THE world of babudom will come under more scrutiny during the ongoing winter session of Parliament which began on Thursday. Members of Parliament (MPs) are going to ask a number of questions regarding acknowledgement of MPs' letters, prosecution of civil servants, retirement scheme of government employees etc., according to a provisional list of unstarred questions to be admitted in Lok Sabha dated November 25, 2009.
The provisional list of questions admitted for that date includes questions related to quota for IAS and IPS, cases referred to Central Vigilance Commission (CVC), modernisation CBI and medium of UPSC examinations etc. It remains to be seen what the government answers on contentious questions like declaring of bureaucrats' assets under the Right to Information( RTI) Act, which is also listed as an unstarred question. The provisional questions also include how to make RTI more effective and legislation for whistle blowers.
Read: Netagiri & Babudom: A new set of instructions issued to help officers communicate with MPs (August 7, 2009)
Former defence secretary Vijay Singh sworn-in as member UPSC
Vijay Singh, former defence secretary of government of India took the oath of office and secrecy as Member, Union Service Public Commission on Thursday. The oath was administered by UPSC chairman Prof D P Agrawal.
Mr Singh, a 1970 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS, held several important assignments both in the state of Madhya Pradesh and at the Centre during his 37 year career, a government release said. His assignments at the Centre included director in the department of cultural affairs, joint secretary in the ministry of health & family welfare, additional secretary in the ministry of commerce, ministry of information & broadcasting and in ministry of finance. He became chief secretary of Madhya Pradesh in October, 2004 and served there till January, 2006. Then, he served as secretary to government of India in the department of AYUSH and later in the department of road transport & highways before becoming the country's defence secretary in August, 2007.
Action & Appointments
a) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the appointment of Sudhakar Rao, a 1973 batch Karnataka cadre IAS (Retd) as Member, Public Enterprises Selection Board (PSEB) for a tenure of three years or until the age of 65 years or until fruther orders.
b) Rajiv Mehrishi, a 1978 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS, presently in the cadre, has been appointed as additional secretary in department of agricultural research and education under the ministry of agriculture in the vacancy of A K Upadhyay, a 1975 batch Bihar cadre IAS.
c) Alok Kumar, a 1984 batch Assam cadre IAS, has been appointed as joint secretary in the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT).
Result for CDS Exam( I )-2009 announced
The UPSC has announced the results of the Combined Defence Services Examination (I)-2009 held by the Services Selection Board of the ministry of defence for admission to the 128th Course of Indian Military Academy, Dehradun, Naval Academy, Ezhimala, Kerala and Air Force Academy, Hyderabad (Pre-Flying) Training Course or 187th F(P) Course. Results are available at UPSC website --- www.upsc.gov.in
THE Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has recommended major changes in civil services examinations including a reduction of number of attempts to appear for the examination. The Commission has recommended to the government that a Civil Services Aptitude Test should replace the existing Civil Services (Preliminary) examination, chairman of the Commission Prof D P Agrawal said in his address during UPSC Foundation Day lecture series on governance in New Delhi on Thursday.
According to the new proposal, there will be two objective type papers common to all candidates. The emphasis will be on testing the aptitude of the candidate for the demanding life in the civil service as well as on the ethical and moral dimensions of decision-making, a government release said. Mr Agarwal further said that the proposed scheme would have the advantages of testing candidates' decision making skills and aptitude for civil services, and also providing a level playing field and equity, as all candidates will have to attempt common papers. Mr Agrawal also advocated for a reduction in the number of attempts allowed at the examination.
Also, if recommendations made by Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) get through, the performance of officers selected through civil services exam will be tracked, particularly during the initial years. The Chairman said that the Commission receives over a million applications for all the 14 regular examinations and other recruitment it conducts every year. He further said that the Commission was contemplating moving to examination through computers, once the initiative is approved by the government. The UPSC was setup 83 years ago.