DIWALI BONANZA: Action & Appointments

CALL these Diwali gifts for some of the senior and retired bureaucrats of India. From 1973 batch IAS Dr Christy L Fernandez’s post-retirement engagement to recently retired secretary Jarnail Singh’s appointment as CEO of 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee, some of the major appointments of civil servants were announced in the run-up to Diwali, the festival of lights which is being celebrated today.

Here are some of the major appointments: a) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Dr Christy L Fernandez, a 1973 batch Gujarat cadre IAS as secretary to the President of India after his superannuation as re-employment on contract basis for a period co-terminus with the tenure of the President of India. b) The 2010 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee appointed former secretary to department of North Eastern Region (DONER) Jarnail Singh as its Chief Executive Officer. C) Anil Kumar, a 1973 batch UP cadre IAS and presently secretary in the ministry of women and child development has been appointed as secretary in ministry of parliamentary affairs in the vacancy of P J Thomas, a 1973 batch Kerala cadre IAS who recently took over as telecom secretary. d) K Chandramouli, a 1975 batch UP cadre IAS and presently Central Provident Fund Commissioner, Employees Provident Fund Organisation, has been appointed as secretary, department of AIDS control in the ministry of health and family welfare. e) Stuti Narain Kackar, a 1978 batch UP cadre IAS, presently additional secretary, ministry of Information and Broadcasting has been appointed as secretary, Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises under the Department of Public Enterprises in the ministry of heavy industries and public enterprises, in the rank and pay of additional secretary. f) VK Bhasin, ILS, additional secretary, Legislative Department has been appointed as secretary of Legislative Department.

HP bureaucrats in classroom Bureaucrats from Himachal Pradesh attended a special training programme recently so as to make them techno savvy. They were given training in various computer programmes including online monitoring of implementation of government programmes. The training was organised in the Himachal Pradesh Institute of Public Administration.

Kerala Ahoy! Who is new telecom secretary P J Thomas?

YET another important ministry will be under an IAS from Kerala cadre as P J Thomas, former chief secretary of Kerala and Parliamentary affairs secretary in government of India took over as telecom secretary on October 1, 2009. The telecom secretary is a key post in the run-up to the auction of third generation mobile technology or 3G. In addition to cabinet secretary and foreign secretary, several other Keralite officers or ones from Kerala cadre are heading Central government’s key ministries such as the ministry of home affairs, urban development ministry, ministry of heavy industries and the ministry of Indian overseas affairs. Profile of P J Thomas

Service: IAS Cadre: Kerala Batch: 1973 Date of Birth: January 13, 1951 Place of Domicile: Kerala Mother Tongue: Malayalam

Educational Qualifications a) Graduate (Physics, chemistry and match) First div b) PG in Physics, First div c) PG in Economics, Second division

Major Postings a) District Magistrate (Deputy secretary level), Ernakulam (From June 1, 1982 to April 1, 1984) b) Secretary (Deputy secretary level) Finance (From April 1, 1984 to July 1, 1985) c) Chief Electoral Officer (Joint secretary level) State Election Commission (From February 1, 1998 to January 22, 2005) d) Principal secretary (Additional secretary level) Human Resource Development (From January 22, 2005 to September 13, 2005) e) Director, Additional secretary level, IIM (From September 13, 2005 to February 1, 2006) f) Additional chief secretary, Human Resource Development (From February 1, 2006 to September 17, 2007) g) Chief secretary (secretary level) Kerala September 18, 2007 to January 22, 2009) h) Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, New Delhi (From January 23, 2009 to September 30, 2009) g) Secretary, Department of Telecom, Ministry of Communications & Info Tech, New Delhi (From October 1, 2009 to ….)

