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The whispersinthecorridors Online
Print from origin : whispersinthecorridors.com > Archive > 8th Dec 2009 Tuesday

It is a very good site with lots of information on bureaucracy.
N Biswal

Contact-suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com> & <mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com>

Indian bureaucracy requires an overhaul
Indian bureaucracy is not only the worst in the whole continent but also most corrupt if one was to go by the responses received by whispersinthecorridors.com
In a bid to elicit the views of people on what they think about Indian Bureaucracy, whispersinthecorridors had asked "Is Indian bureaucracy the worst in the whole continent?" and the response was tremendous but unfortunately it reflected the seamy side of the powers that be who run the country.
An overwhelming majority of the respondents, to the whispers debate, felt that the Indian bureaucracy is inefficient, indecisive and succumbs to pressure (of politicians) for want of creamy jobs.
"Things have reached to such a pass that honest man has no place in Government of India. Those who become Secretaries are always hand in glove with politicians. No action is ever taken against this top brass even if they have looted billions from the government exchequer", says Harish Kumar.
People of the country generally believe that it is the politicians who are corrupt but in India, Political system is still open for changes as politicians have to face common people. However, that is not the case with the bureaucrats.
And the million dollar question is that Why do the bureaucrats succumb to such pressure. Obviously, for getting prize postings. They are hand in glove with the politicians. And there is also little hope that the bureaucracy in India will ever change.
As one of the respondent Abhimanyu puts in, "Nothing can change their pace. They will continue to amass money, plunder and ruin the country unabated. Their performance will continue to be awfully dismal, accountability zero and responsibility negligible. Burden on exchequer is huge and slavery of political system has increased. And no changes can be expected from any government to overhaul this rot...which is stinking the country from North to South and East to West".
Even the veteran journalist of the country Arun Shourie has said few years ago that the current bureaucracy is nothing more than Indian Appeasement Service.
"The perception still remains the same. Indian bureaucracy fits well into the boots of an economist as quoted in the joke: An economist returns to visit his old school. He's interested in the current exam questions and asks his old professor to show some. To his surprise they are exactly the same ones to which he had answered 10 years ago! When he asks about this, the professor answers: the questions are always the same - only the answers change!", said Vinod Bhatia.
Another notion about the Indian bureaucracy which came out during the debate was that it still works on the British Raj principles. "There has been no fundamental change since British left India. The purpose of governance has changed but the core of administration has not. We have not been able to allow development of think tank and to promote governance strictly on merit", feels Manish Kumar.
Army starts ruling Ministry of Defence ?
There is strong rumour that after a long time army has started ruling the Ministry of Defence. Earlier bureaucracy used to control the Ministry.
Ramasundaram to be Additional Secretary Defence ?
S Ramasundaram is likely to be appointed Additional Secretary Defence. He is 1979 batch IAS officer of TamilNadu cadre.
VS Oberoi tipped to join UNESCO
As the grapevine has it, VS Oberoi, Principal Secretary (PS) - Agriculture, Urban Affairs, Border Areas Development, Sericulture & Agricultural Production Commissioner (APC) with the Meghalaya Government is poised to go to Paris a Permanent Representative in the UNESCO. He is an IAS officer of the 1979 batch who belongs to the Assam-Meghalaya cadre.
GOI to address issue of dearth of junior level officers
A meeting regarding shortage of officers at the level of Deputy Secretary and Director in Government of India will be held under the chairmanship of Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister T K A Nair in the Cabinet Secretariat on December 9, 2009.
VK Gupta promoted in IB
VK Gupta has been promoted to the rank of Additional Director in the Intelligence Bureau. He is 1977 batch IPS officer of Gujarat cadre.
Allahabad Bank doesn’t have any ED
