Quite Revealing: Indian civil servants’ assets may come under RTI, MP turns first state to give nod

WITH Madhya Pradesh government agreeing to bring assets of bureaucrats in public domain following a recent order of Central Information Commission, the process of RTI Raj prevailing over bureaucrats’ age-old doctrine of secretary has entered the final stage. If assets of 290 IAS officers of Madhya Pradesh cadre have already been brought under the ambit of RTI, it’s not far from forcing civil servants of other cadres as well, to publicly disclose their assets just like their political masters who by law disclose their assets while filing nominations for any Indian election.

Social activist Ajay Dubey has already asked the income tax department to give information on tax returns filed by about IAS officers of Madhya Pradesh cadre during the past five years, media reports said. In fact, bureaucracy in Madhya Pradesh suffered a major set back when a recent Income-Tax raid in the residence of Arvind Kumar Joshi and Tinoo Joshi, both 1979 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS, recovered a whopping Rs 3.1 crore in cash, jewellery and documents of properties disproportionate to their known sources of income. Both the officers have subsequently been suspended, and investigations are continuing. (Read: Tinoo and Arvind Joshi’s date with Delhi’s key ministries)

Significantly, civil servants routinely file their asset disclosures, but those gather dust in official files and have not been made public so far. (Read: Officers’ submission of immovable properties). Also, I-T department does not hand over personal details of any citizens including bureaucrats. But a recent 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”.

The prominent Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officers now include expenditure secretary Ms Sushama Nath (1974 batch), school education secretary Ms Anshu Vaish (1975 batch), disinvestment secretary Sumit Bose (1976 batch), (Read: Profile of Sumit Bose) MP chief secretary Avani Vaish (1975 batch) (Read: Profile of Avani Vaish), special secretary in defence production Ajoy Acharya (1976 batch), central provident fund commissioner Uday Kumar Varma (who is also a special secretary in Information and Broadcasting ministry till March 31, 2010), Director of Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration (LBSNAA) Padamvir Singh (1977 batch), joint secretary in PMO R Gopalakrishnan (1979 batch) and DG Doordarshan Ms Aruna Sharma (1982 batch) among others.

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Action and Appointments

a) Chhattisgarh government on Wednesday suspended senior agriculture secretary Babulal Agrawal (Read: The IAS with 220 bank accounts) whose premises were raided by Income-Tax Department. The case was handed over to Economic Offences Wing (EOW).

b) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal for premature repatriation of Aditi Mehta, a 1979 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS, presently working as joint secretary in the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (ICNCA) to her parent cadre.

c) The ACC has approved the proposal of premature repatriation of DN Srivastava, a 1984 batch IFS officer and joint secretary in the ministry of overseas Indian affairs to his parent cadre.

d) Neeraj Kumar Gupta, a 1982 batch UP cadre IAS, presently joint secretary in commerce ministry has been appointed as Executive Director, India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO).

e) V Bhaskar, a 1981 batch AP cadre IAS has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP).

f) SC Sinha, a 1975 batch Haryana cadre IPS, has been appointed as Director General of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). He is currently working as a Special Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Cash in Hand: Suspended IAS power couple Tinoo and Arvind Joshi's date with Delhi's key ministries

HE WAS in George Fernandes’ team in the defence ministry during NDA’s second innings and served as a joint secretary as the fierce Kargil war was fought during the summer of 1999. And his wife served as the secretary general of Federation of Indian Export Organisation (FIEO) when Kamal Nath was the commerce minister during UPA’s first innings.

But this power couple, Arvind Kumar Joshi and Tinoo Joshi, both 1979 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS, are left with nothing in their defence now, after an Income-Tax raid in their residence on Thursday recovered a whopping Rs 3.1 crore in cash, jewellery and documents of properties disproportionate to their known sources of income. On Friday, Madhya Pradesh government suspended both of them with immediate effect.

The other serving IAS whose residence at Raipur was also raided by the tax sleuths was Chhattisgarh’s agriculture secretary and 1988 batch Chhattisgarh cadre IAS Babulal Agrawal. The I-T team recovered Rs 52 lakh from his residence and jewellery worth Rs 72 lakh. According to media reports, what was recovered from Joshis’ residence included cash of Rs. 3.1 crore, foreign exchange worth Rs 7 lakh, jewellery worth Rs 66 lakh, and investments worth Rs 3 crore. Their five bank lockers were already sealed.

Like most other IAS couples, Tinoo, a Bengali met her fellow IAS Arvind in the academy and later got married. A post graduate in chemistry, Tinoo Joshi later took an MBA degree from an Australian university just like husband who too is an MBA from the University of Wollongong.

Even in late 1980s and early 1990s, the Joshi couple held some important posts in Central deputation as deputy secretaries. Where as Tinoo Joshi served as deputy secretary in PMO (July 1, 1988 to January 1, 1990) and ministry of labour (January 1, 1990 to July 1, 1992), Arvind Joshi served as deputy secretary in health July 1, 1988 to September 1, 1989), director in the ministry of railways (September 1, 1989 to April 1, 1991) and deputy secretary in the ministry of coal (April 1, 1991 to August 1, 1992).

