Some Maha IAS write better Marathi than many a Marathi Manush

IAS officers posted in Maharashtra don't need to worry about a possible MNS backlash at least on one count -- their skill over local language. Thanks to the mandatory training, IAS officers posted in any state can not only speak the vernacular language but write it perfect. No wonder, their file noting are very much in the local language too. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena's (MNS) diktat to newly elected legislators to take oath only in Marathi and the subsequent vandalism in the Assembly on Monday after Samajwadi Party member Abu Azmi began taking oath in Hindi is being condemned across the country as an instance of extreme chauvinism and intolerance. But there are a number of "outsider" IAS officers in the state who can make Marathi Manush run for their money so long as their writing skill in Marathi is concerned. The classic case is that of Manu Kumar Srivastava (see picture), a 1986 batch Maharashtra cadre IAS hailing from Uttar Pradesh. Mr Srivastava, who is known as urban infrastructure man from Mumbai, thanks to his long innings as additional municipal commissioner of Greater Mumbai and then urban development secretary in the state, has such a good hand and excellent command that his writing in Marathi may impress all who matter in Marathi circle. A post graduate in physics, he is one of the key men in Mumbai who are deciding the fate of the dream infrastructure projects of India's financial capital. Delhi HC gives green signal to appoint a bureaucrat as next CIC Delhi High Court said on Monday that it is a misconception that a civil servant would not turn out to be a good Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). In a major blow to RTI activists' lobby to appoint a non-bureaucrat as the next CIC after Wajahat Habibullah resigned to take up his new appointment as J & K Information Commissioner, a Bench comprising Chief Justice A P Shah and Justice S Muralidhar said that someone outside bureaucracy might not necessarily become an effective CIC. The Court, however, said that a non-bureaucrat should be the first choice. In fact, a high-powered committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and a Union minister nominated by the PM, is finalizing the name of the next CIC. Action & Appointments (i) Justice Krishnaswami Chandru, (ii) Justice V.Ramasubramanian, (iii) Justice S Mani Kumar, (iv) Justice A.Selvam, (v) Justice P.R.Shivakumar, (vi) Justice G.Rajasuria, (vii) Justice Thiruneelakantam Sudanthiram, (viii) Justice Saminathan Nagamuthu, (ix) Justice Shunmugavel Palanivelu, (x) Justice K.K.Sasidharan, (xi) Justice M Venugopal, (xii) Justice V.Periya Karuppiah, (xiii) Justice R Subbiah and (xiv) Justice Meenakshi Sundaram Sathyanarayanan, Additional Judges of the Madras High Court, have been appointed as Judges of Madras High Court, in that order of seniority, with effect from the dates they assume charge of their respective offices.

Vacancy at UIDAI: JS level officers wanted for heading the Project’s 5 regional offices

THE number of senior government officials at the rank of joint secretaries working full-time for Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) will be much less than what was initially planned for. With the government wishing to appoint JS level officials only in UIDAI’s five regional offices, Lucknow, Mumbai, Ranchi, Guwahati and Bangalore, it’s almost clear now that the number of JS working for this coveted project under corporate honcho and co-founder of software exporter Infosys Technologies Nandan Nilekani could be much less than 35. In fact, BoI (babus of india) first reported on May 26, 2009 that the government wanted to fill 35 joint secretary level officials, one each at the state capital, for the UIDAI project for which DoPT wanted suitable candidates to apply. In a wireless message to chief secretaries of all states and Union Territories now, the DoPT wanted names of suitable candidates to be recommended, for which the pay band will be Rs 37400-67,000 (PB 4) with a grade pay of Rs 10,000. Read the WIRELESS MESSAGE. (October 7, 2009) Recently, government brought out a circular to fill up posts of additional director general (ADG) at the level of deputy secretary or director, in the UIDAI offices, located in eight cities --- Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Ranchi, Guwahati, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Straight From Files Nilekani needs additional DGs in eight cities (October 2, 2009) Will Nilekani make Ram Sewak Sharma a secretary? (July 24, 2009) To recruit 35 joint secretary level officials (May 26, 2009)

Prez to inaugurate 4th Annual Convention on RTI on Monday The fourth annual convention on RTI, organised by the Central Information Commission, will be inaugurated by the President of India Pratibha Devisingh Patil. Lord Meghnad Desai will deliver the keynote address. Chief Information Commissioner, Wajahat Habibullah, central information commissioners, policy makers, social activists, academicians and NGOs, among others, will take part in the deliberations over two days. Delegates from some of the SAARC countries will also be participating in the convention as delegates.

