You deserve thanks for picking the citation and bringing it to the readers. Your site and column are unique.

Vipul Shah

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Aaj Ki Aawaz

Seems BJP's Leaders of Opposition in both Houses are not on talking terms!!!

One welcomes the JPC and the other as a 'ungracious act' he terms!!

BJP needs to ensure its Leaders are not out of sync!!

Especially Jailtey and Sushma with each other should have a link!!

Of course Congress has conceded to JPC grudgingly and BJP should not forget!!

In Tehelka matter how 'ungracious' BJP did get!!

Ghodra convictions puncture Congress's theory that fire was from inside!!!

We know why Congress was taking the arsonists side!!!!

Banerjee and Nanavati Commissions findings are totally opposite….. how?????

To political pressure seems Justice Banerjee did bow??????

And Court has indirectly indicated this via its Judgement!!

That facts by Justice Banerjee were bent!!

Though Ghodra does not justify the Gujarat riots but there is now a clear 'reason'!

And it was not that Modi declared on Muslims in Gujarat 'open season' (hunt)!!

Some do say that Gujarat riots to the intolerant element in Islam was a wake up call!!

Do not take the majority lightly and think to respond they lack the gall!!

And I'm sure many Indians will agree with me that its Netas who foment strife!!!

They feel uncomfortable when people feel 'they (people) are leading a normal life'!!

And in creating fires and blowing the fires Congress has the 'technology or art'!!

In the 1984 genocide Congress's High Command and Leaders played a dubious part!!

'We cannot store veggies'….. Pawar Vani!!!

He knows that in his stint kitchen inflation ne yaad karra di Indians ko Nani!!

'He is making grounds for a study tour' many will say!!!!

After all he has to go on his summer vacation in April - May!!

He'll visit Countries to see how they tackle veggie 'short shelf life'!!!

Study in various Countries Veggies ' from field to going under the kitchen knife'!!

Of course the tour will be a sham and he'll relax!!!!

And check out how much he has collected via the 'Pawar tax'!!

It is alleged that Pawar does not only have the art of making money but also storing it!

And that is why when he is overseas they say with his 'Storage Manager' he does sit!!

If he wants to check out veggie storage he needs to go to Israel and Singapore!

How veggies are getting fresher there 'more and more'!!

Speaking of Singapore….. the inflation there is just 4%!!!

And 'inflation' relief cheques to Singaporeans are being sent!!

In the Middle East too inflation cheques are being distributed….more out of fear!

The Rulers there are trying to placate the 'aam Arab' and give him reason to cheer!

Here apart from lollipops from Mohna and Montek no relief!!

It is better to let grain rot than distribute it to the poor is UPA's belief!!

Montek is more worried on the affect this distribution will have on the prices!!!!!

He does not want the prices to fall and is not bothered when prices rises!!

Confucius says…this Government never has a Plan B or C or D!!!

In the rear mirror or down the road if refused to see!!!

Adds….. like exporting sugar and then importing sugar at double the cost!!

Or not bothering about the produce and imports that are 'lost'!!!!

Flash…. Kalmadi is demanding a JPC for CWG Games!!!!

Games were indeed one of India's biggest shames!!

Now Bhanot has been arrested!!!

Will 'arresting Kalmadi' waters be tested?????

Marvel at Kalmadi's clout!!
He has someone who controls the Sarkaar ki blessings without a doubt!!!

Though some say Congress is trying to convince him ..... get arrested!!!
Arguing that arrest would mean a lot of anti sentiment against him and Congress will get 'arrested'!!

Bharat Kumar

Who will be the new Maharashtra Congress chief?
A hectic lobbying has been going on in Maharashtra circles of Congress for new MPCC .Those incumbents whose name are doing rounds are Mukul Vasnik, Ulhas Pawar, Shivaji Moghe. Lobbying is also on for Mumbai Regional Congress Committee with the names of Priya Dutt, Bhai Jagtap, Madhu Chavan making rounds.

BUREAUCRACY

Will Money be Chairman of NHAI ?
Road Transport Minister C P Joshi has so far not cleared the file of the appointment of R S Gujral as Chairman of the NHAI.He is reportedly keen for Rajasthan cadre 1976 batch IAS officer K S Money for the post.Minister hails from Rajasthan.

Randhawa to be new AS Food in GoI
T S Randhawa is being appointed Additional Secretary Food in the Government of India. He is 1979 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.

Sumit Dutt Majumder to be Member for Authority on Advance Ruling
As the grapevine has it, Sumit Dutt Majumder has applied for the post of Member for Authority on Advance Ruling. It may be stated that Sumit Dutt Majumder who had joined Indian Revenue Service (Customs & Central Excise) in 1974 and is acting Chairman of the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has been given extension upto May 31, 2011.