Allahabad Bank does not have any Executive Director (ED) as of now. Its solitary ED, J.P.Dua on December 4, 2009 on elevation took over as Chairman & Managing Director (CMD) of Allahabad Bank.
Why did Lalli meet Rahul Gandhi ?
Why did CEO of the Prasar Bharti B S Lalli meet AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi last week ?.Anybody,s guess.
Alok Singh to be PS to Salman Khurshid,
The name of Alok Singh has been cleared for appointment on central deputation as private secretary (PS) to Salman Khurshid Indian Minister for Corporate Affairs. He is an IPS officer of 1995 batch who belongs to the Uttar Pradesh cadre.
Arvind Prasad to be Asst DG, UIDAI
Arvind Prasad has been appointed as Assistant Director General, Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) .He is an ITS officer of 1993 batch.
Arvind Madhav Singh to be Director, Food & Civil Supplies
Arvind Madhav Singh has been appointed as Director of Food & Civil Supplies in Government of India. He is an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer of 1986 batch who belongs to the Assam-Meghalaya cadre.
Dr M Ravi Kanth appointed Jt.Secretary, Power
Dr M Ravi Kanth has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Power in Government of India. He is an IAS officer of 1986 batch who belongs to the Kerala cadre.
(We said this on December 2, 2009)
Harbhajan Singh appointed Jt.Secretary, Heavy Industries
Harbhajan Singh has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Heavy Industry in Government of India. He is an IAS officer of 1983 batch who belongs to the Uttar Pradesh cadre.
Anand Mohan transferred to Andamans
Anand Mohan, DCP, East District, Delhi Police has been transferred from Delhi to Andamans.He is an IPS officer of 1994 batch who belongs to the UT cadre.
Muktesh Chand transferred to Daman
Muktesh Chand, Additional Commissioner Traffic Delhi Police has been transferred from Delhi to Daman.He is an IPS officer of 1988 batch who belongs to the UT cadre.
Ms. Shalini Singh to be PS to Ms. Meira Kumar
Shalini Singh DCP South East District Delhi Police will be joining as private secretary (PS) to Lok Sabha Speaker Ms. Meira Kumar. Ms. Singh is an IPS officer of 1996 batch who belongs to the UT cadre.
Navdeep Singh Virk to join GOI as DIG
Navdeep Singh Virk who is currently on six months leave on his return will be joining as DIG in Central Government. He is an IPS officer of 1994 batch who belongs to the Haryana cadre.
Sunil Gupta is JS-II, CBDT
Sunil Gupta is Joint Secretary-II, in the CBDT. Gupta is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of the 1987 batch.
(We said this on November 5, 2009)
Ashutosh Dixit to be JS-I, CBDT
Ashutosh Dixit is Joint Secretary-I in the CBDT. Dixit is an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer of 1987 batch. The post has fallen vacant after the departure of Arvind Modi. Dixit was already there. He has become JS-I from JS -II in CBDT.
Anil Pradhan is new MD, MTDC
1977-batch IPS officer, Anil Pradhan, is Managing Director (MD) of the Meghalaya Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC). Earlier, he was DGP with the Assam Government.
One post of Joint Secretary Tourism vacant in GOI
One post of Joint Secretary Tourism in Government of India (GOI) has been lying vacant since November 15, 2009.
Post of Dy Director (Admn.) in AllMS like Institution in Bhubaneshwar to be filled up
Post of Deputy Director (Administration) in the Project Cell of the AllMS like Institution being set up at Bhubaneshwar, under the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, is proposed to be filled up. Officers of the rank of Deputy Secretary/Director in the Government of lndia or equivalent level are eligible for the post.
Assam CM’s no to IAS officers for deputation
As the grapevine has it, Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi is not in a mood to relieve any IAS officer for deputation to the Government of India (GOI). This excludes those officers who deputation has already been cleared by the state Government.
Cabinet reshuffle in Meghalaya
As the grapevine has it, there is going to be a cabinet reshuffle in Meghalaya. Chief Minister Dr. D.D.Lapang is going to reshuffle his cabinet after the ongoing assembly session concludes in Meghalaya.
New book of Ramachandran released
S.Jaipal Reddy, Minister for Urban Development released the book authored by Dr. M.Ramachandran, Secretary, Ministry of Urban Development titled “Urban Renewal – Policy and Response” on 7.12.2009 at India Habitat Centre. This is the second publication of Dr. M.Ramachandran after the book titled “An Alternative Approach to Project Planning in Public Works - The Indian Context”.
