What people say about us !

You are doing a great job Dr Mehrotra by making available vital information.

Vikram

Aaj Ki Aawaz

In his speeches in UP, Rahul keeps repeating….. to come to know about people's problems a Leader (meaning himself) has to stay in their homes, eat their food and drink their water to understand their problems! But fact is after his home stays nothing changed for those in whose houses he stayed!!! What happened to his Mascot Kalawati…… she's gone from one misery to another??? And in Maharashtra there is a Congress NCP Government so he could have got a lot done at least for Kalawati and Kalawati's village!! And what great work has he done in his own Constituency….. electorate in his constituency are today 'fence sitting' …… if winds blow in Maya's favor Rahul will face problems in his re-election!! As it is in successive elections his and his Mom's vote share in the Gandhi Burroughs has fallen!! They basically leave their Constituencies in Satish Sharma's care and he definitely cannot make up for their absence!! This home stays are just a drama….. Rahul says Mulayam and Maya are not grass root Leaders…….fact is they've risen from grass root level …. whereas Rahul is where he is because of his surname!

My personal opinion is that Rahul has to give up drama baazi if he wants to make headway!

Or electorate will show him bahar ka way!!

Five Honchos have got bail and now the other except Raja, who has not applied for Bail will get Bail in a day or two!!!! Raja not applying for Bail was a thought out strategy by Karuna…. his logic was that if with Kani Raja too applied for bail , then this would impact chances of Kani getting bail!!! Post Kani's bail Raja in a week or so will apply for Bail!!! Though the joke doing the rounds is after Batcha's 'murder' Raja is better off in jail!!! Now the case will stretch out for years and years!!!! All involved have huge war chests for the legal battle!!!! The law is on for 'twisting and turning'……. witnesses will change their stands…… Institutions will be used and abused!!!!!

They'll make an ass of the law!!!!!

And perjury not attracting severe punishment in our legal system is a cardinal flaw!!!!

Congress has got it wrong if it thinks FDI will come in 'with the mindset or objective to benefit Indians'…… it is going to come in to milk Indians!!! Decision makers need to realize the potential of our billion plus market and use this to make the FDI entrants realize that money can be made from India but there has to be 'give and take'!!! For one I feel FDI should have a social responsibility tag attached….education…. healthcare…… drinking water etc.!!!! But our 'on sale' Congress Government refuses to recognize and use our huge Market potential to India's advantage!!! Bottom line is that the Government has to ensure and milk FDI to its maximum to benefit India….. and this is not possible when the PM has promised his 'Aaka Obama' that he'll do everything possible to get FDI into India!!

PM is a Washington flunky and a Capitalist Economist out and out!!!!

Because if he was a 'shudh' economist on FDI being allowed to benefit Indians he'd express 'doubt pe doubt'!!

PS……….where Mamtha wants her one Cabinet Minister is enough to take on the rest of the Cabinet and where she wants to fib and fob her way out she says the rest browbeat TMC's lone Cabinet Minister……. her stock in Bengal has already fallen!!! A youth slapped Pawar ...... Public's angst on inflation and corruption is now on the verge of boiling over!!! And Pawar says he has no enemies.. for his info as Agri Minister and the additional charges he's held he has made crores of enemies!!

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar presents report card
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who completed six years in office in a row released report card of the State Government in Patna on November 25,2011. Nitish Kumar who has scripted a new success story while dedicating growth to people of Bihar besides Government officers and employees acknowledged society at large about development that had been attained so far.

Raj Thackeray invites applications from ticket seekers
MNS Chief Raj Thackerey has said that all those aspiring for a Municipal Corporation ticket to contest will have to fill applications and cite their achievements and the plan of how they will lead the party further through their work.

BUREAUCRACY

Will an Academician be Secretary Higher Education?
If an Academician is appointed next Secretary, Higher Education in the Government of India then who will be the choice of HRD Minister Kapil Sibal? Insiders say his choice will either be S E Hasnain or Samir K Brahmchari. Hasnain is Professor of Biological Sciences in IIT Delhi and former Vice Chancellor of the Hyderabad University while Brahmchari is DG, CSIR and Secretary DSIR. It may be recalled that there are strong rumours that present Secretary Vibha Puri is going to succeed Alka Sirohi on January 31 as Secretary Personnel and Kapil Sibal is keen for the appointment of an Academician in her place. Million dollar question - Will this happen?