New guidelines for banks not yet final
New guidelines for selection of senior bankers for filling up the slots of Chairman and Managing Directors (CMDs) & Executive Directors (EDs) are yet to be cleared.

Das to be Director (Commercial ) NMDC !
S K Das is being tipped to be new Director (Commercial) of the NMDC. He is presently with the SAIL.

Rahul Bhatnagar to get extension
Joint Secretary Commonwealth Games Rahul Bhatnagar is all set to get extension. He is 1983 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.

External or Internal candidate could head UTI
As the grapevine has it, the new UTI chief could either be an external candidate or an internal candidate.

Who will head BSNL now?
Who will head BSNL now? This question is hotly being debated in official circles, specially the telecom sector.

B.K Dey Secretary (Security) to retire
B.K. Dey who on central deputation is Secretary (Security) in Cabinet Secretariat is going to retire on March 31, 2011. He is an IPS Officer of the 1973 batch who belongs to Assam-Meghalaya Cadre.

DoPT Secretary keen on filling up vacancies in CBI
As the grapevine has it, Secretary Personnel Ms. Alka Sirohi is a very keen on filling up vacant posts in CBI. As it is the CBI has been facing a dearth of staff.

Maj Gen Rawat to be Lt Gen
Maj Gen JDS Rawat, Commandant of the MI School and Depot, Pune is being promoted to the rank of Lt General.

Swarup elected Chairman of FPSB
D.Swarup,former Secretary,Ministry of Finance & former Chairman,PFRDA,has been elected as Chairman, Financial Planning Standards Board,India.

Sobti is new Director Minority Affairs
A K Sobti has been appointed new Director in the Department of Minority Affairs in the Government of India. He is 1995 batch IA&AS officer.

Ali Hasan Rizvi DTP, London to return to Himachal Pradesh in March
Ali Hasan Rzivi who is London based Director Tea Promotion (DTP) of the Tea Board on completion his tenure will return to India by March 2011. He is an IAS officer of the 1988 batch who belongs to Himachal Pradesh cadre.

IA&AS officer Ms. Sapru transferred to Ranchi
Ms. Mridula Sapru, Principal Accountant General(A&E)-I, Maharashtra, Mumbai, has been transferred and posted as Principal Accountant General (Audit), Jharkhand, Ranchi.

Rajendra Kumar empanelled in GoI
Rajendra Kumar has reportedly been empanelled to the rank of Joint Secretary in the Government of India. He is 1989 batch IAS officer of UT cadre.

Sinha is back to Jharkhand
IG RPF Neeraj Sinha is back to the parent Jharkhand cadre after completion of central deputation tenure.He is 1987 batch IPS officer.

ETV's Urdu Seminar a great success, more such conclaves in the offing
A 20th February, 2011 Leela Hotel, Mumbai ETV-Urdu Seminar on the subject "Challenges before the Minorities", proved to be a super-duper hit show for the organizers. After Jaipur, this was the second show of strength by a Urdu Channel, to prove its growing popularity among the Muslims. 800 strong crowd of Muslim leaders of Maharashtra and senior leaders of various political parties were present in the Seminar. Even the Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, the Union Minorities Minister Salman Khurshid and a towering BJP leader Rajnath Singh also turned up to show their solidarity with the community, which is otherwise very upset with the controversial Malegaon case arrests of the so called innocent Muslim boys. A specific assurance was given by the ruling set-up to the community on a likely Muslim reservation in Government services and other sectors and a fair review or re-look of Malegaon probe. According to sources, after winning over the heart of the community in the northern belt, now! ETV-Urdu is also emerging as a strong voice of the Muslims in Maharashtra and the Channel Head Jagdeesh Chandra is likely to hold similar conclaves in some other States too in the coming days.

Manoj Kumar gets additional charge in ECGC
Manoj Kumar who as Branch Manager Bank Business Branch of ECGC has been given additional charge of National Marketing Head of ECGC. Kumar is posted in place of V Viswanathan who has resigned recently as General Manager Marketing of ECGC.

Sanjay Malhora gets additional charge in Rajasthan
Sanjay Malhotra Secretary IT in Rajasthan has been assigned additional charge of Commissioner Land Records. He is an IAS officer of 1990 batch who belongs to the Rajasthan cadre.

File moved for two months extension to Sudhir Chandra
File has reportedly been sent from the office of the Finance Minister for two months extension in service to CBDT Chairman Sudhir Chandra beyond March 31. Will the Prime Minister clear the file ?One can only wait and watch.

Two CBDT Members to retire on February 28
Latest information says that two CBDT Members Durgesh Shankar and C S Kahlon are superannuating on February 28.Move to give extension till March 31 owing to the budget has been dropped.

