Plan Panel Secretary to NITI Aayog CEO: What has worked in favour of Sindhushree Khullar

AFTER seven months of deliberation, Planning Commission has become NITI Aayog and the post of secretary in the Commission, which had always remained with an IAS officer, was replaced with a more corporate sounding designation – CEO of NITI Aayog. But on Saturday, the government appointed a retired IAS officer of 1975 batch, Sindhushree Khullar, for the post of CEO, indicating that the clout of IAS officers has not shrunk even by an inch under the…

How Cabinet Secretariat’s January 1 note on formation of NITI Aayog covers RajNITI, ArthNITI and beyond

Quoting sage-poet Tiruvalluvar

IN AN unusual sarkari note on the formation of NITI Aayog replacing the Planning Commission of India, the cabinet secretariat on Thursday touched upon several aspects of politics and economy of the nation by quoting Mahatma Gandhi, Ambedkar and poet scholars Tiruvalluvar and Sankar Dev. Excerpts:

Abolition of Planning Commission: Will 100 IES officers be impacted?

IES Probationers: A file photo

DISBANDING of the six decades old Planning Commission, a process currently underway, has created panic among 500-strong Indian Economic Service (IES) officers. No one has a clue as yet whether the plan panel would be folded up in entirety, but if the government does so, it may impact as many as 100 IES officers who need to be…

Know Your Babu: New chief of Direct Benefits Transfer Scheme, Sundareshan

Sundareshan (Left) with Deora (File photo)

THIS photo was taken sometime in October 2010. S Sundareshan, then petroleum secretary was enjoying the moment, as his boss Murli Deora apparently cracked a joke at a press conference. “If boss cracks a joke, you have to laugh even if you don’t enjoy it, or even understand it,” one of the readers posted a comment while reacting to this photo published in BoI earlier. Sundareshan, a retired IAS belonging to Kerala cadre, has now genuine reasons to smile. The government has…

Is E Sreedharan blaming Haldea for Kochi Metro’s massive cost overrun?

E Sreedharan

Metro Man E Sreedharan, currently handling the Kochi Metro rail project, blamed bureaucracy for a cost overrun of Rs 2600 crore. Though Sreedharan did not name any bureaucrat in the interview given to CNBC-TV18, those who have tracked corridors’ inside stories would safely guess he was blaming a bureaucrat in Planning Commission known for his proximity to deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia. Is he indirectly blaming highly powerful yet controversial bureaucrat Gajendra...

How #12th Plan becomes one of top 10 Twitter trends in India; PMO triggers debate

Montek Singh Ahluwalia (File Photo)

NO ONE might have alerted Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia that #12^th Plan was one of the top 10 Twitter trends in India on Tuesday evening. What is usually considered once-in-five-years mammoth sarkari exercise, the 12^th five-year-plan somehow caught the imagination of India’s Twitter freaks. The other trends at the same time included Women Lie About, Brisbane ODI, Jigna Vora and Vijay Mallya. It all started when Prime Minister’s Office tweeted: “PM is meeting all Planning Commission members today as they get ready to prepare the #12thPlan. Send in your ideas and we will forward them.” And everyone jumped in.
One Santhosh Kumar suggested that the government hospitals should have better doctors. Also, he wanted current education system of grades be abolished, and a new industrial and job oriented system be encouraged under 12^th Plan.
But not all Tweets were genuine recommendations the way PMO wanted. One Nandita Bayan said: “Dear PMO, try achieving at least 50% of all previous 11 plans, then think of the so called #12thPlan”.
As more and more people joined the debate by evening, the fake PMO Twitter account which called itself the “parody account” also joined the bandwagon. It says: “#12thPlan to lower poverty line to 5 paisa per day so that Indira Gandhi ji’s dream of removing poverty comes true.” It’s quite confusing because that account too has a similar photo of Dr Manmohan Singh. And the fake account follows none, but has a number of followers as well.
Angered by Rs 32 a-day poverty line controversy, one Avin Chhangani did a straight talk: “Abolish the Planning Commission”. Is Montek Singh Ahluwalia listening by any chance?

Dear Chief Minister, did you appreciate the Mekhela Chador worn by Sudha Pillai?

CALL it picture imperfect. This is a still from the National Development Council (NDC) meet held at Vigyan Bhawan at the heart of New Delhi on Saturday. The wait was for the Prime Minister to arrive at the function which was attended by state chief ministers. But Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi just passed by Planning Commission Member Secretary and 1972 batch IAS Sudha Pillai without probably realizing that Mrs Pillai was actually wearing Assam’s traditional attire Mekhela Chador, a two-piece cloth resembling a sari. Gogoi instead was extending a very warm welcome to Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, not seen in the photograph.