No Secretary level vacancy this month
There is no Secretary level vacancy in the Government of India this month. There are going to be two vacancies next month.

Minister wants male Secy; Loretta Mary Vas to move to other Ministry
After the reluctance of the Minister M K Alagiri, the Government has decided to shift Ms Loretta Mary Vas to some other Ministry. Ms Vas had been appointed Secretary of Pharmaceuticals in the Government of India. The Minister reportedly made it clear that he would like to have only male Secretary.

Mauskar and Didar Singh are now consultants
J M Mauskar and Dr Didar Singh have reportedly been appointed consultant in the Department of Environment and Indian Overseas Affairs Department respectively for three months after their superannuation.

Ashok Kumar is new JS Civil Aviation
G Asok Kumar has been appointed as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Civil Aviation. He is 1991 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

(We said this on October 12, 2011)

Gupta to be Director BSNL
N K Gupta is being tipped to be new Director (Consumer Fixed Access ) in the BSNL. He is presently in the DoT.

Madhusudan Prasad is new Additional Secretary, Commerce
Madhusudan Prasad, on central deputation, is new Additional Secretary Commerce. Presently Madhusudan Prasad is Principal Secretary (PS) Power with the Haryana Government. He is an IAS officer of 1981 batch and belongs to the Haryana cadre.
(We said this on November 18)

Rajive Kumar is Additional Secretary in Cabinet Secretariat
Rajive Kumar has been appointed new Additional Secretary in Cabinet Secretariat. He is a 1981 batch IAS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.
(We said this on November 18)

Amitabh Ranjan replaces Jha in Berlin
Amitabh Ranjan, a 1988 batch IPS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre, has replaced 1981 batch Bihar cadre IPS officer S C Jha in Embassy of India in Berlin.

Empanelment of 1978 batch IPS soon
Empanelment of 1978 batch IPS officers to the rank of DG in Government of India is going to take place soon. The MHA has sent the file to the ACC for empanelment after being processed.

1992 batch IPS empanelment at final stage
Decks are now cleared for the empanelment of 1992 batch IPS officers to the rank of IG in the Government of India. All the queries made by the Cabinet Secretariat have been replied by the MHA.

Dutta to join GoI
Rupak Kumar Dutta, Additional DGP, Karnataka Lokayukta, Banaglore, will be joining central deputation shortly. He is an IPS officer of 1981 batch and belongs to the Karnataka cadre.

Will Rajiv Krishna join CBI?
Rajiv Krishna, IGP (PAC HQ) Lucknow, is likely to be inducted as (JD) Joint Director, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). He is an IPS officer of 1991 and belongs to the UP cadre.

P Ramjee to be CVO, Kandla Port Trust?
Name of P Ramjee is in circulation for the post of Kandla Port Trust. He is a 1998 batch IPS officer of Rajasthan cadre.

A K Singh poised to go to GoI
As the grapevine has it, A K Singh, on central deputation, is poised to go to the Government of India (GoI). He is an IAS officer of 1991 batch and belongs to the Haryana cadre. Presently, he is MD of Norton DISCOM in Haryana.

Guess who?
Recently, a Minister along with top officers of his big Ministry attended a local function organized by one Worker Union, for gaining foothold. Other rival Unions have complained regarding big entourage and large expenditure whereas his Ministry is languishing due to under performance. Agencies are following the matter now. Guess who?

Who will succeed to be MHADA Chairman?
It is heard that MP Gurudas Kamat and former Mumbai Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kripashankar Singh are both trying their candidates for the Chairmanship of MHADA. It is heard that Manhas was backed by Kamat and so the Kripashankar Singh faction is trying hard to replace him with their own man and to not let Manhas get an extension.

Vijendra Kumar poised to go to GoI
As the grapevine has it, Vijendra Kumar, on central deputation, is poised to go to the Government of India (GoI). He is an IAS officer of 1995 batch and belongs to the Haryana cadre. Presently, he is Director of School Education with the Haryana Government.

Pakistan: Memogate in Supreme Court
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has filed a 'constitutional petition' in the Supreme Court in the infamous 'memogate' under article 184 - 3 of the constitution. Pakistan's President, Army Chief, DG ISI, Foreign Secretary, former Ambassador to US Hussain Haqqani and US based businessman Mansoor Ijaz are arraigned as respondents. The petition has recounted the reports of a memo allegedly handed over to the then US joint chiefs of Staff Committee Admiral Mike Mullen with the President's green signal seeking US assistance to stave off an army coup and subsequent denials by Haqqani and called upon the apex court 'to play its role in the matter and safeguard national interest'.