Finally, who are the prominent batch mates of Tinoo and Arvind Joshi? They include R Gopalakrishnan (Madhya Pradesh cadre), joint secretary in PMO, Vinay Sheel Oberoi (Assam cadre), Permanent Representative in UNESCO, Paris, Dr Prasanna Kumar Mohanty (Orissa cadre) and Mission Director, Jawaharlal Nehru Nl Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) under the ministry of housing and urban poverty alleviation, and Ms Zohra Chatterji (UP cadre), joint secretary information and broadcasting ministry. 

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Defence Jobs: 3000 additional personnel to be inducted into Coast Guard

GOOD news for those looking at opportunities in defence sector. Defence minister AK Antony himself announced on Wednesday that government had sanctioned nearly 3,000 additional personnel at various levels and this needs to be filled up on priority. The proposed quantum jump in the number of Indian Coast Guard personnel will make it a potent force to counter terrorism from the sea. Mr Antony was addressing the 28th Coast Guard Commanders’ Conference. Mr Antony asked the Coast Guard top brass to explore innovative ways to develop infrastructure support for the Coast Guard fleet in the days to come. "Since its inception, Coast Guard has maintained its fleet with minimal shore infrastructure. You have been managing the fleet through outsourcing repairs & refit. However, the massive expansion being charted through ship acquisition will significantly develop the shore infrastructure," he said. More jobs are being created in police forces too after home minister P Chidambaram has found manpower shortage a major constraint in ensuring safety and security to citizens. B for Bureaucrats: PM wants to retain his Team B With the tenure of PMO joint secretary Sanjay Mitra being extended for two more years, it has now been almost confirmed that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh himself is very much keen to retain the same team for his second innings too. Mr Mitra is a 1982 batch West Bengal cadre IAS. Earlier, tenures of PMO joint secretaries R Gopalakrishnan, Ms Vini Mahajan, and secretary M N Prasad were extended. Read: PM retains key officers to bring in continuity (October 1, 2009)

Action & Appointments Dr C S Kedar, a 1979 batch Karnataka cadre IAS, presently working as joint secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat has been appointed as Director General, Employees State Insurance Corporation under the Ministry of Labour and Employment on lateral transfer basis, by temporarily downgrading the post to the joint secretary level for the period upto June 4, 2013, or until further orders.

CVC for major penalty proceedings against 106 officers The Central Vigilance Commission advised initiations of major penalty proceedings against 106 officers. Of these, 21 were from ministry of railways, 21 from public sector banks, 13 from MCD, 8 from Northern Coalfields Ltd., five from Central Coalfields Ltd., four each from CBEC, MHA & ministry of urban development, three each from PG Institute of Medical Education & CBDT, two each from Department of Telecommunications, ministry of labour and ESIC. The Commission also advised imposition of major penalty against 68 officers including 14 from National Aluminum Co. Ltd., 12 each from Central Coalfileds Ltd. & Public Sector Banks, six from ministry of railways, five each from National Insurance Co. Ltd. & DDA, two each from Border Roads Development Board & Central Board of Excise and Customs.

PM continues to retain key officers to bring in continuity; now joint secretaries in PMO get extension

IT SEEMS India’s Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has made it very clear that continuity of key officers in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) is indispensable to effectively execute government’s major action plans during the second innings of the current UPA government. If joint secretary in PMO R Gopalakrishnan’s extension of tenure till June 30, 2011 after the extension of tenure of joint secretary Ms Vini Mahajan and secretary in PMO M N Prasad is any indication, the continuity of key civil servants seems to be a norm in South Block which houses India’s Prime Minister’s Office. Mr Gopalakrishnan, who was overseeing the Bharat Nirman programme in the PMO from the time of its inception, is a 1979 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS. He first got an extension upto September 30 before the term was further extended till June, 2011. Recently, another joint secretary and 1987 batch Punjab cadre IAS Vini Mahajan’s tenure was extended till April 29, 2011. Earlier, Prime Minister decided to retain secretary in PMO and 1972 batch Bihar cadre IAS M N Prasad on a contract basis even after his retirement. No wonder, after Dr Singh assumed office for the second time in May this year, he retained national security adviser MK Narayanan and principal secretary TKA Nair in the same posts with a rank of a minister of state. Also, cabinet secretary K M Chandrasekhar who would have retired in June, 2009, was also given one year’s extension.

Babus In Demand The ministry of home affairs (MHA) in its report card for September said that newly set up National Investigative Agency continues to recruit more officers to strengthen it. In order to fill Group A and Group B posts immediately, a one-time special recruitment process was approved in consultation with the UPSC. A 1975 batch IPS, Radha Vinod Raju, heads the Agency as its Director General.

Action & Appointments a) Air Marshal Ajay Shriniwas Karnik would take over as Senior Air Staff Officer (SASO), of one of the senior most operational commands of the Indian Air Force on October 1, 2009. A Fighter Combat Leader and a Qualified Flying Instructor, he is an alumni of Air War College, University of USAF, Montgomery, USA. b) Lt Gen AS Lamba took over as GOC-in-C Army Training Command, Shimla. The Officer has a vast experience of conventional warfare and unconventional Counter Insurgency operations and had participated in the 1971 Indo-Pakistan War and served in Nagaland, Manipur, and also in Sri Lanka with the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF). c) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the placement of Anil Bhushan Prasad, a 1976 batch Bihar cadre IAS on compulsory wait in the department of administrative reforms & public grievances in the rank and pay of additional secretary during the period from June1, 2009 to July 23, 2009.