Saugata Roy, MoS, Urban Development, Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission, TKA Nair, Principal Secretary to PM, Ms. Isher Judge Ahluwalia, Hari Sankaran, MD, IL&FS, T K Arun, Editor, Economic Times also spoke on the occasion
The book looks at the urban sector in a comprehensive manner, outlining the strategies that need to be adopted if we are to overcome the problem of inequities in distribution among different income groups of population in the urban centres. The book puts the focus on JNNURM, a reforms-driven, fast tracked programme for the planned development of identified cities with a focus on efficiency in urban infrastructure and services delivery, community participation and accountability of local governments towards citizens.
4 CITs shifted
As many as four Commissioners of Income Tax (CITs) have been shifted. They are: Nutan Arvind CIT-29 Mumbai to CIT-28 Mumbai, V.J.Vinaya
Kumar CIT-28 Mumbai to CIT-29 Mumbai, V.K.Sehgal DIT(ITSC) Delhi to CIT(ITAT)-VI Delhi & Navneet Soni- to CIT(ITAT)-VI Delhi to DIT(ITSC)
Delhi.
Sanjog Kapoor to be Dy. Secretary in Commerce Industry
Sanjog Kapoor Joint Commissioner of Income Tax(JCIT) Delhi (IRS-1999 batch) on deputation for four years has been posted as Deputy Secretary Commerce & Industry in Government of India (GOI).
Praveen Rawal to be Director(Finance) in Prasar Bharati
Praveen Rawal Deputy Commissioner of Income Tax(DCIT) Delhi on central deputation has been posted as Director (Finance) in Government of India (GOI) run Prasar Bharati till December 31, 2010.
Assam Govt. relieves Alok Kumar to join as Joint Secretary DoPT
Alok Kumar, on central deputation, had been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT). He has been relieved by the Assam Government. He is Assam-Meghalaya cadre IAS officer of the 1984 batch. Hitherto, he was Principal Secretary (PS) Transport and Power to Assam Government.
(We said this on November 19, 2009)
VS Bhaskar is DDG UIDA, Hyderabad
VS Bhaskar has joined as Deputy Director General (DDG), Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Hyderabad, Government of India. He is Assam Meghalaya (AM) cadre IAS officer of the 1985 batch. So far he was Secretary Sports to the Assam Government.
(We said this on November 25, 2009)
3 IFS chosen to join in MoEF as DIGs
Three Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers have been chosen to join on posts of DIGs that are vacant in Central Government’s Ministry of Environment & Forests (MoEF)
Bureaucratic reshuffle in Meghalaya on the anvil
As the grapevine has it there is going to be a b bureaucratic reshuffle in Meghalaya. However, it will be preceded by cabinet reshuffle in Meghalaya. Chief Minister Dr. D.D.Lapang is going to
reshuffle his cabinet after the ongoing assembly session concludes in Meghalaya.
ICS & IAS Wives association’s carnival on December 13, 2009
Mrs. Gursharan Kaur wife of Indian Prime Minister Dr. Man Mohan Singh will inaugurate the ICS & IAS Wives Association’s winter carnival at Delhi located Nehru Park PSOI Club,Chanakyapuri at 11 am on December 13, 2009. The association is headed by Mrs. Jaya Chandrasekhar, wife of Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrashekhar.
New website launched by Union Minister Pradeep Jain
Central Minister of State for Rural Development Pradeep Jain launched website www.drishtiindia.org on 6th Dec. at Chitrakut Uttar Pradesh and appealed for internatinal recognition for this noble cause. Drishti is working for visually impaired people of Bundelkhand for last 15 years without government aid where more then 50 blind girls getting free residential education. Drishti Founder Director is Virag Gupta, who has worked in Central Govt, M.N.C. and Corporate World at senior positions and presently practicing advocate Supreme Court, New Delhi. He is also chairman of RTI Foundation.
Ms Surabhi Varma Garg is CVO of Hindustan Insecticides
Ms. Surabhi Varma Garg has been appointed as Chief Vigilance Officer in Hindustan Insecticides Limited, New Delhi. She is 1990 batch IRS (IT) officer.
Justice Sharma appointed Judge of Chhattisgarh High Court
Justice Tankeshwar Prasad Sharma, Additional Judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court has been appointed Judge of the Chhattisgarh High Court, with effect from the date he assumes charges of his office.
Kaushik Basu assumes charge
Dr. Kaushik Basu has joined as Chief Economic Advisor, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance on Tuesday. He will hold this post in the rank of Secretary to the Government of India.
Mishra appointed Secretary Administrative Reforms and Pension
RC Mishra has been appointed Secretary Administrative Reforms and Pension. He is 1976 batch IAS officer of Orissa cadre.