Amal Pusp, Addl DIT (S) appointed Director, Health & Family Welfare
Amal Pusp, Additional Director, Income Tax (S), New Delhi, has been appointed as Director, Health and Family Welfare on deputation basis for a period of five years.

(We said this on October 21, 2011)

Post of Director (Finance) is vacant in Eastern Coalfields
Post of Director (Finance) has been lying vacant in Eastern Coalfields Limited. Those willing to apply can send their applications before January 27, 2012.

26 officers of State Civil Service awarded IAS cadre
As many as 26 officers of State Civil Service of Joint AGMUT (UT segment) have been awarded Indian Administrative Service (IAS) cadre against vacancies of 2009 and 2010. Officers who were appointed against vacancies of 2009 include: P Mathew Samuel, Sanjay Kumar Saxena, Satish Mathur, Rakesh Bali, D.K. Mishra, Alok Swarup, Ms Rashmi Krishnan and Jaydev Sarangi while officers appointed for 2010 are: Vijay Singh Panesar, Akash Mahapatra, P.R. Meena, G. Ragesh Chandra, G. Theva Neethi Dhas, N K Sharma, D P Dwivedi, Ashutosh Kumar V K Jain, Manoj Kumar S S Ghonkrokta, Z U Siddiqui, Sheo Paratap Singh, G S Meena, G L Meena, B R Babu and R K Mishra.

IPS officer is Member Gujarat HRC
Former Ahemdabad police commissioner 1976 batch IPS officer Sudhir Sinha has been appointed as the member of State Human Right Commission (SHRC).

IPS shake-up in J & K
Ram Lubhaya is now ADGP Security. Dr S P Vaid has been posted as ADGP, Hqrs, PHQ.D R Doley has been posted as ADGP, HG / CD and Auxiliary.Z H Chisti will be IGP Railways.A K Choudhary will be IGP Hqrs PHQ.Deepak Kumar has been posted as IGP Vigilance. Gulzar Singh will be IGP Armed / IR, Jammu. Ghulam Ahmad Dar will be DIG Modernization .Manmohan Singh has been posted as SSP Traffic Jammu City. Syed Kifayat Haider, SSP has been made Commandant JKAP-13th Bn.Prabhat Singh has been posted as Commandant IR-15th Bn .D K Slathia, Commandant Auxiliary Police 2nd Bn has been transferred and posted as Commandant IR-5th Bn.Varinder Kumar Sharma will now be SSP Traffic, National Highway. Ghulam Sarwar Chouhan has been transferred and posted as Commandant Auxiliary Police 2nd Bn, Jammu.Shiv Kumar has been posted as Deputy Commandant IR-4th Bn .Mohammad Arif Rishu has been posted as SP Doda. Ashok Kumar Bhagat will be Deputy Commandant IR-11th Bn .

A K Roy appointed officiating CMD, Agriculture Insurance Co., of India (UPDATED)
A K Roy, General Manager, GIC, has been appointed as officiating Chairman-cum-Managing Director of Agriculture Insurance Company of India w.e.f. 01-12-2011. He replaces M Prashad who is retiring on November 30, 2011.

Sanjay Malhotra to look after works of Khemraj in Rajasthan (UPDATED)
Sanjay Malhotra, Secretary & Commissioner, Information Technology and Communication, has been assigned additional charge of Principal Secretary, Personnel. Malhotra will look after this department until the return of Principal Secretary, Khemraj from training. Malhotra is a 1990 batch IAS officer of Rajasthan cadre while Khemraj is of 1985 batch of same State cadre.

B P Sharma appointed new Establishment Officer (UPDATED)
B P Sharma, IAS of 1981 Bihar cadre has been appointed new Establishment Officer (EO) and Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel. Presently, he is Joint Secretary Minority Welfare in the Government of India.
(We said this on November 18)

Posting of three IRS officers after promotion as Chief Commissioner (UPDATED)
A K Das, Chief Commissioner, Customs, Kolkata, has been made Chief Commissioner Central Excise, Kolkata while Ms Deepa Dasgupta will now be Chief Commissioner, Customs, Kolkata after promotion and Chitrang Dube is posted as Chief Commissioner, Central Excise, Bhubaneswar after his promotion.