CORPORATE

S K Garg to join Jindals ?
Grapevine has it that former CMD of the NHPC S K Garg is joining the Jindal Group of Companies.

Ramesh Bahri elevated from GM to ED in POWERGRID
Ramesh Bahri has been elevated from general manager (GM)to Executive Director (ED) in POWERGRID.

M. Krishna Kumar elevated from GM to ED in POWERGRID
M. Krishna Kumar has been elevated from general manager (GM)to Executive Director (ED) in POWERGRID.

S.C. Singh elevated from GM to ED in POWERGRID
S.C. Singh has been elevated from general manager (GM)to Executive Director (ED) in POWERGRID.

Sanjeev Singh elevated from GM to ED in POWERGRID
Sanjeev Singh has been elevated from general manager (GM)to Executive Director (ED) in POWERGRID.

Pankaj Kumar elevated from GM to ED in POWERGRID
Pankaj Kumar has been elevated from general manager (GM)to Executive Director (ED) in POWERGRID.

N S Sodha elevated from GM to ED in POWERGRID
N S Sodha has been elevated from general manager (GM)to Executive Director (ED) in POWERGRID.

V Sekhar elevated from GM to ED in POWERGRID
V Sekhar has been elevated from general manager (GM)to Executive Director (ED) in POWERGRID.

D.S. Singh elevated from GM to ED in POWERGRID
D.S. Singh has been elevated from general manager (GM)to Executive Director (ED) in POWERGRID.

Mahendra Singh elevated from GM to ED in POWERGRID
Mahendra Singh has been elevated from general manager (GM)to Executive Director (ED) in POWERGRID.

Hussain is number two in panel of ONGC
Tauqir Hussain is number two in the panel constituted by the PESB for the post of Director (HR) ONGC.

Sanjay Bhattacharya is Member BIFR
MD of the State Bank of India Sanjay Bhattacharya has been appointed Member of the BIFR. Former IRS officer Y K Gaiha has already taken over as the new Member of the BIFR.

Finally, 75 AGMs in BHEL promoted as GMs
After much dilly dallying and intense brain storming BHEL management succeeded in promoting 75 AGMs as GMs. These promotions were supposed to be announced in June-July 2010. According to insiders the promotions were delayed because several power centres in the Navratna were vying for their own candidates to be promoted while the number of vacancies at the GM level are limited. However those promoted after a great tug-of-war between those at the helm of affairs are : A Karnan - GM (Operations), E Balachandran - GM (NTPC - Mauda), Sriman Mohanty - GM (Commercial & Marketing), Amitabh Mathur - GM (Power Sector Projects), CMD's Secretariat, Babu Lal - GM (Monitoring), M G Abhyankar - GM (HR - SAP and Admn.), S N Jha - GM (Quality), Biranchi N Mohanty - GM (Hindalco - Mahan), C V S N Murthy - GM (SC & PV), M R Sriprakash - GM (ESD), H Anilkumar - GM (EPD), A K Vijh - GM (New Turbine Block), K R Gupta - GM (Engineering), M C Goyal - GM (PS- PMG), M M Gupta - GM (Quality), S K Bajaj - GM (Turbine Manufacturing), S Pathak - GM (Production- EM), Shivajee Chaudhary - GM(IT), V K Jain - GM (HSE, Civil & Machine Erection), A K Sinha - GM (Production- EM), A Shukla - GM (Nasik), G P Chaturvedi - Head (Medicine), J P Madan - GM (PS- SSBG), Jaiman Minj - GM (Production- Switchgear), K Purswani - GM (Hydro Sales & Production), Kulwant Singh - GM (Parichha & Harduaganj with Hq. at Harduaganj), N R Edkie - GM (Fabrication), V S Gupta - GM (PS- PMG- Hydro), Abhijit Banerjee - GM (Anpara), J Kannan - GM (Quality), J Sankaran - GM (Unit II), M Somasundaram - GM (Paradip), S Sundararajan - GM (FBC & HRSG), V Vasudevan - GM (P&D), A M V Yugandhar - GM(EM), A P C Rao - GM (Adhunik & Abhijeet with Hq. at Adhunik), K Mysaiah - GM (Capital Investment & Facility Planning), K S Subramaniam - GM (Contracts Management), M N Koteswara Rao - GM (CMM), Sandeep Narang - GM (PE&SD), V C Krishnan - GM (Heat Exchanger Engineering), Lalit Kumar Rawal - GM (PS- Marketing), New Delhi, PN Kapoor - GM (IO- Projects), Anil Kumar Jain - GM (IPE), Prem Chand Bhutani - GM(IPM), Surendra Kumar Sood - GM (Defence Business), R Raghavan - GM (Amaravati), S K Khera - GM (Steel), Debajyoti Saha - GM (Hinduja, Vizag), Debashis Bandyopadhyay - GM (Marwa), Debashis Guha - GM (Barh & Kanti), - (with Hq. at Barh), R Krishnamurthy - GM (Finance), Bhopal, RK Ved - GM (MSX & IT), Ashok Kumar Gupta - GM (Syria), Beerbal Ram - GM (Jhajjar), Deo Karan Singh - GM (Yemen), J Govindaswamy - GM (M&A), Corporate Office, New Delhi, Rajiv Kumar Malhotra - GM (Sudan), S K Bhargava - GM (PG:II), Sukrit Saha - GM (PG- I), Mukhtiar Singh - GM (PS- PMG- Planning, Coordination & Projects), A Raja Mohan - GM (Finance), Aruna Kumar Mohanty - GM (Kothagudem), L Neelakantan - GM (North- Chennai), R R Sahu - GM (Krishnapatanam), H K Gaikwad - GM (Projects - Hq.), J B Bhandari - GM (Khaperkheda, Bela & Commercial), with Hq. at Khaperkheda, S Biswas - GM (TWA & PMS), Umakanta Choudhury - GM (PMM), USSSW Narasimha Rao - GM (TCH & HGT), M L Mukhopadhyay - GM (ROD- Delhi), S Raj Sabapathy - GM (ROD- Chennai), Sekhar Bhattacharya - GM (DSTPS & DPL with Hq. at Durgapur), Vijay Kumar Chouhan - GM ( (Marketing) and P S Chopra - GM (Engineering).