Sudha Pillai, a senior Central government official with the rank of a minister of state, is the wife of former home secretary GK Pillai, who has immense interests in North East India including Assam. The dress Mrs Pillai was wearing is made of golden silk called Muga which is a symbol of rich Assamese culture.

There are two main pieces of cloth that are draped around the body. As Wikipedia describes, the bottom portion, draped from the waist downwards is called mekhela. “It is in the form of a very wide cylinder that is folded into pleats to fit around the waist and tucked in. The top portion of a long length of cloth that has one end tucked into the upper portion of the Mekhela and the rest draped over and around the rest of the body,” Wiki describes an Assamese Mekhela Chador.

Significantly, American diplomat and former US ambassador to India Robert D Blackwill’s wife Anne Heiberg was so attracted by Assamese Mekhela Chador that she organized a private fashion show to showcase the highly attractive Assamese dress.

Action and Appointments

a) The extension of Central deputation tenure of Dr Bachittar Singh, a 1983 batch UP cadre IAS and joint secretary in the ministry of tribal affairs has been approved for

a period upto December 31, 2011.

Planning Commission bureaucrats watch Peepli Live before brainstorming 12th five-year plan

CALL it a reel plan. Two days ago, senior officials of the Planning Commission came out of their mundane life of preparing what is often perceived as “boring” plan documents to actually enjoy a movie inside the Yojana Bhawan that houses India’s official think tank. Top plan honchos including deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Member Secretary Sudha Pillai, a 1972 batch retired IAS, Members such as Arun Maira and Sayeeda Hamid enjoyed Aamir Khan produced Bollywood film Peepli Live, a satire on farmers’ suicide and inefficiency of development programmes. It remains to be seen whether it would have nay impact on the plan panel bureaucrats who are formulating the draft Approach Paper of the 12th five year plan (20012-17).
After the special screening, Ahluwalia spoke with the reporters to say how important it was to watch a movie that talks about the perception of people on the development programmes. Sometime ago, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh himself watched the movie and praised it during his interaction with newspaper editors.

It was the debut movie for TV journalist turned filmmaker Anusha Rizvi who went out of the way to depict the Great Indian Political and Bureaucratic Tamasha with her humour-laced script and earthy lingo. Will other ministries too initiate special screening of movies which have social relevance.

Disclaimer: The photograph used is imaginary, not real.

UPSC now encourages online applications

As part of its e-governance initiative, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has introduced the system of online submission of applications for the competitive examinations it conducts. An increasingly good number of candidates have already started applying online for the UPSC examinations notified during 2010. Although this facility is in addition to the option of submitting paper applications already available, the prospective candidates are encouraged to prefer online mode of applying for the UPSC examinations using the link http://www.upsconline.nic.in, according to a government release.

Also Read

Why you should submit online submission of forms?

A panel of members in Planning Commission refuses to endorse package for Naxal areas terming it a bureaucratic exercise

A PANEL of three members of Planning Commission has refused to endorse a draft package for Naxal areas terming it a “bureaucratic exercise” with no views from local people being accommodated there, a media report in a national newspaper said. The members, Abhijit Sen, Mihir Shah and Narendra Jhadav, said that they can’t put a stamp on an action plan based on failed project delivery systems.

Member secretary Sudha Pillai, a 1972 batch IAS, has been passionately working out the details of the development package for Naxal areas, and there were reports in media how her approach to Naxal is different from that of her husband and home secretary GK Pillai whose ministry has been playing the key role in finding a military solution to the vexed issue.

Bringing Buddha to New Zealand bureaucrats

A delegation of monks and nuns has brought the teachings of Buddha to politicians and civil servants of New Zealand as they gifted Dhammapada – a book of teachings of saint Budhha to the country’s Parliament. The scripture comprising over 400 short sayings believed to be of Buddha and originally written in Pali language, was earlier presented to Australian politicians too. In New Zealand, there are a few Buddhist MPs, including Labour’s Darien Fenton.

Secretaries In Action

Information and Broadcasting secretary Raghu Menon, a 1974 batch Nagaland cadre IAS, said in Guwahati on Tuesday that the Community Radio as an outreach tool would be strengthened during the 12th five year Plan, and the ministry would consider the proposal of providing a seed capital for initiating such effective tools for the North-Eastern region. He along with his minister Ambika Soni were present in the North-Eastern city for attending the first Regional Conference of Media Units in the North-East.

Know Your Babu: Profile of new urban development secretary Navin Kumar, 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS

THE government has zeroed in Planning Commission principal adviser and 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS Navin Kumar as the new urban development secretary in place of M Ramachandran, 1972 batch Uttarakhand cadre IAS who retired on June 30. The formal announcement may likely to come later today.