1st Indian Congress concludes by adopting a charter (UPDATED)
With the adoption of 16 point charter four day 1st Indian Forest Congress (IFC)-2011 concluded in New Delhi on November 25, 2011. At the valedictory function chief guest was Ranjan Chatterjee (IAS) who is presently with the Planning Commission of India (PCI).The mega event was held under the umbrella of the Dehradun based Indian Council of Forestry and Education (ICFRE) at NASC complex New Delhi that witnessed participation by more than 650 delegates comprising policy makers from central and state governments, researchers, industry, farmers, students, universities, NGOs, JFMCs, etc. It may be stated that it was inaugurated on November 22, 2011 by Ms. Jayanthi Natarajan Indian Minister for Environment and Forests. During the conclave Dr P J Dilip Kumar Director General (DG) Forests in the Government of India (GOI) & Dr. V K Bahuguna Director General (DG) ICFRE were specially present. It was felt that such an event should held once in two years and on a much larger scale. Dr. Bahuguna said while, the United Nations has declared 2011 as International Year of Forests, and India is completing 150 years of the forestry, the 1st Indian Forest Congress had acquired a vital significance. Three Publications of ICFRE viz. "Voices from the Field", "Status of JFM in India" and "ICFRE Technologies in the Service of the Nation" were released by the chief guest during the opening ceremony. The central theme of the Congress was 'Forests in a Changing World'. Pre-Congress Workshops were organised by five institutes of ICFRE on the themes of the Congress i.e. 'Forests in society' by TFRI Jabalpur, 'Forests in an expanding economy' by AFRI Jodhpur, 'Expanding frontiers of forestry science' by IWST Bangalore, 'Forest biodiversity and landscape' by RFRI Jorhat, and 'Forests and climate change' by HFRI Shimla. More than 600 abstracts were received and screened by the scientific committee and 450 abstracts were selected for oral and poster presentations. Prof. M.S. Swaminathan, Member of Rajya Sabha delivered the presidential address. Ms. Caitilin Wiesen, Country Director, UNDP; Prof. Maharaj Muthoo, President, Roman Forum; and A.K. Mukerji, former Director General of Forests, MoEF, GoI gave theme-based keynote addresses. Dr. D.N. Tewari, ex-member, Planning Commission, GOI was also a special invitee in the inaugural ceremony. ICFRE Publications namely 'Agroforestry research at ICFRE', Extension strategies in forestry research', 'ICFRE information booklet' and 'Desk Calendar 2012' were also released. According to Dr. S S Negi, Director, Forest Research Institute (FRI) about 200 oral presentations and 55 posters were presented and discussed during the four day long congress in five parallel sessions, conducted by the respective five institutes that had organised the pre-congress workshops. Organising secretary and Additional DG, Forest Research Institute (FRI), Dr. V R R Singh said that there were 28 sub-themes under five themes along with four side events viz. Handicrafts bazaar, JFM Conclave (organised by FRI Dehradun), Discussion forum for forest services and Discussion forum for forest science/scientists. A one-day workshop on 'Forest landscape restoration' was also conducted in which Dr. Mike Smith, forest landscape expert of United Kingdom Forestry Commission U K also addressed the delegates. Prof. Anatoly Shvideko, renowned climate change specialist from Austria and Dr. Coosje Hoogendoorn, DG INBAR from China also shared their knowledge and experiences with the delegates during the Congress. A Workshop on 'Forest fringe villages' was also organised by FRI Dehradun in which Dr. J.S. Samra, CEO, NRAA of the Planning Commission gave the keynote address. All sessions were chaired and co-chaired by eminent personalities in the respective themes. In every sub-theme there were lead speakers drawn from among the best brains in the country on the topic of the sub-theme. There was a consensus during the conclave that budgetary allocations for forestry sector should be augmented and be need based.

S K Pattanayak posted as FA & CAO/ IROAF (UPDATED)
S K Pattanayak, SAG/IRAS, on return from deputation, has been posted as FA & CAO (Bio Diesel)/ Indian Railways Organisation For Alternative Fuels (IROAF).