CORPORATE
BSNL CMD retiring next year
BSNL CMD Kuldip Goyal is retiring in 2010. The million dollar question that is being asked is that who will succeed him.

Aaj Ki Aawaz

Rahul has kicked off ‘ Mission UP 2012’!!!
For this firstly Rahul has to ensure that inner Party rivalry UP Congressis shelve!

Seems now Rahul will woo Muslims left and right!!!
And as Rahul will be encroaching on their domain SP will put up a fight!!

Rahul Baba says a Muslim can become India ’s PM!!!!
Though at present there is none fit to step into Mohna’s shoes or even become UP’s CM!

And please Salman Khurshid is no fit to be a CM candidate!!!
He still lacks in all departments and very mediocre in UP Salman ko karte hai rate!!

Mohna has raised the bar steeply and PM's shoes are humongous now!!!!
To Mohna even World Leaders do bow!!

And then you have Natwar Singh saying Mohna should retire!!!!
From Natwar's useless bakwas now Indians karr rahe hai tire!!!

He’s more like a pariah and is becoming more and more satkela with every passing day!!!
He’s degenerated mentally after Congress showed him ‘exit’ ka way!!

Tackling climate change is the need of the hour and tackling it is not cheap!!!
In self created climate change woes the World is now neck deep!!!

India cannot be out of step on this issue and good thing PM will be there!!!
He will ably handle matters on the spot and this also shows India really does care!

Without a doubt tackling climate change will not make UPA popular!!!
But then not tackling climate change will make India unpopular!!

Maybe in due course the World may choose to identify and shame the unconcerned!!!!
Believe me this is an issue that we all should be very concerned!!

Punjab is now financially a ‘gone case’!!!
And things will get worse as ‘water woes’ very soon Punjab is going to face!!

Papa and Beta Badal are only concerned about votes!!!!
As with subsidy Punjab ’s debt bloats!!!

Punjab ’s FM has been trying to convince them to curb the subsidy bill!!!
Papa and Beta do agree that subsidy should be curbed but they lack the will!!!

Punjabis now say that Badal and Amrinder join hands and save Punjab State !
On their returning ghoos made back to the State there is a hot debate!!

Rumored that both have lost money because of Dubai ’s financial woes!!!
Rumored that dono ki investments in Dubai have hit lows!!!

All the Stars could not make Paa a hit!!!
At the Box Office ‘dust the movie did hit’!!!

Big B’s sugar went high post Paa’s release and so its ‘cheeni kum’ in his chai!!!
On the very first day post the release Big B let out a ‘hai’!!!!

The two kids from Bihar who suffer from Progeria who want to meet him should do so fast!
Because the way the movie is going Big B's attachment to Paa is not going to last!

Amar Sigh will of course blame Congress for Paa flopping!!!
He’ll say Congressmen indulged in blatant stopping!!!

They stood outside multiplexes and movie halls and stopped people from going inside!
And in UP he’ll say BSP supporters were standing with Congressis side by side!!

Confucius says..... Paa is made for the Box Office and nothing to do with the disease!
A disease as a money making opportunity Balki did cease!!

Adds…… movie flopped and now its collection will fall!!
Insaaf iss ko karte hai call!!!

