PM’s action on Shunglu Committee report begins; CBI probe to begin

Director General of Doordarshan and 1982 batch Madhya Pradesh cadre IAS officer Aruna Sharma has lost her Mandi House job. After considering the high level Shunglu Committee Report on broadcasting issues, the Prime Minister decided to revert Doordarshan DG Aruna Sharma to her parent cadre Madhya Pradesh.

According to a release sent out by the PMO, the Prime Minister also directed the ministry of information and broadcasting to seek explanations from the Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati and Director General, Doordarshan on the allegations made against them and recommend an appropriate course of action within two weeks.

The ministry will have to review the claims made by M/s SIS LIVE, jointly with Prasar Bharati and in consultation with their financial advisers to ensure that there is no over-payment. “In the event of any over-payment having been made, the ministry of information and broadcasting has been directed to take appropriate action for recovery, after seeking due legal advice and refer matters relating to the relationship between the government and the Prasar Bharati and that between the Chief Executive Officer and the Board of Prasar Bharati, as also issues regarding the governance structure and the oversight mechanism put in place by the ministry of information and broadcasting in respect of such events, to the existing Group of Ministers headed by the finance minister, which is being directed to expedite its work so that necessary corrective administrative and legislative measures could be put in place at the earliest,” said the PMO’s press statement.

The last but not the least, it was decided to refer the report to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

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Action and Appointments

a) Suspended Gujarat cadre IAS officer Pradeep Sharma, arrested in cases of land allotment irregularities, has now alleged that chief minister Narendra Modi is trying to keep him behind bars since he knows about the CM’s personal life. Sharma has made this allegations in a letter to the chief secretary A K Joti and wanted his case to be transferred to the CBI.

b) “Sir was very excited. He told the villagers ‘next time I come, I want to see a colour TV in the village, and all of you plugged into the world’,” said an engineer from Orissa to Time of India. The paper has come out with an article titled, “Why abduct an honest, pro-poor officer?, questions Malkangiri” narrating about work of IAS officer RV Krishna, abducted by the Maoist extremists.

Real Games Begin: 1962 batch retired IAS, VK Shunglu to probe corruption allegations related to Commonwealth Games

A DAY after the Commonwealth Games ended with much fun-fare, the real Games virtually begin. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Friday night appointed a high-level committee headed by former CAG and 1962 batch retired IAS, V K Shunglu to go into allegations of corruption related to the mega sporting event. Shunglu, who was the Comptroller and Auditor General between 1996 and 2002 and has been a trail blazer in ongoing crusade of forcing civil servants declaring their assets, will prepare a report in three months.

A postgraduate in history from the University of Delhi, Shunglu joined IAS in 1962 and rose up the ladder to become special secretary in the ministry of power and then secretary in the department of company affairs, ministry of health and family welfare and then department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP). He was also an alternate leader of the Indian Delegation at the International Conference on Population held in Cairo.

Shunglu had also served in Asian Development Bank in Manila and at the Economic Development Institute of the World Bank.

Thanks to his innings as CAG, he was also made the chairman of the UN Board of Auditors General and a member of the UN Panel of External Auditors. Shunglu was also appointed as the external auditor of the International Maritime Organization headquartered at London and of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) at Rome.

In corridors of power, Shunglu is known more as an anti-corruption activist. When five bureaucrats from UP declared their assets last year under the initiative of a low-profile anti-corruption organization called India Rejuvenation Initiative (IRI), very few people know that Shunglu was one of the guiding forces of the initiative. Along with former Punjab Director General of Police Julio Rebeiro, former air force chief S Krishnaswamy and former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) JM Lyngdoh, Shunglu is also a member of IRI.

Even before the judges’ campaign started on declaring assets, Shunglu and a few others wrote to the Prime Minister saying that public service conduct rules should be amended and assets of bureaucrats should be in the public domain.

Babu-turned politician PL Punia becomes NCSC chairman

PL Punia, a 1970 batch IAS officer of UP cadre and Congress MP from Barabanki, assumed charge of the post of chairman, National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) on Friday. Punia, who was the principal secretary to UP chief minister Mayawati, before both fell out on Taj Heritage corridor case. Punia lost his battle in assembly polls of 2002 because of Mayawati’s concerted effort, but won the war as he bounced back in 2009 Parliamentary polls.