Red Book to RedPad: Chinese babus given device twice as costly as iPad

IF Indian officers at the level of a joint secretary and above are happy that they are entitled to have iPad at office expenses, here is the shocker. Chinese bureaucrats, read Communist Party members, are now given RedPad, an Android tablet which is twice as costly as the comparable version of the iPad. Priced at 9,999 yuan, or about Rs 80,000 it has pre-loaded applications that can verify identification cards and monitor media and public sector firms.

At Weibo, a Twitter-like micro-blogging site popular in China, there has been a huge buzz about Chinese babus getting the RedPad. Should Chinese taxpayers’ money be spent to load the country’s bureaucrats with such expensive devices? This is one of the major discussion points by micro-bloggers. Many say RedPad is a symbol of privilege, or a luxury designed to fleece taxpayers.

Even the western media has run a number of stories on the subject. One report says how the RedPad has apps that allow users to check the validity of a journalist’s government accreditation. Another newspaper begins a piece by narrating the transition from Mao’s Little Red Book to the current RedPad.

Action and Appointments

a) PK Misra, a 1976 batch UP cadre IAS who has recently been appointed as DoPT secretary, will continue to hold the additional charge of the ministry of steel for one more month or till a replacement is found.

b) Atul Kumar Mathur, a 1980 batch IPS officer and director of North East Police Academy, has been granted the higher grade of ADG in the pay scale of Rs 67,000---79,000.

c) The ACC has approved the extension of the Central deputation tenure of MS Rao, a 1987 batch Assam cadre IAS for three months. Rao is the Development Commissioner of Visakhapatnam SEZ at the level of a joint secretary.

Canada may dole out iPads to its bureaucrats to save paper costs

iPads are yet to be officially launched in India, but governments of western countries wish to dole it out to their bureaucrats mainly to cut cost on paper and printings. After several American cities had given iPads to municipal officials to replace printed documents, the federal government of Canada is now mulling offering iPads to bureaucrats, Toronto Sun reported.

For the pilot project, about 20 treasury board workers in Canada have been using the high-tech device. Even in India, a number of Parliamentarians and businessmen have imported this device from the West. The iPad is the first tablet computer developed by Apple Inc, and it is part of a device category between a smart-phone and a laptop computer.

In Canada, the iPads, not laptops, were picked for the pilot project because they are lightweight and user-friendly in addition to having a long-lasting battery. It also allows the user for easy note-taking. It’s estimated that if Ottawa’s roughly 6,743 high-level bureaucrats are given this device, it would save the exchequer about $7 million, but the use of the iPad could save about $700 per person per year, said the Toronto Sun report.
Google is getting ready its own tablet computer to rival Apple’s iPads.

Action and Appointments

a) A Delhi Court refused to grant bail to suspended 1994 batch West Bengal cadre IAS officer Ravi Inder Singh who is accused of passing official information from MHA. He was a director in the home ministry when he was detained by police.

b) The Andhra Pradesh government’s move to select state senior officials for the promotion to the Indian Administrative Service may kick off a controversy as there are allegations that the selection process is not fair. The state government have reportedly finalized a list of 15 officers for three IAS posts.