RTI Regime: President Pratibha Patil hopes bureaucracy to shed image of red-tapism

IN A rare comment on Indian bureaucracy, President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil said on Monday that Right To Information which was getting embedded into civil society, would bring in urgency to negate the image of bureaucracy as that of red-tapism and certain opaqueness. Inaugurating the 4th Convention on RTI, held in New Delhi beginning Monday, President said, “Institutions are increasingly coming under greater scrutiny. Information is no longer the preserve of a few and there is greater emphasis on transparency of work and accountability. However, there are many occasions where the bureaucracy, evokes an image of red-tapism and certain opaqueness. It is my hope that as the Right to Information gets further embedded into our civil society, there will be even more urgency felt to take action to negate this perception, which at times may be wrong. Good governance and corruption free systems are what people are rightfully expecting, and they can use the Act to get it in full measure.” Meanwhile, minister of state for personnel, public grievances & pensions Prithiraj Chavan said during the convention that the government may make the process of getting information through RTI more user-friendly by deploying suitable technology and removing some legal infirmities. The minister said that the Planning Commission gave an ‘in-principle’ approval for extending a centrally sponsored Plan scheme to strengthen the working of the State Information Commissions to cover IT interventions/E-governance for RTI which would address the issues on both the demand and supply side through the use of technology. Mr Chavan also said that attempts would be made to further strengthen the RTI Act by initiating some legislative changes and more information would be placed in the public domain. (In Picture: The President lighting the lamp to inaugurate the RTI Convention) Straight From Files Dr Manmohan Singh’s prescription for IAS (May 30, 2009) Manmohan Singh asks PMO officials to think creatively (June 12, 2009) Doc’s prescription to diplomats (August 26, 2009) Action & Appointments a) Orders of the ACC for the appointment of Alok Perti, a 1977 batch Assam cadre IAS as additional secretary in the ministry of coal in the vacancy of Rajiv Sharma, a 1976 batch Rajasthan cadre IAS, communicated vide this Department Communication No. 20/11/2009-EO(SM-I) dated 8.9.2009 be held in abeyance till he is accommodated in some other vacancy. b) Rajneesh Kumar Mahajan, a 1987 batch Bihar cadre IAS, has been appointed as joint secretary in the ministry of coal for the period upto April 23, 2011 from the date of assumption of charge of the post or till further orders. c) Rao Kameswara Simhambhatla, a 1984 batch Indian Information Service officer has been appointed as joint secretary in the department of health research for a period of five years from the date of assumption of charge of the post or until further orders. d) Inter-cadre deputation of SS Srivastava, a 1994 batch Punjab cadre IPS from Punjab to AGMU cadre has been extended for a period of one year with effect from September 10, 2009. e) Nalla Bhuma Narayan Rao and Samudrala Govindarajulu have been appointed as Additional Judges of the Andhra Pradesh High Court for a period of two years. f) Piyush Mathur has been appointed as Additional Judge of the Madhya Pradesh High Court for a period of two years. h) Alok Singh has been appointed as Judge of the Uttarakhand High Court.

Action & Appointments: Ashok Chawla to hold additional charge of revenue department for 11 days

a) ASHOK Chawla, a 1973 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre and current finance secretary, will hold additional charge of the post of Secretary, department of revenue under the ministry of finance during the period from 17th August, 2009 to 28th August, 2009 when revenue secretary P V Bhide, a 1973 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre IAS, will remain on leave. b) The extension of appointment of Dr C Chandramouli, a 1985 batch Tamil Nadu cadre IAS as OSD in the Office of the RGI, in the rank and pay of Joint Secretary has been approved for a period of three months beyond July 9, 2009. c) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved, ex-post-facto, for entrusting additional charge of the post of Development Commissioner, Dahej Special Economic Zone under Department of Commerce to S N Patil IOFS (1988), Joint Development Commissioner, Kandla SEZ, in addition to his own charge, for a period of three months beyond June 15, 2009 or till such time as the post is filled up on a regular basis. d) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has not approved the proposal of the Ministry of Coal for extension of tenure of Rajiv Sharma, a 1976 batch IAS and additional secretary in the ministry of coal. e) The inter cadre deputation of Ajoy Sharma, a Punjab Cadre IAS of 1999 batch from Punjab to AGMUT cadre for appointment as Joint Secretary (Finance), Chandigarh for a period of three years, has been approved. f) The Inter-Cadre deputation of Har Sahay Meena, a 1997 batch IAS of Tamil Nadu cadre, from Tamil Nadu to Rajasthan cadre has been approved for a period of 3 years. g) The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has approved the proposal of the ministry of home affairs for in-situ upgradation of the following officers belonging to the 1974 and 1975 batches of the Indian Police Service as Director General of Police in the pay scale of Rs 75500-80000. They are: (i) R K Mathur, IPS (CH, 1974), presently working as Director, NCRB(ADG level) (ii) R Bagchi, IPS (WB, 1975), presently working as Additional Director in IB. (iii) A B Mathur, IPS (MT, 1975), presently working as Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat. (iv) O P S Malik, IPS (UP, 1975), presently working as DG, NCB (ADG level).