A postgraduate in physics, Mr Kumar was the district magistrate in West Champaran district in early 1980s, and had served in Central deputation both in the ministry of water resources and department of economic affairs (DEA) before moving back to the cadre. Later, he became the joint secretary in the ministry of finance and company affairs (1999-2003) and also clinched the powerful position of Director General (DG) of Doordarshan (2004-’06). He also served as the development commissioner in Bihar in Nitish Kumar’s government before joining the Planning Commission as the principal adviser in the rank of a secretary, Government of India.

Global Window: Russia may trim bureaucracy by 20%

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has indicated that the number of state officials could be cut by 20 percent “in order to increase government efficiency”. His theory says the move would save a major amount of government resources which could be used to “stimulate” the rest of the workforce. Russian bureaucrats has earned the reputations as bloated and corrupt. Energy dependent Russian economy suffered a major setback when global economic crisis hit it and tumbled the oil prices globally in 2008.

7 envoys present their credentials to Indian Prez

The envoys who presented their credentials were Dr Ruben I. Zamora, the Ambassador of El Salvador, Mr Ronald B. Allarey, the Ambassador of the Philippines, Thongphanh Syackhaphom, the Ambassador of Laos, Mr. Doulat O Kuanyshev, the Ambassador of Kazakhstan, Dr Nanguyalai Tarzi (See Picture), the Ambassador of Afghanistan, Mr Marco Piccinini, the Ambassador of Monaco and Mr Byron Escobedo Menendez, the Ambassador of Guatemala. 

Sam Pitroda’s office in Planning Commission to pay consultant more than a secretary’s salary

SOUNDS odd, but Adviser to PM Sam Pitroda’s office in Planning Commission is ready to pay a consultant a monthly salary of more than the pay of a Government of India’s secretary. According to an advertisement released by Office of Adviser to PM on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations, a consultant with 5-6 years of experience would be given a salary upto Rs 90,000 per month. Significantly, a secretary to government of India who will have an experience of at least 33 years, gets a fixed pay of Rs 80,000 per month though he gets perks like accommodation in prime localities which will have huge market value.

Telecom Guru Mr Pitroda who holds the rank of a cabinet minister under Dr Manmohan Singh’s government, has openly told media how he was not interested in recruiting IAS officers, but would handle the job with a skeleton staff of experts with full domain knowledge.

In fact, according to the advertisement, which is also attached in Planning Commission’s website, the Consultant B with academic qualification of Masters Degree or above, or technical qualifications such as B Tech, MBA or PhD, will be paid a consolidated fee, ranging from Rs 40,000 to Rs 90,000 per month.

But the big question is who is likely to be selected for such a lucrative government offer? The advertisement itself clearly mentions the high benchmark for the post. “In this category, candidates having experience of “out of box thinking” on policy issues, focused on research work, will be accorded priority”, it says.

For more details on 6 jobs for consultants in Sam Pitroda’s office, read Insider’s post, “Salary up to Rs 90,000” in http://www.jobcorridor.com/

Moily vouches for IAS talent to tackle Naxals

Union law minister Veerappa Moily said IAS officers could play a vital role in helping curb Naxalism by ensuring implementation of central schemes and equitable development. The schemes targeted at the underprivileged need to be implemented at the grassroots level, he said adding that there had been shortcomings in this regard. The minister was speaking recently at a function organised by JSS Training Institute in Bangalore to felicitate those selected for IAS and Karnataka Administrative Service (KAS) from the institute. 

BoI Ranking: India’s Top 3 Most Powerful Woman Bureaucrats are Nirupama Rao, Meera Shankar & Sudha Pillai

HAD current secretary to Planning Commission Sudha Pillai made it to the top as cabinet secretary, India’s top two bureaucrats today would have been women making history in India’s power corridors. Despite being at the top in the merit-cum-seniority list of IAS officers, Ms Pillai missed the bus as the incumbent K M Chandrasekhar was given one year’s extension after the new government was formed. Nevertheless, Nirupama Rao became the foreign secretary in July this year after another powerful IFS and Rao’s batch-mate Meera Shankar (See Picture with US Prez) was made India’s ambassador to US. After BoI’s (babus of india) selection of 5 most powerful bureaucrats, which incidentally had no woman contender, here is the list of top 3 most powerful woman bureaucrats based on feedback of politicians and senior bureaucrats who have an insight of the country’s power corridors. Interestingly, it’s a mere co-incidence that spouses of all three most powerful women bureaucrats who BoI has selected, happen to be senior IAS --- Sudhakar Rao, Ajay Shankar and G K Pillai respectively.

