LATERAL ENTRY: 1 out of 607 applicants will make it into the post of union joint secretary

AS MANY as 6,077 individuals want to joint as union joint secretaries, according to reports. This is in response to 10 JS vacancies for which the Central government in the month of June had invited applications for lateral entry of “talented and motivated Indian nationals”. The overwhelming response of the applicants means, only one out of 607 applicants will finally make into the corridors of power with a position usually reserved for…

Former foreign secretary S Jaishankar appointed as Tata Sons’ global corporate affairs president

Jaishankar with external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj (File photo)

S Jaishankar, former foreign secretary who had also served as India’s ambassador to China and then USA, was on Monday roped in by Tata Sons as its new president, global corporate affairs. Jaishankar, a 1977 batch Indian Foreign Service officer who retired early this year, will report to N Chandrasekaran, executive chairman of Tata Sons. His remunerations and associated perks are…

Should a private person’s request for sanction of prosecution of an IAS officer in a corruption case be entertained? Govt asks your comments

SHOULD a private person’s request for sanction of prosecution of an IAS officer in a corruption case be entertained? If yes, how? The Centre has decided to solicit public opinions and comments from all stakeholders including state governments, ministries or departments till August 12 before taking a call on this contentious issue. Till now, only investigative agencies ask for such sanction. But the DoPT in an office memorandum acknowledges that it has been receiving requests from private persons seeking sanction for prosecution, but without any proper proposal and supporting documents. So, the DoPT has come forward with a…

DARPG to engage a private consultant to measure impact, user satisfaction, scalability of good governance initiatives

NOW, a private consultant will help department of administrative reforms and public grievances (DARPG) to measure impact, utility, user satisfaction, sustainability, scalability and replicability of the Central government’s good-governance initiatives so far. The consultant is expected to undertake a critical review of the good governance initiatives and analyse both their tangible and intangible benefits. The private agency to be appointed initially for…

Govt looks for suitable candidates for the post of PESB chairperson; private company CEOs can also apply

THE Central government issued an advertisement to scout for suitable candidates for two key posts -- chairperson and member in Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), a government agency that interviews and selects the chairman and managing director (CMD) and directors of Central public sector enterprises or PSUs. A union secretary (serving or retired) with at least one year of experience in that position or a CMD or MD of a PSU or private company with at least…

Modi Sarkar may push for lateral entry of private sector executives as GoI joint secretaries; More on July 22 meeting

Red carpet to private bigwigs?

THE CENTRE has asked cadre controlling authorities to quickly submit their comments on a proposal that would allow people from the private sector and academics to join the Government of India directly as a joint secretary. In a meeting chaired by DoPT secretary and attended by representatives of cadre controlling authorities, held on July 22, 2014, i.e. almost two months after Modi Sarkar took charge, it was urged that “comments on lateral entry (from cadre controlling authorities) should be expedited”. So, will Modi Sarkar allow…

IAS officer’s son Satya Nadella and Ludwig Von Mises’ book “Bureaucracy”

IAS officer's son Nadella of Microsoft

IF 46-year-old Satya Nadella, son of 1962 batch IAS officer BN Yugandhar, becomes the CEO of the world’s fourth largest company by market cap, Microsoft, he would arguably be the most successful son of an Indian bureaucrat, globally. But, are sons and daughters of veteran bureaucrats, Yugandhar being one of them rising in the hierarchy to become a Planning Commission member, no longer interested in Indian civil services? In fact, the trends of the last decades have demonstrated that sons and daughters of top Indian officers are going...

India Inc leans on ex-bureaucrats to fight “bureaucracy in government”?

Chandrashekhar (Right) listening to PM (File photo)

INDIA INC which often calls the Indian system too bureaucratic to do business, has leaned on seasoned bureaucrats to lead their industry bodies. The Nasscom that represents $108 billion Indian software industry, decided last week to appoint former telecom secretary and 1975 batch Andhra Pradesh cadre ex-IAS officer Rentala Chandrashekhar as its president. According to media reports, Chandrashekhar's annual pay package is...

Private sector honchos can apply for the post of Member, PESB

WILL CEO of a top private sector company apply for the post of Member, Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB), a body responsible for selection of PSUs’ top management? The government, while looking for a new Member who enjoys the same salary of a Union government secretary, says in its circular dated December 5, 2012:

Govt debates lateral entry into Indian civil services, UK crops up as example

THE government has begun the process of debating whether it should allow lateral entry of talents, from academia, research and private sector to join the civil services. It’s noticed that some civil servants with a time-bound career progress get lazy and lethargic which in turn damage the over-all efficiency of Indian bureaucracy.

“For all civil services, especially for the All-India Civil Services, lateral entry at different levels could be evaluated. The lateral entry would inspire competition among the civil servants,” a government-prepared background paper released on this year’s Civil Services Day writes.