Maharashtra Cooperative Housing Society Chairman removed (UPDATED)
Sitaram Rane, Chairman of Maharashtra Cooperative Housing Society and close confidant of Industries Minister, Narayan Rane, has been removed owing to differences over land issues.

Thackeray meets R K Laxman (UPDATED)
Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thackerey, after a long time, met another veteran this time ace cartoonist R K Laxman in Pune.

EC to declare municipal poll dates by December? (UPDATED)
It is heard that Election Commission will declare Municipal elections in Maharashtra by 25 December.

Pune burns, is he responsible for price rise? (UPDATED)
Even as NCP leaders avenge the slapping incident of Pawar, Shiv Sena and State Congress have jumped to his rescue. Sena said it would not tolerate attack on 'Marathi Manus'. NCP said why hold a single man responsible for the incident?

Satya Prakash posted as AGM Central Railway (UPDATED)
Satya Prakash HAG/IRTS has now been posted as AGM Central Railway.Z A Siddiqui will replace Satya Prakash. Shiv Kumar Chowdhary has been posted as COM Northern Railway.

Seven officers of Haryana State Service awarded IAS cadre (UPDATED)
Seven officers of Haryana State Civil Service have been awarded IAS cadre. They are: Yudhbir singh Khyalia, Neelam P Kasni, Jaid Dev Naharwar and Lajvir Singh all in the selection list of 2001. While in the selection list of 2002, three officers, who were awarded, include Pradeep Krishna, Ramesh Krishna Jai Paul Singh Dahiya. Notably, Jai Dev Naharwar, Lajvir Singh and Jai Paul Singh Dahiya have already retired from the service.

UPSC declares results of NDA, NA examination (II) 2011 (UPDATED)
Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has announced results of written part of the National Defence Academy (NDA) and Naval Academy Examination (II) 2011 held by the UPSC in August 2011.

(DEBATE)
EMPANELMENT IN GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
Whether administrative procedure for empanelment of Additional Secretary and Secretary in the Government of India is fair and legally sound?
Mail your views to suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com or mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com

CORPORATE

With Cyrus, does Ratan have a succession line in waiting?
The induction of Cyrus Mistry, who is the son of Pallonji Mistry the largest shareholder in Tata Sons, makes good and strategic sense. Under Ratan Tata, the group has gone out of its way to raise group holdings in core companies, and through crossholdings. With group shareholdings now fairly insulated from takeover threats, Ratan Tata probably felt that he could afford to look beyond a Tata to manage the group. But the group is not that safe from takeovers altogether and this is where a shareholder with significant holdings like Pallonji Mistry makes strategic sense as well. Noel Tata, who many talked of as a potential successor, may appear to have lost out in the race - but who knows, it may also be a good idea to have another Tata waiting in the wings. For Ratan Tata, Noel, who manages the Trent retail chain among other businesses, is like a second string to his bow. It makes no sense for India's biggest business house to have a short succession line. A Noel waiting in the wings is insurance for the future.

More trouble ahead for corporate India
Indian markets are definitely now showing sign of fatigue as the weakness in the local currency, lower demand locally and globally is expected to hit corporate profitability and macro economic growth. In the last two years corporate in order to save on interest costs have borrowed money through ECB/FCCB route and now they have become prey to the relentless depreciation in the Rupee. As a matter of fact money raised through these routes up till September this fiscal now accounts close to 18.25% of total non-food credit lending by the domestic banks compared to just 3.3% in the fiscal 2009-2010. Brokers feel from the current level market may slide by another 100 to 200 nifty points.

What impact will Akula's resignation have on SKS?
SKS Microfinance plans to launch a rights issue in the market worth Rs 900 crore. With Akula gone, who will be the face of the company, and how easily will investors be able to entrust the company with so much money is the whispers in the finance circles.

Will RBI take a call by infusing liquidity?
Going by the recent turn of events RBI will have to judge whether the phenomenon in rising trade deficit, weak rupee and falling bank deposits is temporary. If it is not seen as temporary, RBI has to infuse liquidity into the system. The best option for infusing liquidity into the system in by a CRR (Cash Reserve Ratio) cut. A 0.5% cut in CRR from 6% to 5.5% will release around Rs 55,000 crores into the system, which can help ease liquidity and keep it from becoming too tight.

Sanghvi appointed CMD, Syndicate Bank
The Central Government has appointed M. G. Sanghvi, Executive Director, Bank of Maharashtra as the Chairman and Managing Director of Syndicate Bank from the date of his taking over charge of the post on or after March 1, 2012 till June 30, 2013.

