say goodbye to the year 2018. For Indian bureaucracy it was quite an uneven journey this year — from the IAS-AAP battle in Delhi to an unprecedented war within the CBI. But the year also saw a series of key appointments with wider implications. Here below are 10 such appointments: 

Ex-Election Commissioners meet the incumbents; the veterans say, there’s a need to control hate speeches during campaigns

NINE former Election Commissioners on Monday suggested that there was an urgent need to control hate speeches in larger public interest. In a roundtable held in New Delhi and participated by present Election Commissioners and the veterans — the former ECs, MS Gill, JM Lyngdoh, TS.Krishna Murthy, BB Tandon, Dr SY Quraishi, VS Sampath, HR Bramha, Dr Nasim Zaidi and GVG Krishnamurty — it was deliberated on how hate speeches during the campaigns often…

1977 batch retired IAS OP Rawat is new Chief Election Commissioner; ex-finance secretary Ashok Lavasa is made EC; 10 Things to Know

IN TWO major appointments announced on Sunday evening, 1977 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre retired IAS and current Election Commissioner Om Prakash Rawat was appointed as Chief Election Commissioner of India while another retired IAS — Ashok Lavasa who till October last year was the union finance secretary, was made Election Commissioner. Lavasa’s batchmate (1980 batch retired IAS) Sunil Arora is already an Election Commissioner. Here are the 10 things you may like to know about Rawat and Lavasa:

An untold story of new Election Commissioner OP Rawat: How he cornered MP’s liquor lobby and raised revenues

FIRST, the basic news. Om Prakash Rawat, 1977 batch retired IAS of Madhya Pradesh cadre, was on Thursday appointed as Election Commissioner ahead of crucial Bihar assembly polls. With Rawat’s appointment, the Election Commission has the full team -- Naseem Zaidi as Chief Election Commissioner and Achal Kumar Joti as the other Election Commissioner. Before giving details about Rawat’s career in IAS, BoI here picks out one of several success stories that he had in his three and half decades-long career as an Indian Administrative Service officer. It was January 2004. Rawat was then the...

Punjab cadre IAS Kusumjit Sidhu appointed as new DPE secretary; A profile

PUNJAB cadre IAS of 1979 batch Kusumjit Sidhu has been appointed as the new secretary of department of public enterprises (DPE), a department that is responsible for policy and guidance to the public sector companies in India. Ms Sidhu, who was recently empanelled as a Union secretary, is likely to take charge on December 31, 2013, when the incumbent...

Revival of an MBA programme in Slovenia, and its Govt of India connect

DPE JS Ashok Pavadia (left), secretary Rawat (3rd from Right) with ICPE officers

THE international postgraduate MBA programme under collaboration of UN initiative, International Center for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE) and University of Ljubljana is back on track after a gap of three years. And here is an Indian government angle to the development. Defence secretary and 1977 batch IAS RK Mathur and 1980 batch former Himachal Pradesh cadre IAS…

DPE secretary OP Rawat to represent India at ICPE meet in Slovenia

A lighter moment at ICPE's 2011 meet

COME Monday, OP Rawat, secretary of department of public enterprises, will be in Slovenian city of Ljubljana to represent India in the annual meet of International Center for Promotion of Enterprises (ICPE), a Slovenia-headquartered United Nations initiative with member countries from Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe. Being the current chairperson of ICPE Council, India is likely to propose...

Corridor's Management Lesson: How a bureaucrat used “uncertainty” as a tool to take on liquor lobby

OP Rawat

DEALING with state liquor barons is a tough job for any bureaucrat. Such people have money, muscle power and ability to manipulate the system at their will. An officer at times tries to do incremental changes here and there, but finally falls in line because the officer may end up getting punished for such heroism.
But here is a man, now a secretary level officer in Government of India, who as excise commissioner in Madhya Pradesh, quietly changed the character of liquor trade eight years back, and also ensured the state earns more. BoI here presents the management formula and how it had worked:

Countdown To Civil Services Day: 3 MP IAS selected for PM’s award for excellence

LAST year, a section of national press picked up a story of a BSF havildar’s son from Jammu who as the collector of Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh imbibed the Naxal tactics of wooing the impoverished villagers and used the same against them. The man who was determined to break the Maoists’ hold over ordinary citizens of the district, organized medical camps and meetings in Naxal-infested district before becoming an icon among villagers of the district.

Yes, Gulshan Bamra, a 1997 batch IAS officer who is presently the collector for Jabalpur, is one of the three IAS officers being selected for the prestigious Prime Minister’s award for excellence award to be presented at a function in New Delhi on April 21 to mark the Civil Services Day. Significantly, 37 year-old Bamra will get the award for “Involvement of community under National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in Naxalite-affected areas in Madhya Pradesh.”

The other two officers of the state who have also been selected for the award are 1977 batch MP cadre IAS OP Rawat (Picture on Right)  who is now an additional chief secretary of the state, and Sanjay Dubey (Picture on Left), a 1993 batch IAS currently serving as CEO in Madhya Pradesh Rural Road Development Authority.

Mr Rawat who has masters degree both in physics and economics had earlier served as director and then joint secretary in Union defence ministry. He is now receiving the award for implementation of a forest rights act.

Sanjay Dubey who was an engineer by profession before joining IAS, will receive the award for removal of encroachments of structures of different religions and yet maintaining communal harmony in Madhya Pradesh.

Why is Bir so angry?

JS Bir, a senior IAS officer of Punjab cadre and secretary in general administration department (GAD) of the state expressed his angst against government's failure to remove 'corruption in the system' which led to his 'humiliation and mental trauma'. This is what the IAS officer wrote to Punjab chief secretary and chief minister in his letter seeking voluntary retirement. Who will take Bir seriously?