The 56-page long background paper which formed the basis of a panel discussion on April 21 last, also gave the UK example where...

Can private executives change bureaucracy's image? Not really, says BoI survey

THE jury is finally out. And the verdict on whether Indian bureaucracy will be better off with bright private fellows joining directly, is equally divided. One third of respondents in a BoI online survey say Indian bureaucracy will have a better image if bright private sector executives are allowed to join it directly. But an equal number are opposed to the idea and say “not at all”. And the rest is unsure saying “not really” and “maybe”. The government's recruiter UPSC on its part has been resisting to an idea of a mass recruit of mid-career executives arguing that jugar may then take precedence over merit. The online survey was undertaken in the backdrop of a Hong Kong-based risk analysis firm PERC saying once again that Indian bureaucracy is the worst in Asia whereas bureaucracy in Singapore tops the chart.
As reported by BoI earlier, there were a few voices opposing that report, the most prominent being of outspoken ex-home secretary GK Pillai. He wrote in a national newspaper that the report deserves to be “consigned to the dustbin”. And a BoI reader showered praise on Pillai saying: “Thanks God, someone has a voice. Even hard working officers get demoralized by such reports. And it is good the comment came from a well respected and hard working senior officer (now retired).”
Yet, Indian bureaucracy has failed to come clean on several fronts including performance, propriety and innovation. Yes, there are a few exceptions whose out-of- box ideas have benefited a relatively slow, lethargic and rule books following sarkari apparatus. Though the government has made attempts to give meaningful performance bonus to performing babus, say 40% addition to basic salary as a variable payout, such ideas have not reached the cabinet as yet. Even Dr Prajapati Trivedi, the academic-turned secretary in cabinet secretariat pitching for introducing such a performance bonus, has now stopped making any noise.
Only recently, the government came out with a circular saying that there would be a performance review for every group A officer after first 15 years of service. And the one found to be non-performing will be asked to leave.
That’s a good idea, but has a negative connotation. The weeding out of non-performers is important, but what’s about giving incentives to outstanding officers? Is Prime Minister’s Award or President’s police medal enough to force an officer walk an extra mile? The cabinet needs to take up the case of introducing a cash incentive to the high performing bureaucrats. Indian tax-payers won’t mind taking the extra load if there is a highly improved service delivery. 
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Team Pitroda Vs Team Nilekani

Nilekani’s UID team Vs Sam Pitroda’s bureaucrat-less innovative agenda

Sam Pitroda...

IN power corridors of Delhi, Sam Pitroda and Nandan Nilekani have similar identities. Both are immensely successful private sector honchos with zeal to bring about changes in governance. Both enjoy cabinet minister’s status, and are currently entrusted with two future-looking projects. For Nilekani, it’s about giving a unique identity number, or Aadhaar, to resident Indians. Pitroda’s mandate is to connect a billion people through public information, infrastructure and innovation. In a way, both are UPA government’s poster-boys showcasing reforms and technical innovations.

Yet, there is a serious difference between Pitroda and Nilekani. Pitroda, known for his characteristic bureaucrat-bashing, has roped in a slim and sophisticated non-bureaucrat team with the only exception of 1990 batch IAS Kalpana Awasthi. Ms Awasthi is his OSD at the rank of a joint secretary in Government of India. Nilekani on his part has heavily banked on IAS and other Group A service officers to make his UID mission a success like his Infosys innings. Nilekani’s key lieutenant, Ram Sewak Sharma is a 1978 batch Jharkhand cadre IAS, and even his private secretary MS Srikar is a 1999 batch Karnataka cadre IAS. Not just that, all deputy director generals posted across the country are from IAS or other Group A services.

...Nandan Nilekani

In contrast, Pitroda’s associates are Cambridge-educated Sukhman Randhawa who interned at BBC and the Penguin Group in London, and Mitakshara Kumari who had graduated from UK's University of Sussex and worked with European Union at Brussels. The other associates include Rahul Nayar who did his M.Phil in technology policy at Cambridge, and Vikas Bagri who was a part of initiating a rural BPO.

The comparison would not have been necessary if Nilekani had continued a smooth, seamless journey at UID. But if the problems and negative publicity that Nilekani’s UID mission has earned in the last few months are any indicators, his IAS managers have not done a very good job. The Parliamentary standing committee virtually junked Nilekani’s new bill. The home ministry has repeatedly raised objections to UID entering into its turf, and none other than Planning Commission which houses UIDAI is asking Nilekani “not to change track and stick to his original mandate”.

Now, the talk of the corridor is: why the hell Nilekani’s managers, read IAS, have failed to do the basics of inter-ministerial co-ordination? What’s more, some of his managers who got attracted to him because of the challenge and glamour associated with the project, are now looking at exit routes. Some of them reportedly want to move to not-so-glamorous and small ministries.

But here is the danger. Nilekani’s failure means end of the road for the government to woo any more high-performing corporate honchos.