36 DGMs in IOC promoted as GMs, given fresh postings
As many as 36 DGMs in Indane Oil Corporation (IOC) have been promoted as General Managers and given fresh postings. While MK Jain - DGM (Fin) NR has been promoted as GM (IA) CO, Chandan Moitra - DGM (IA) WR as GM (IA) WR, Shailendra Mittal - MD IOML Mauritius (Gr 'G') as MD IOML Mauritius (Gr 'H'), SL Narasimhan - DGM (Fin) Gujarat SO as GM (Fin) Maharashtra SO, VS Dugar - DGM (Fin) Maharashtra SO as GM (Fin) HO, TS Khwaja - DGM (Avn) HO as GM (Avn) HO, R Suresh - DGM I/c (TS) HO as GM (TS) HO , Ms Amita Singh - DGM (Pricing) CO as GM (Pricing) CO, DLN Sastri - DGM (Ops) Punjab SO as GM (Ops) HO, HP Madnawat - DGM (Cons Sales) Punjab SO as GM (Cons Sales) Punjab SO, MR Karandikar - DGM (Shipping) HO as GM Shipping) HO, Biswajit Roy - DGM (HRD) CO as GM (HRD) CO, BS Giridhar - DGM (LPG) Delhi SO as GM UPSO-II Noida, Deepak Dhawan - DGM (Law) CO as GM (Corp Affairs) CO, Raju Rangnathan Company Secretary HO (Gr 'G') as Company Secretary HO (Gr 'H'), Pranab Kumar Das - DGM (S&D) HO as GM Orissa SO, YK Gupta - DGM (Retail Sales) UPSO-II as GM Madhya Pradesh SO, Gurmeet Singh - DGM (Retail Sales) Punjab SO as GM Rajasthan SO, P Mohan Madhava - DGM (Pricing) HO as GM (Pricing) HO, TK Dasgupta - DGM (P&U) Haldia Ref as GM (P&U) Gujarat Ref, AK Gupta - DGM (H,S&E) Ref Hq as GM (H,S&E) Ref Hq, SK Singhal - DGM (PJ-QIP) Ref Hq as GM (PJ-ISRL) Ref Hq, AK Raut - DGM (Fin) Gujarat Ref as GM (Fin) Gujarat Ref, Utpal Sen - DGM (PJ) Paradip as GM (PJ) Paradip, A Guha Roy - DGM (Maint) Mathura Ref as GM (TS) Haldia Ref, AL Kosta - DGM (Engg-PDEC) Ref Hq as GM (PDEC) Ref Hq, Shiva Shanker - DGM (PS-PJ) PNCP Ref Hq as GM (Core Group) Paradip, RK Mittal - DGM (Contracts) Ref Hq as GM (Contracts) Ref Hq, Brijesh Kumar - DGM (Ref Tech-II) R&D Centre as GM (Ref Tech) R&D Centre, SK Dhargupta - DGM (P&U and TS) Guwahati Ref as GM (P&U) Panipat Ref, K Vijay - DGM (HR) Mathura Ref as GM (HR) PLHO Noida, VK Shukla - DGM (P&U and Inst) Panipat Ref as GM (PJ) Paradip, Sanjib Kumar - DGM (T) Ref Hq as GM (T) Mathura Ref, K Bora - DGM (TS) AOD Digboi as GM (TS) AOD Digboi, N Kumar - DGM (HR) Bongaigaon Ref as GM (HR) Bongaigaon Ref, A Anbezhil - DGM(Ops) SRPL Manali as GM (PJ-Systems) PLHO Noida, J Pradhan - DGM (HR) PLHO Noida as GM (HR) Mathura Ref, Puran Singh Gill - DGM (P&C) PLHO Noida as GM (P&C) PLHO Noida, VP Harinarayan - DGM I/c PHBPL Haldia as GM PHBPL Haldia, S Mukherjee - DGM (Admn/CC) PLHO Noida as GM (CC) CO, HP Sahi - DGM (Const) NRPL Panipat as GM NRPL Panipat, Vincent Martin -DGM (Tribology) R&D Centre as GM (Applied Research) R&D Centre and S Sehgal - DGM (Retail Sales) HO as GM (Retail Sales) HO.