No 1: Nirupama Rao Being the number one Indian Foreign Service officer and only the second woman in the history to become India’s foreign secretary, Nirupama Rao is India’s most powerful bureaucrat today. An MA in English literature, this 1973 batch IFS from Kerala has held key diplomatic positions including minister for press affairs at the Indian Embassy in Washington, deputy chief of mission at the Embassy of India, Moscow, MEA’s official spokesperson and India’s ambassador to China, and yes, she proved her mettle in every important post. No wonder, she was a favourite officer of former external affairs minister Jaswant Singh, and was considered highly efficient during BJP’s regime too. Her biggest challenge today is not just to ensure meaningful diplomacy with Pakistan, but to keep China engaged in a continuous dialogue process. Read: Rao’s take on art of diplomacy (August 25, 2009) No 2: Meera Shankar India’s ambassador to US Meera Shankar who has recently become a newsmaker for writing a letter to Prime Minister’s principal secretary TKA Nair giving details about US companies bribing Indian government officers, is BoI’s choice to be the second most powerful woman bureaucrat today. Born on October 9, 1950, this 1973 batch IFS was earlier India’s ambassador to Germany, and had an earlier innings at Washington (1991-’95) when India liberalized its economy under Dr Manmohan Singh’s tenure as the country’s finance minister. Wife of India’s industry secretary Ajay Shankar, a 1973 batch UP cadre IAS, Mr Shankar’s biggest challenge today is to muster the country’s economic diplomacy and help India achieve a higher than expected growth rate. No 3: Sudha Pillai This 1972 batch Kerala cadre IAS is still considered to be an asset by Team Manmohan Singh, though many in power corridors strongly believe that it was intentional on the part of the government for not giving the highly-sensitive post of cabinet secretary to a woman officer who has better understanding of only social sectors. Her biggest challenger in the race for the post of cabinet secretary was her husband and batch-mate from the same cadre G K Pillai who too lost out after the incumbent Mr Chandrasekhar was given extension. Mr Pillai was then made home secretary with a two-year-term. There’s no doubt that Ms Pillai is still the most powerful women IAS officer today, and keeping in mind her grip on India’s social sector, she is tipped to become the member secretary in the Planning Commission with a rank of a minister! Read: Pati, Patni and Post: It’s Pillai Vs Pillai for next cabinet secretary (May 11, 2009) Read: India’s Top 5 Most Powerful Bureaucrats (August 24, 2009)

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.

WATERLOO: Civil servants may show their talent in a Water Polo event in Delhi

CALL it a freedom from boredom. Come August 29 and 30, civil servants in India may have some fun in water. The Central Civil Services Cultural & Sports Board is organizing an inter-ministerial aquatic meet in Delhi under which Water Polo competitions would take place provided there is enough number of government employees ready to participate the event. In addition to Water Polo matches, the government has planned to organize swimming events including free style, back stroke, breast stroke and butterfly both for male and female sarkari employees. The events are scheduled to be held at Pacific Sports Complex near LSR college in the national capital. However, the events may not take place at all if there are a less number of participants, a government circular said. The government employees from various ministries would have to register in a prescribed proforma with an entry fee of Rs 10 per head per event and Rs 50 for Water Polo and team events. The details can be obtained over phone from the office of Central Civil Services Cultural & Sports Board at 011-24624204. Many in the government feel that the proposed aquatic event in Delhi, which hosts Commonwealth Games next year, would encourage government babus to think beyond cricket.

Action & Appointments a) Sudha Pillai, a 1972 batch Kerla cadre IAS, and presently secretary in the ministry of labour and employment has been appointed as secretary of the Planning Commission in place of S C Pani, a 1972 batch Orissa cadre IAS who has retired. P C Chaturvedi, a 1975 batch UP cadre IAS and currently Director General, ESIC would be new labour secretary. Ms Pillai was a strong contender for the cabinet secretary’s post. Read "Pati, Patni and Post: It's Sudha Pillai vs. G K Pillai for next cabinet secretary" dated May 11, 2009. b) Rakesh Kumar Gupta, a J&K cadre IAS has been appointed to the newly created post of additional secretary (joint secretary level) in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000 (PB-4) plus grade pay of Rs 10000, for the balance period of his Central deputation tenure of five years upto February 15, 2011 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.

Babus In Demand: Planning Commission to recruit 35 joint secretary level officials

THE PLANNING Commission of India is recruiting 35 officers at the level of joint secretary or equivalent, the department of personnel & training, or DoPT has announced. It is proposed to fill up the posts of Unique Identification (UID) Commissioners (Central government’s joint secretary level) one each in the capital of each state and union territory of India in Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) under the Planning Commission. The pay scale is Rs 37400-67000 (PB-4) with a grade pay of Rs 10,000. It’s also announced that the names of willing officers empanelled to hold joint secretary or equivalent posts at the Centre may be recommended within four weeks. The applicants need to be clear from any case with vigilance and their integrity have to be certified. For the starter, the government made a provision of Rs 100 crore in the interim budget for 2009-10 its ambitious unique identification project which will give a unique number to every citizen of the country. An authority called Unique Identification Authority of India was already set up, and the government has already notified that.