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| Subhash Chandra Garg |
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| AN Jha |
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| Shaktikanta Das |
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| RP Watal |
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| Gujral (R) was reportedly sidelined by CP Joshi (L) |
WITH anti-bureaucrats party Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) registering a landslide victory in the recent Parliamentary polls in the world’s second largest economic power, senior civil servants in Japan are now in a state of nervousness.
The DPJ, which has openly declared that it would bring in more elected representatives to fill up top bureaucratic posts, may end the practice of Amakudari, meaning “descent from heaven” under which Japanese senior bureaucrats take up high-profile positions in the private and public sectors after retirement. The practice is increasingly viewed as corrupt as former officials might have given preferential treatment to their would-be employers in securing key government contracts.
The practice, which in a diluted form is practised in various countries including in India, is believed to have helped bringing in government expertise to private entities. But thanks to a number of corruption scandals surfaced in Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe enacted new rules to eradicate amakudari in 2007, but his reforms were termed by critics as toothless. Now DPJ is determined to end this practice.
In India too, retired bureaucrats who have worked in ministries such as finance, industry, power and railways are in high demand for taking up plum private sector posts. They have to wait sometime as government regulations don’t allow any retired civil servant taking up a private job within one year of retirement. However, special permissions can be granted if it’s proved that the concerned officer has not handled any file related to his would-be employer during the last three years prior to retirement.
The most high profile case of Amakudari in India is that of former finance secretary Ashok Jha who took special permission last year to join as Hyundai India president with a monthly remuneration of about Rs 15 lakh. This is over 15 times of a senior bureaucrat’s salary in India, as even after the implementation of 6th pay Commission recommendations, the cabinet secretary who is the senior-most Indian bureaucrat, receives a gross monthly salary of Rs 80,000!
Related stories
a) It’s not funny: Japanese bureaucrats get lessons from comedians, posted on June 8, 2009.
b) Global cues for Indian Babus: Retired Korean bureaucrats clinch high paying bank jobs, posted on June 10, 2009.
c) Japanese bureaucrats face highest ever bonus cuts; Indian babus are still lucky, posted on August 5, 2009.
CJI’s office falls under RTI purview: Delhi HC
Delhi High Court on Wednesday said that Chief Justice of India was a public authority and is thereby covered under the Right to Information Act (RTI). The Court observed that the information in possession of the CJI is within the purview of the RTI Act and all such information should be disclosed. However, it added that personal information about judges need not be disclosed.
WHEN I began writing this blog on Indian civil servants exactly a month ago, a sense of silence prevailed in power corridors of Delhi as the political masters were fighting their electoral battles in various parts of the country. The files were moving in slower pace and babus spent more time guessing who would form the next government.
In fact, I made my debut in blogging by posting a report on April 28, 2009, that DEA secretary Ashok Chawla, a 1973 batch IAS officer, was likely to be the next finance secretary of the country. When Mr Chawla was appointed as finance secretary 14 days later, one of my non-bureaucrat friends called me up to say Wah! Yes, he was excited by my postings on power corridors of Delhi, but he was not alone. In the next few days, the nation’s top babus got themselves excited over the unfolding of the Great Indian political saga. Even before the new government took charge, top bureaucrats began finalizing what should be the priority of the next government in the first 100 days of office.
During the last one month, BoI (Babus of India) covered a range of topics from North Block officers’ poll prediction to railway officers’ anger towards Lalu Prasad. Yet, if you ask my favourite posting, I would say, it’s Pati, Patni and Post: Sudha Pillai Vs G K Pillai for the next cabinet secretary. Not because I got a number of emails reacting to the post, but I was happy to cover all aspects of the development including the possibility of the current incumbent K M Chandrasekhar getting a year’s extension thereby denying either of the husband and wife duo to reach the civil servant’s top slot.
I must acknowledge here that a couple of very senior bureaucrats objected to the choice of the name as they feel the word babu is not an accepted term, and is mainly a creation of media. Yet, most civil servants that I know have said that the name does not matter so long as contents excite them or rather force them to open babusofindia.com in the first half hour of their working day itself.
Yes, babu blogger is ready to make one simple promise. If you are a civil servant, or someone who likes to know what’s up in power corridors of India, BoI would not disappoint you. After all, the power of a simple info can sometime make your day…