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
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
IN AN attempt to make public administration more efficient, Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh made a commitment in his Independence Day speech that the government would speed up implementing recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission (ARC) to strengthen governance. Prime Minister also said that Right to Information (RTI) Act would be improved further so that it becomes more effective in bringing in accountability and transparency in public life.
“We will act with speed on the recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission to strengthen governance,” he said while emphasizing the need to make public administration more efficient.
In fact, 2nd Administrative Reforms Commission or ARC, chaired by Veerappa Moily came out with a number of reports on administrative reforms, but most of its recommendations have not been implemented so far.
Significantly, Prime Minister Dr Singh devoted a large part of his Independence Day speech on the need to have better administration, decentralization and effective delivery of public services both in urban and rural areas.
“Renewed efforts will be made to decentralize public administration through the Panchayati Raj Institutions and to ensure greater involvement of people in it. Initiative will be taken for a new partnership between the civil society and the government so that tax payers’ money is better spent,” he said.
He said the government would make special efforts to strengthen the administrative machinery for rural programmes. “Those who live in villages and semi-urban areas should get services similar to the residents of urban areas. Communication and Information Technology can go a long way in achieving this objective. Recently, we have set up the Unique Identification Authority of India. This is a historic step to link up the whole country through a high quality administrative arrangement. We expect the first set of identity numbers to be available in the next one to one and a half years,” he said.