Fast growing business houses ?
Will people forget Tata, Birla and Ambanis ? This was a topic of discussion in the corridors of power. There was general consensus that some new players including Vedanta, JP, Adani and GMR groups are moving in the direction of well known business houses.

Anand Mahindra offers to resign from NACIL
Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) Vice-chairman Anand Mahindra has offered to resign from the Board of National Aviation Company Ltd (NACIL) on the issue of conflict of interest.

Kapoor is Chairman , Timex Group India
Timex Group India has appointed Kapil Kapoor as the its new Chairman.

Kakar is Group CFO, IDFC
Infrastructure Development Finance Company (IDFC) has appointed Sunil Kakar as Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO), .

Benz appointed Head (Asia-Pacific), Merill Lynch Wealth Management
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management has appointed, Michael Benz as Head (Asia-Pacific) (APAC) region, including India.

Mansfield appointed GM, Grand Hyatt Mumbai
Hyatt International Hotels has appointed David Mansfield as the General Manager of Grand Hyatt Mumbai.

Kalia appointed Executive Chef, The Orchid Hotel, Mumbai
Sandeep Kalia has been appointed as Executive Chef, The Orchid Hotel, Mumbai.

Kumar appointed Whole-time Director, Jaiprakash Associates
Jaiprakash Associates Ltd has appointed Rahul Kumar as a Whole-time Director of the Company.

Dalal appointed Director, Borosil Glass Works
Arvind C. Dalal has resigned as Director of Borosil Glass Works Ltd with effect from February 21, 2011 on health grounds.

Parekh resigns as Whole-time Director, Parekh Platinum
Rajnikant J. Parekh, Whole-time Director of Parekh Platinum Ltd has resigned from the Board of the Company w.e.f. February 4, 2011.

Jaipuria resigns from Shyam Telecom Board
Ravikant Jaipuria, Non-Executive and Independent Director on the Board of Shyam Telecom Ltd has tendered his resignation from the Directorship due to his other professional commitments.

Roy to be CEO of Berger Paints
Abhijit Roy is set to replace Subir Bose as CEO of the Berger Paints.

FORUM

Corruption in government has increased leaps and bounds

During last seven years in particular, corruption and wrong doing in government have increased manifold and the bureaucrats and politicians in power indulging in the same have shown complete disregard of propriety and law.

Time has now come for honest bureaucrats in govt. to fearlessly expose such wrongdoings.

This is to appeal to all upright government employees to report and bring to light any wrongdoings observed by them by any means possible, either in their own name or anonymously as there are many avenues available and many from the TV and print media would be ready to expose such scams and wrongdoings as was the case with the recent scams.

Whistleblowers, this is not the time to remain mute spectators to the loot and plunder going on around you.

R Swami

To find fault is easy; to do better may be difficult.

Please refer to views expressed by R.K Sharma under caption, "IPOS run the Department like Feudal Lords." The constant fight for supremacy between the main service handling core functions of a department & the ancillary services like Accounts, Civil & Electrical Wing, Medical Wing etc is unending. The main service dealing & responsible for Postal Operations is the highly professional Indian Postal Service. Its Officers are required to be experts in Administration & Management & technical functions of Banking, Insurance, Mail Operations, Mutual Funds, Money transfer, Logistics, Mutual Funds, NREGA, UID & the list goes on. There are broadly three categories of IPOS Officers.