Foreign Training One year course in public administration at IIPA, Paris (1987)

Straight From Files

Race for secretaries' posts (September 22, 2009) where babu blogger said Mr Thomas was a key contender to be telecom secretary

Jobs at UIDAI: Nilekani needs additional DGs in eight cities including Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad

THE government has issued a circular asking for applications from suitable candidates to fill up posts of additional director general (ADG) at the level of deputy secretary or director, in the offices of Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) under the Planning Commission. The posts are located in eight cities --- Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bangalore and Hyderabad. The officers at the deputy secretary or director level who are eligible to work at the Centre under the Central Staffing scheme could apply. The applicants should identify the locations where he wants to place his candidature. The nominations for the posts should reach in four weeks of the issue of the circular which is September 25, 2009. Read: TKA Nair's advice to Nilekani on govt projects (Sep 16, 2009) 1978 batch IAS R S Sharma appointed UIDAI DG (July 17, 2009) Action & Appointments a) P J Thomas, a 1973 batch Kerala cadre IAS and presently secretary in the ministry of Parliamentary Affairs has been appointed as India’s next telecom secretary in place of S Behura, his batch-mate from UP cadre, who is retiring on 30th September, 2009. b) Ms Jayati Chandra, a 1975 batch UP cadre IAS, and presently secretary, department of youth affairs in the ministry of youth affairs and sports, has been appointed as secretary, ministry of development of North Eastern region (Doner) in place of Jarnail Singh, a 1974 batch Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS, who is retiring on 30th September, 2009. c) The government has approved the proposal of the 13th Finance Commission for extension of Central deputation tenure of V Bhaskar, a 1981 batch AP cadre IAS and B S Bhullar, a 1986 batch UP cadre IAS, who are presently working as joint secretaries in the 13th Finance Commission for a period of three months beyond October 31, 2009 or until further orders. d) The competent authority has approved the following additional charge arrangements for a period of three months with effect from 1st October, 2009 or until further orders, whichever is earlier:- (i) K Sujatha Rao, IAS(AP, 1974), secretary, department of health and family welfare, will hold the additional charge of the post of secretary, department of AIDS control under the ministry of health and family welfare. (ii) Sindhushree Khullar, IAS(UT, 1975), secretary, department of sports will hold the additional charge of the post of secretary, department of youth affairs under the ministry of youth affairs and sports. e) The Competent Authority has approved premature repatriation of S N Misra, IDAS (1979), presently working as joint secretary in department of defence production, to his parent cadre of availing benefit of promotion to the Higher Administrative Grade in IDAS.

Power corridors witness an action-packed month-end as many race for key secretary posts

IT WILL be an action–packed month-end in Indian power corridors as 15 senior bureaucrats at the level of secretary, being posted at the Centre and states, will retire on September 30, allowing many others compete for key positions. Among those who are retiring this months include health secretary and 1972 batch UP cadre IAS Naresh Dayal, telecom secretary and 1973 batch UP cadre IAS Siddhartha Behura, secretary of Development of North Eastern Region (DONER) and 1974 batch Manipur-Tripura cadre IAS Jarnail Singh to name a few. Amongst the high-profile ones retiring at the state level are chief secretary of Punjab and 1974 batch Punjab cadre IAS Ramesh Inder Singh and chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh and 1973 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS P Ramakanth Reddy. According to media reports, Ajit Kumar Seth, secretary, planning & coordination in the Cabinet Secretariat, Atul Chaturvedi of department of fertilisers, Anil Kumar of department of women and child development, and parliamentary affairs secretary P J Thomas are vying for telecom secretary’s post. Both the health and telecom secretary’s posts are quite significant in the backdrop of intervention related to swine flue and imminent auction of 3G spectrum for third generation mobile telephony. Telecom secretary Behura is tipped to be the chairman of C-DoT Alcatel-Lucent Research Centre which is a joint venture initiative between India’s telecom department and French company Alcatel-Lucent.

Justice Sinha is top contender to become TDSAT chairman Justice S B Sinha, former judge of the Supreme Court is tipped to become the next chairman of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT). Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC) is taking a call on his name. Incumbent Justice Arun Kumar has already retired. Justice Sinha could be given a two-year term. According to reports, steel secretary P K Rastogi’s name has also been referred before ACC for the post of administrative member.