Arunachal’s Chief Election Officer to file report on free distribution of two wheelers to voters The Election Commission had received inputs from observers that two wheelers were distributed on large scale to voters in Arunachal Pradesh and they are plying on the road without registration numbers. The Commission had directed CEO, Arunachal Pradesh to forward a factual report and ensure that state government immediately take action under relevant provisions of Motor Vehicle Act. Till now, 494 unregistered motorcycles or vehicles have been impounded and FIRs lodged, an EC release said.

Babus Under Check: Government finally gives clarification on disclosure of file noting by bureaucrats under RTI

THE government has said that file noting by civil servants can be disclosed with an exception of a few items which are still exempted under section 8 of the RTI Act. The clarification came after a major showdown between the personnel ministry and Central Information Commission (CIC) for quite sometime. Various government ministries and departments sought clarification from the personnel ministry after CIC chief Wajahat Habibullah summoned two officers --- joint secretary S K Sarkar and deputy secretary Anuradha Chagti --- to explain why they should not be prosecuted under RTI provisions as the department of personnel and training (DoPT) refused to correct the information in its website that file noting was not part of information that could be disclosed under the RTI. According to media reports published earlier, CIC even claimed that erring officials could even face jail terms. In fact, CIC is one of the organizations that come under DoPT.

Extension & Appointments A) Joint secretary in the department of financial services Amitabh Verma, a 1982 batch Bihar cadre IAS, has been given an extension of central deputation for a further period of three months upto September 18, 2009. B) Tuhin Kanta Pandey, a 1987 batch Orissa cadre IAS, as been appointed for a period of five years as deputy director general, in the Unique Identification Authority of India under the Planning Commission, in the pay band of Rs 37400-67000 (PB 4), with a grade pay of Rs 10,000. The posting will be at the level of a joint secretary at the Centre. C) Secretary of the department of agriculture and cooperation under the ministry of agriculture T Nanda Kumar, will hold additional charge of the post of secretary, department of animal husbandry, dairying and fisheries, ministry of agriculture with immediate effect. Mr Kumar is a 1972 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS.

Unified Commanders conference today

A two-day-long Unified Commanders Conference beginning in New Delhi on Thursday will chalk out the possibility of development of integrated war fighting capability, a government release said on Wednesday. It will deliberate upon various issues relating to Services capabilities to meet the security challenges faced by the nation. To be inaugurated by defence minister AK Antony, the conference will be attended by the chairman chiefs of staff committee Admiral Sureesh Mehta, chief of air staff Air Chief Marshal PV Naik and Chief of Army Staff General Deepak Kapoor, Air Marshal SC Mukul, CIDS, C-in-Cs of Andaman & Nicobar Command and heads of various tri-Services training Institutions such as Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, College of Defence Management, Secunderabad and National Defence Academy, Pune.

Babus under check: File notings to be in public domain; officials may face jail term

THE government officials need to be much more careful in file notings as those are already in public scrutiny under the RTI. Central Information Commission chief Wajahat Habibullah’s summoning of DoPT joint secretary S K Sarkar and deputy secretary Anuradha Chagti on June 17 to explain why they should not be prosecuted under RTI provisions, is a case in point. According to reports in a leading newspaper, the erring officials could also face a year in jail. In fact, DoPT refused to correct the information in its website that file notings were not part of information that could be disclosed under the RTI. The Supreme Court has already accepted the CIC’s ruling that file notings were not exempt from disclosure, said the media reports. If CIC becomes aggressive, as this case has demonstrated, the loopholes of the RTI may soon be plugged, leading to the disclosure of many facts which officers would not have like to be on public domain.

Govt’s Second Innings Bonanza: Take casual leave during LTC, encash 10 days of earn leaves Here’s a good piece of news for all government employees including the officers. Government servants will now be allowed to encash earned leave upto 10 days at the time of availing Leave Travel Concession (LTC) even if they don’t take leaves for a similar number of days, a DoPT circular dated June 3, 2009, clarified. That means even if an employee takes just four days off to avail of the LTC, that too casual leaves, he may claim encashment of 10 days of leaves. Earlier, the encashment was possible subject to the condition that earned leave of at least an equivalent duration is also availed of by the Government servants simultaneously. The DoPT received a number of references from various ministries to waive this condition citing practical problems faced by them as the facility of LTC was also admissible while availing Casual Leave, the circular further said. “The matter has been examined in this Department in consultation with the Ministry of Finance and it has now been decided to permit Government servants encashment of earned leave upto 10 days at the time of availing LTC without any linkage to the number of days and the nature of leave availed while proceeding on LTC,” the clarification said.