(i) The first category comprises of upright, honest & conscientious Officers who are extremely competent & who have worked as SSPOS in the field as incharge of Postal Divisions which comprise 2-3 Districts and have worked as Directors & Regional PMGs having jurisdiction over States. These Officers have a variety of experience & have travelled extensively throughout the country are thorough professionals & grounded in reality. This category is hard working, visionary & is respected by the service unions, staff associations, Officers & staff in general. Such Officers remain posted in field stations & never get a chance to serve in Delhi Headquarters or coveted Metro cities. It is said that an IAS Officer is not worth his salt if he has not worked as a District Collector or Divisional Commissioner. Similarly if an IPOS Officer has not worked as a Divisional, Regional or Circle Head he is not worth his salt. But this category is safely ignored & humiliated by their service mates working in Headquarters.

(ii) The second category is of those Officers who do not exert & are easy going & remain posted in the field & exercise their vast powers irresponsibly. They eat money from staff while deciding Disciplinary cases & Appeals, they eat money in transfer posting & when they go on inspections & visits get free drinks daaru & murga. They are surrounded by chamcha darbaris & act & behave like feudal lords. They do not know anything about postal operations work despite having worked for years in the field. This category is very arrogant & talks rudely with subordinates but is very docile with superiors. They are the spineless ones who throw weight around but bend before their superiors. This category is highly rated & much sought after by the Officers in Headquarters for getting their petty work done.

(iii) The third & most important category is the Babalog, ones who are most influential they have not worked in the field, if at all they have worked it is for limited period. They are posted in their choice postings especially in the four metro cities. This variety is basically hollow from within with very little content. Their main purpose in life is to somehow remain posted in Delhi. Thus in the Headquarters of the Department the same officers have been working for 15-20 years with brief deputation spells at same station. They are unsure of themselves, have no idea what is going on in the field & hence lack confidence. As a result impractical, unimplementable schemes are thrust on the field offices by them. They shape policy making without field knowledge & out of ignorance do away with time tested old procedures with short cut wrong procedure & have played havoc with the system. Thus the kind of new tie ups the department is entering into which has nothing to do with ground reality & the Post Office staff & Postman appear thoroughly confused & unsure because the policy makers have lost touch with ground realities.

Now your impression about the Indian Postal Service will depend upon which category from above three varieties you have met. It will be better to first check the Executive Record Sheet of an Officer to know his/her category. Moreover I am sure the readers will be able to identify & agree that similar such situation exists in all other services. This is a universal phenomenon. Let us not blame any one particular service.

Panneerselvan

Winston Churchills "rascals, rogues and freebooters" have taken over

Everyone knows that the Vigilance Inspections of willing & bending CVOs are a farce, carried out by Under Secretaries & signed by CVO, so without moving out or making any effort paper inspections are carried out merely to fill in column of statement sent to CVC that inspection carried out. Neither is CVC interested in asking for accountability nor are the ministry people interested. If the CVO is given duty to ensure compliance of all CAG Paras & in case CAG objections remain pending for more than a year take Disciplinary action against those officials responsible for the irregularity then just see the change. But if CVO & all Joint Sectretaries/Secretaries belong to same service then they will connive & suppress information & scratch each others backs. Thus what is solution? Best option will be to keep all posts of CVOs in all Ministries to be filled up by professional services like the Indian Police Service, Railway Protection Force, CISF Officers, uniformed & disciplined who have experience in investigation, taking statements, court prosecution, CBI, CVC procedures as they are daily handling cases under Criminal Procedure Code, Indian Evidence Act, Indian Penal Code etc & action will be fast. The work relating filling up all CVO posts should be transferred to Home Ministry & taken out of purview of Central Staffing Scheme. DOPT is full of favouratism & crony culture. The present ad-hocism of appointing anybody & anyone who wants to stick around in Delhi & extend his deputation period will hardly be inclined to show results as he wants an extension or to hop from one deputation post to another therefore why he will want to ruffle feathers? Rather he will want to please everyone & keep them happy & will not want to disturb the peace by raking up cases & ensuring accountability & disturbing the system.

Anyway CVO job is restricted to submitting large number of weekly, fortnightly, monthly, bi-monthly, quarterly, six monthly & yearly statements numbering 176 in all to CVC on time so that he/she does not attract any adverse remarks regarding delay in submitting the Statements. Never mind if Nil Statement is sent throughout tenure of such CVO because anyway in CVC no one is going to examine them as it receives large number of such Statements & no body takes its contents seriously the only thing that is observed is late or non submission once statement is submitted then job is finished. When this is the fate of statements who will want to highlight irregularities? That is all CVO job requires, any initiative beyond that will attract adverse ACR. So enjoy all the facilities of PSU, if in Indian Airlines then free airtravel for self & family, if in Railways free gold pass for self & family & unlimited travel, if in Tourism & culture free stay in ITDC Hotels for self & family. CVO job is most enjoyable. They go on Vigilance Inspection which is like picnic, wife & children enjoy all facilities, free shopping & PSU employees stand with folded hands bended & shaking knees. What joy, authority & power with no accountability & protection from prosecution. All of "Churchills rascals, rogues and freebooters " afraid of being prosecuted in some Vigilance case or the other take such refuge & angle for such lucrative CVO posts as they get all facilities & immunity from prosecution. What fun.