Mohapatra appointed Workmen Employee Director, SBI
The Central Government has appointed Jyoti Bhushan Mohapatra , Special Assistant, State Bank of India, as Workmen Employee Director on the Central Board of Directors of State Bank of India for a period of three years.

Gupta appointed Part-time Director, Vijaya Bank
Central Government has nominated Ashok Gupta, as Part-time Non-official Director on the Board of Directors of Vijaya Bank w.e.f
November 11, 2011 , for a period of three years.

Bahuguna appointed Nominee Director, India Tourism Development Corporation
Union Ministry of Tourism has appointed Ashish Bahuguna, Additional Secretary and Financial Advisor, Govt. of India, Ministry of
Agriculture as the Government Nominee Director on the Board of India Tourism Development Corporation Ltd.

Chopra appointed Nominee Director, IFCI Ltd
The Central Government has nominated V. K. Chopra, Deputy Secretary, Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial Services as a Nominee Director on the Board of IFCI Ltd in place of Umesh Kumar.

Kasukhela appointed Senior VP, Infinite Computer Solutions Inc.
Infinite Computer Solutions (India) Ltd has appointed Kasukhela Sitapati Rao as Senior Vice President (Head of Product Engineering Business) of Infinite Computer Solutions Inc. w.e.f. November 3, 2011.

Saw appointed Company Secy. Bengal Tea and Fabrics Ltd
Bengal Tea and Fabrics Ltd has appointed Pintu Kumar Saw as Company Secretary of the company with effect from February 3, 2011.

Vivek Goenka resigns as MD, Golden Goenka Fincorp Ltd
The Board of Directors of Golden Goenka Fincorp Ltd has accepted the resignation of Vivek Goenka as Managing Director of the company with effect from November 23, 2011.

Girdhari Lal Goenka appointed MD, Golden Goenka Fincorp Ltd
Girdhari Lal Goenka has been appointed as Managing Director of Golden Goenka Fincorp Ltd.

Thanks for choosing 'empanelment' for debate on your website

The biggest problem with the process of empanelment is that it is totally opaque. One would not get to know as to why one was not empanelled and this causes immense agony to an officer who has put in more than 32-33 years of sincere and honest service. You would get to know the process, that too only broadly, if you happen to know somebody in DoPT or Cabinet Sect. and he or she chose to oblige you. One officer of 1976 batch, who was not empanelled, got to know something in this manner and mentioned below is what he narrated as the process for empanelment of IAS officers for appointment to the posts of Secretary/Additional Secretary in GoI: Last 14 years of ACRs/PARs are looked at. For example, for empanelment of officers of 1979 batch as Secretary to GOI, ACRs of the years 1997-98 to 2006-07 and PARs of the years 2007-08 to 2010-11 would be considered. Reference date for working out residual service would be 01/01/2012. System of awarding marks is as follows: For ACRs upto the year 2006-07, 10 for overall grading of Outstanding, 8 for overall grading of Very Good and 6 for Good.

For PAR of the year 2007-08, numerical grading actually awarded. (It could be 10 out of 10 also. After all we do have amongst us "complete" officers without any human or divine frailties). For PARs of subsequent years, actual numerical grading but if it is between 8 and 10, 9 marks would be awarded. If an officer has got "Very Good" for a part of the year and "Outstanding" for the remaining, weighted average would be taken into consideration for arriving at the marks to be awarded for that year. Similarly, in case of PARs also, weighted average (taking a month as basis) would be worked out to decide the marks to be awarded for that year. Marks awarded for each of the 14 years in the manner indicated above are added up and the figure so arrived at is divided by 14 to arrive at overall annualised grading of an officer. It, normally, should not be less than 9.5.