Bharat Kumar

Forum
(The views expressed in this column are of the contributors. We do not owe any responsibility, whatsoever, of the views of our surfers as they are their personal opinion)
Do we really need the institution of Private Secretaries to Ministers?
The secretary of the Department is there to aid & advise the minister. There are other officers to aid & advise him/her. Why then should the tax payers money be wasted on maintaining an institution without any constitutional sanction? What does the PS do ? The minister has two Additional Private Secretaries and a few Personal Assistants and a Language P.A. The ministers should be freely accessible to the people instead of doing formal business with the P.S. The P.S. is not authorised to record a note on the file submitted to the minister by the Secretary of the Department or Ministry. But now it has become a common practice for private secretaries to return files with notings "The Hon'ble Minister has approved". It is patently illegal. But so is taking bribe. But both are being practiced openly and the people responsible to ensure working in government offices as per the Business Rules take no notice of such vital violations. So the P.S. is more powerful than the Minister! If the secretary or a public man has to tell the minister something in confidence, he can not do so, since the P.S. is necessarily seated with the minister when a visitor is meeting her/him. This is the case with those over ambitious even at the early stage of their career. Many of them left government service even before becoming additional secretary. Only those who faithfully did their duty as P.S. alone earned goodwill. But the question of tenure for P.S. being fixed or co-terminus would not arise if this waste is ended. Otherwise the nuisance will continue either way.
M L Gupta
It is largely true
I have worked in the administrative services, state and IAS both, including an stint as Secretary Lokayukta MP. Unfortunately, it appears difficult to disagree with conclusions drawn by you. Except a few exceptions it is largely true of most of the present day bureaucracy.
O P Dube
A great progressive step
Retirement age of civil servants of JS level till 64 years of age subject to two evaluations at the age of 60 and 62 years, as has been done for scientists is a great progressive step towards a clean and stable administrative structure.
Singh
Gaikwad was an institution in himself
SD Gaikwad , who was an institution in himself at the national Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, passed away on November 22, 2009 He was one of the finest gentleman I have ever known. He was 88. Even at that age, he had instant recall of all the IAS officers especially of Maharshtra Cadre as he taught Marathi to those allotted Maharashtra cadre. May his soul rest in peace.
Sandhya Baliga
IRS transfer policies?
Strange but true. IRS Customs and IRS Income Tax will have two separate 'custom' made policies although they have always had the same policy. But now thanks to the 'ways' of CBDT, they want a separate policy.
Anon
Moral fabric of the country is being eroded
Is our country being insidiously destroyed by the permissiveness that has crept in due to Westernisation? Are our values being destroyed in the name of liberalism? Is our country at risk from perversion? Are the rich and powerful behind this? Has the media become the handmaiden of the licentious? Are we not destroying ourselves by this unabashed emulation of the west? Do we wish to copy the descendants of deviants and criminals or do we wish to retain our rich heritage? The moral fabric of the country is getting eroded and will be followed by the social fabric if we are not careful.
Arjun Mallik
Australians deserve tit for tat
So many Indian students and other people from India have been beaten black and blue in Australia, which is a direct consequence of the barbaric White Australia policy followed by the descendants of English convicts and criminals banished there. Apart from some feeble protests, the Indian government simply waited for the next atrocity to happen. If a white man was similarly beaten black and blue here, there would have been hysteria in the government and the Indian electronic media. It is time to reply to the Australians in their own language. Why are white Australian students, businessmen, backpacker tourists all moving about in such safety and security all over India, as if they own the place? Why can’t some 80 or so white Australians be beaten up black and blue so they understand what being coloured really means? Only then will these barbaric attacks on Indians stop. What is the Shiv Sena doing about it? Will they beat up fellow Indians for going to Australia instead of beating up Australians for coming to India??
D Choudhury
Former Telecom (DOT) Officer on Heritage Preservation Trail
The onus of leading India to become the 21st century I T giant falls indeed to the share of communication technocrats, but that the preservation of its great ancient heritage too will be crusaded by one among them comes as something highly commendable. So was it when an Audio CD on “OM -The Primordial Sonic Manifest of the Universe” by C.V. Gopinath former Senior Deputy Director General , DOT and en eminent Vedic scholar was released on December 5,2009 by Chairman ,Union Public Service Commission , Prof. DP Agrawal in an impressive function held at India International Center New Delhi. A distinguished communication expert, Gopinath but more known as Spiritual Engineer is also a highly acclaimed Vedic scholar. With five highly acclaimed and popular heritage documentary films namely the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra , Amarnath --The Lord of Immortality, Khir Bhawani—The Spring Shrine of Kashmir , Cosmic rhythms in Divine Abodes & Shruti and Smriti to his credit . C V Gopinath has produced now an audio- CD on “OM” based on interpretations from the Vedas , the Upanishads and several other religions of the East like Buddhism’s , Jainism, Sikhism and concepts of Sufi order as enshrined in Islam as well as quotes from the St.Jhon’s Gospel in Christianity and thereby has added significantly to the corpus of his crusade to preserve and promote the ancient heritage of Indian .The references are drawn from Rig-Veda, Yajur Veda, Atharva Veda, Shwetashwatara Upanishad, Mandukya Upanishad, Mundaka Upanishad, Kathopanishad, Prashopanishad, Mahanarayan Upanishad, Akshara Upanishad, Chandogya Upanishad, Patanjali’s Yogasutra, Buddhism’s Vajra Japa, Guru Granth Sahib, Jainism’s Namokara Mantra in Khanadagama Sutras and Dhawala Teeka.
He had been working with children to retain our cultural heritage for over 25 years. Recipient of many awards including the United States FOSAC Award, Global Man Award of UAE Indian Diaspora and Rajyotsava Award of the Government of Karnataka will make the Government officers proud that they have amongst them persons like CV Gopinath.
Sudhir

Dr Suresh Mehrotra has his lips sealed, if you have any whispers then send it to us