Brajesh Kumar Yadav

Do only AIS (IAS) officers require widening of horizon?

Government had sometime back permitted the officers of All India Services to go on deputation to private sector for a period up to five years. Recently Rule 6(2)ii of the deputation guidelines has been amended to liberalise further this provision by expanding the nature of private sector to which these officers can go. The reason for this generous offer is said to be 'to widen the horizon of these officers. If that is the reason then why restrict this to All India Services (actually the IAS). Do the officers from other services do not require widening of their horizons or should one take it to mean that only IAS-wallas need this. Fine, if it is conceded that they have a narrow-minded approach to all things related to governance. This concession for a deputation to private sector is bad from so many angles. It will encourage these officers to spend their time in looking for avenues in private organisations and thus not concentrate on the job in hand. Secondly when there is serious shortage of All India Services officers in many states as a result of less intake because of the misplaced policy followed for several years for downsizing the Government as per advice of the World Bank(Remember home minister mooting sometime back the proposal of special exam by the UPSC to recruit more officers to IPS from the higher ranks of constabulary)how can the Government let officers go to private sector on salaries much bigger than their Government pay. And remember once used to that private sector money these deputation returnees will frown upon their Government pay. Are we not opening a door to temptation by this rule. Why on earth should we allow these privileged few who got into the premium services to poach on the jobs in the private sector. This provision is therefore bad from every point of view and needs to be scrapped.

Aarti Khosla

Scrutinise appointments to tab governance deficit

No less a person than the Home Minister of the country has acknowledged the governance deficit in the country which has been agreed to by all. In this context I venture to suggest that the potential of members of Rajya Sabha remain largely untapped. It is the permanent upper Hose of the Parliament and the members to not have any constituency to look after. If some of the responsibilities of supervising the government in functions requiring expertise could be entrusted to members of Rajya Sabha, it would greatly improve the governance, besides giving a better purpose to the upper house. For instance, they could frame recruitment rules for the posts in connection with the affairs of the Union, as required by the constitution, scrutinize appointments to the higher judiciary, appointments to various statutory offices etc.

S K Sharma A retired civil servant

Appointments in the political and permanent Executives are a sham !?

The PM announced his intention at the interactive session with the TV Editors, to carry out the cabinet re-shuffle after the budget session. Let him rationalize the present anomaly by putting the right person at the right place? At present, a majority of our ministers are like square pegs in round holes desperately seeking ATM portfolios to loot the country. This is one single cause responsible for scores of scams emerging by the hour.

The pliable bureaucrats use political god fathers to get plush postings. The data bank of DOP&T is never tapped by the Cabinet Secretary while appointing officers at the centre. All appointments at higher echelons in bureaucracy are made on unmentionable considerations. Same set of officers keep gravitating to the Centre again and again on deputation bypassing the mandatory cooling off period. Has anyone ever thought how were appointments made in the CWG OC and DOT without verifying the credentials through the IB?

The PM has never focussed his attention to these grey areas before approving appointments. The bureaucrats are captives to ministers who are slaves to their party supremo. The distribution of portfolios to politicians depend on their earning capacity to fill the party's coffers and enrich themselves in the process. Square pegs in round holes!

Let us take the case of S M Krishna the foreign minister who was caught in a public gaffe while inadvertently reading out the speech of the Portuguese foreign minister at the UNSC meeting generating an unsavoury controversy. He had no prior exposure to foreign affairs. The poor fellow cannot open his mouth without putting his foot into it. The controversy could have been set at rest, had Krishna simply said 'Sorry'. Instead, he chose to justify the 'diplomatic faux pass' by stating that such things do happen. The MEA compounded the folly by stating that the initial parts of all formal addresses contained similar references and that Krishna made substantive remarks from his prepared text. One would not be surprised if Krishna, one day, start countering India's claim to Kashmir just because Pak's FM had spoken before him at some international forum ! I mentioned this case as there is a whisper in the corridors of South Block to honour Hardeep Singh Puri India's representative at the UN for alerting Krishna at the right moment and save the country from a monumental humiliation !!!