The officers of a batch are then put in descending order of their overall grading and top ranking amongst them are empanelled. How many? It appears to be totally arbitrary as in the case of 1977 batch 51, out of 93, were empanelled whereas in the case of 1978 batch 43, out of 101, were empanelled for appointment to Secretary/Secretary equivalent posts in GoI. For officers belonging to SC/ST etc, benchmark grading, if required, is reduced to accommodate some of them in the panel. Vigilance Clearance in all cases is, of course, a prerequisite for empanelment. Implications of taking 14 years of ACRs/PARs are as mentioned below: Even if one is empanelled as Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary in the first round and his performance of the last 10 years, both as Joint Secretary and Additional Secretary, has been outstanding, he may not get empanelled as Secretary if overall grading in his ACRs of the first four years are "very good" only. The marks obtained in this case would be 10x10=100 plus 8x4=32 i.e.132. This number 132 divided by 14 gives you an overall annual grading of 9.43 only whereas prescribed minimum is 9.5. As mentioned earlier, one cannot get more than 9 marks in the years 2008-09 onwards. As such, more number of ACRs of the earlier years have to be "outstanding" to cross the benchmark of 9.5. Thus the existing system appears to be flawed for the following reasons: It lends more emphasis/weightage on clerically worked out marks obtained by an officer. By considering ACRs/PARs of 14 years, performance of years gone by is accorded equal weightage to that of recent years. Number of officers to be empanelled is not decided on a rational/objective basis and in a transparent manner like in case of promotion wherein select list of only as many officers is prepared as number of vacancies to arise in a year. I would suggest that the process as above could be posted on your website as discussion paper and others invited to fill in the missing information and comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the process itself.

Y S

Empanelment: A traditional practice of British times?

Could you please throw some light as how mostly IAS officers are considered for empanelment of JS, AS and Secretary in GoI? Though the job of JS, AS and Secretary is in Central Government, still IAS officers of State cadres are being preferred to Central Service officers. Why? Are there some rules and notifications on this or it is a traditional practice since British Times?

J K

Lower rung officials mercilessly punished

Fully agree with Mr Sethi. The Postal Dept is worst, absolutely no respect for rules, people at the top get protected by their own vigilance, only the lower rung officials are mercilessly punished. Imagine a CPMG holding the charge of DDG vigilance. Frauds are plenty in SB, RD but no one cares. The suggestion of bringing ITS to Postal is a good one. The Postal dept has got 1800 crores for ICT project and the technical skills of ITS can well be utilised and the dept need not waste huge amounts hiring consultants like Mackenzie, this is another area of fraud. CAG & CVC should take note.

B Prasad

IRSS 87 officers run from pillar to post to get SAG promotion

Situation of IRSS 87 officers is pathetic as they are running from pillar to post to get SAG promotion while their counterparts in other Railway services (like IRAS, IRTS, IRSE etc.) have already been promote to SAG 3-4 years back. It is really a pathetic situation.

Suresh

'Save respect of IRSS 87 officers'

Railway Board must come forward to save respect and dignity of IRSS 87 officers

Vinod

'Let Re take its own course'

I feel RBI should not intervene and let Re take its own course. I wish Re goes to a level of US $ 1 = Rs 60, so that Indian products are cheaper abroad which means more exports and less imports.

Harish Kumar

Govt should rethink on export policy

I completely agree with the views of B K Bhutiani. We should conserve iron ore for our future requirements rather than exporting it, especially to China, otherwise we will have to pay much more price when our reserves get depleted. Government should rethink on export policy.

Dharam

Sridhar's suggestion on adjusting surplus officers is good

Sir, Sridhar's suggestion appearing in Forum of whispers of adjusting the Indian telecom service surplus officers who is willing is very good. Sibal must consider it seriously.

Girish Patel

Non appearance of the respondents before the Commission

Vide order dated 15 September 2011, the CIC had directed that the CPIO must provide the desired information to the Appellant. The CIC further directed that the officer who had received the RTI application but preferred not to act on it thereby preventing the information seeker from getting the information, should appear before the CIC to explain if he had any reasonable cause for his inaction. The CIC noted that in spite of such clear direction, nobody turned up for the hearing. Holding that non-appearance of the respondent shows that the officer concerned has no explanation to offer, the CIC imposed the maximum penalty of Rs. 25,000/- on the Branch Manager of the bank. Further, the CIC directed to provide the information sought for in the application.

Comments

A PIO must use the opportunity to present his case before the Commission during the personal hearing. Failing to utilise this opportunity may cost him dearly.

Shri Deena Nath Prasad V. Uttar Bihar Gramin Bank in CIC/SM/A/2010/001254

- Weekly article by Dr. (Mrs.) Anuradha Verma
(dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in), RTI Consultant to IIM, Indore and Co-author of the book: RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE by Taxmann. (The views are Personal)