A K Saxena (A retired civil servant)

Distinguished civilian lady officer

Dr. Vijayalakshmy K Gupta Member Finance Telecom has a distinguished track record.She had always been a topper in academics. She is the only civilian lady officer who has won Col. Pyarelal 'Gold Medal' at National Defence College! All the service officers of Defence forces of this country who aspire to be nominated for this course know what a Gold Medal at NDC means! She was the first finance officer who got an ISO 9001 certification for finance division of border roads organization! This certification was given to her by the President of India! But, alas , the present government has not yet recognised her and rewarded her as yet for having given the exchequer a whopping one lakh six thousand crores through 3 g auction.! Had it been any other country like USA, the president himself would have honoured her and Joint Secretary Deepak for this successful conduct of auction despite raja been the minister still incharge! If those who indulged in wrong doings can be jailed the logical thing is that those who did honest job should be rewarded! I am confident, if not this government, the future establishment will wakeup and honour this officer. But reward and punishment should be dispensed swiftly and then only faith in the sincerity and fairness of the establishment remains. Dr. vijayalakshmy Gupta and Deepak would, I am sure, continue doing the excellent work without getting disheartened . After all every government servant is expected to be honest, efficient and hardworking ! Only the corrupt get plums and cunning ones manage to get proper connections and everything connected with it. My message to Dr. Gupta and Deepak - keep doing good job. You will perhaps get a letter appreciating you and that is all.

Vibha P

Ms. Vijayalakshmi Gupta deserves to be in Defence

It is true that officers like Ms. Vijayalakshmi Gupta deserve to be Secretaries in Ministries like Defence, where transparency and fair-play in procurements is of utmost importance. A lady officer of her caliber and tenor is needed to indicate that it is simplicity and uprightness that is rewarded, rather than taint and sycophancy! One may ask-why was a lady of her seniority and capabilities not made a secretary so long??

Virika

An excellent officer

I fully endorse the views on Vijayalakshmy Gupta Member (Finance) Telecom Commission. She is indeed an excellent officer but also a wonderful human being. Wishing her all the best in her career.

K G Bhat

IOC making the organisation top heavy

IOC is only making the organisation top heavy. There are only few officers for working in the field. Some more Jaipur like incidence are in the offing

S K Roy

Stenographers in Non-Secretariat and Grade D in Government of India

I have been regularly reading about Grade D Stenos in the Central Government. I do not know why the GoI i.e. Ministry of Finance and the DoPT are not thinking about the Stenographer Cadre in Non-Secretariat Organizations and also the Grade D. It is totally inhuman.

V S Rana

Restructuring of CSSS not made clear

The details of recent restructuring of CSSS have not been made clear by the authorities in DP&T so far. The increase in the number of Stenoggraphers Grade 'C' should be made effective from the date of the initial appointments as Stenographers Grade 'C' on ad-hoc basis. In this connection, due regard may kindly be given to senior officials e.g. if an official by virtue of being in small organisation got promotion on ad-hoc basis due to decentralisation of promotions, senior officers may be got promoted from the same date after the centralisation of the process of ad-hoc appointments. It would, to an large extent, minimise the grievance of financial loss to the senior officers because of no fault at his/her end. Secondly, the DP&T may sympathetically consider regularising the tenure of ad-hoc service rendered by the Stenographers Grade 'D' as Stenographers Grade 'C' on ad-hoc basis.

V P Sharma

Is Se Sasta Khaana Kahan Milega?

The only place in India where food is cheap.....

Tea -- Rs.1.00

Soup -- Rs.5.50

Dal -- Rs.1.50

Meals -- Rs.2.00

Chapati -- Rs.1.00

Chicken -- Rs.24.50

Dosa -- Rs.4.00

Veg Briyani -- Rs.8.00

Fish -- Rs.13.00

This is actual price list.

These items are meant for "POOR PEOPLE" & is available at Indian Parliament Canteen. The salary of those poor people is Rs.80,000 per Month!! PLUS HEFTY BONUS IN SCAMS....

SUBHASH R. SINGH

RTI

Prosecution record

Copies of certain documents were denied to the Applicant claiming that it consists of analysis of evidences by various decision taking authorities and their opinions thereon which has the potential to influence these evidences and to interfere with the proceedings of the court wherein prosecution of the Applicant is already under process. The Commission noted that copies of the relied upon documents submitted by the Respondents to the Court have already been provided
to the Applicant by the Court and that there is no order from the Court not to disclose any further information available with the Pubic Authority. The Commission directed to provide the documents after severing those portions that are exempt from disclosure under any of
the sub clauses of Section 8(1) of the RTI Act.

Comments

Public Authorities tend to avoid disclosure even after the filing of the charge-sheet, on various pretexts. With the filing of the charge-sheet which marks the end of the investigations, the documents should no longer be held as exempt.

Shri Vijai Singh Meena v. North Western Railway in File No: CIC/AD/A/2010/001543

- 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)