What people say about us !
The site is great for info on government, corporate and administration. It would be nice if you could add a search button to find info regarding a particular officer or department in previous pages. At present you need to scroll whole pages and even the archives.

Irvinder Verma

If Congress demands Maya's removal on account of law and order in UP then Congress needs to look at its owned ruled States..... where law and order as per stats is much higher............calculation based on crimes in ratio with the population!!!! There is no doubt Maya's shielding her lot who are involved in heinous crimes and corruption!!!!! UP is too huge and needs to be sliced into at least 3 manageable States!!! Its well know that Congress and BSP have a blow hot blow cold relationship ......because of her DA cases she does not want to take panga with the 'croc in the pond' and Congress knows it has a handle on her and needs her off and on!!! Sometimes she shows her teeth to Congress and sometimes Congress boos and heckles her...... noora kushti!!!

Rahul has no solutions for UP he just indulges in drama!!!!

He thinks he's a shaana and can make sabh ka Mama (fool)!!!!

Inflation is Indian economy's bane!!!! Veggie prices are already going through the roof!!!! Diesel price hike means there will be all round increase in prices!!! Our Economist PM and his sidekick Montek only know how to raise prices!!! Pranab Da is caught up in turf wars or fire fighting!!!! Why doesn't India tax or levy a cess on exports of fuel...export duty... Private Oil Majors are making a killing...... wonder if Reddy like Deora has to take Mukesh's permission before taking any decision in MOPNG?????? This price hike was wrong........ India's fuel prices are the highest in the neighbourhood!! Also its time we did something about the wastage/loss of farm products 'from field to market'......leave giving priority not even thought is being given to infrastructure in the Farm Sector!!!!

Problem is our PM has capitalist blinkers on and so his vision is limited!!!!

Wonder in capitalism is such ghoos-khori and wastage permitted????

Of course Anna will have differences with Ramdev...... Ramdev has been revealed as a Neta and Anna has an allergy to Netas..... and very rightly so!!! PM must be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal!!!! The Higher Judiciary must also come under ambit of Lokapal........prescription is as per the disease...... and I'm sure after the revelations about past CJI's it's pretty clear that Higher Judiciary too needs 'curing'....... and Mohna is financially honest but what about his siding directly and indirectly with the corrupt......so 'honest' Mohna should not be a reason to keep PM out of Lokpal's ambit!!! Again Fathers of our Constitution would never have envisaged that things would get so rotten in India!!!

Ramdev is again being tacitly brought in the muddle up things when Anna fasts again!!!!

Sarkaar's looking at ways to handle Anna who now in for Sarkaar a bane!!!!

Is there truth in the news that BJP's 'Dance Queen' Sushma is trying to influence the Party to go easy on the RIL making a killing with the help of Congress's Murli........ she wants BJP's Murli who is the PAC Chairman to go easy in this matter!!!! Seems Sushma has this penchant to stand up for the super rich ....... some time back it was the infamous Bellary bros and now its Super rich Mukesh Ambani......motherly or sisterly affinity for moneybags!!!! Of course in the open she'll not side with RIL!!!!!

Its alleged Mukesh used Congress's Murli to make a killing!!!!

On Sushma's alleged demand 'to do the needful' will BJP's Murli be willing'?????

Seems Congress feels a reshuffle will prove to be a 'tinkaa'....... doobthe ko tinka ka sahara!! Madam is meeting Leaders for inputs on how to improve Congress's image and also the reshuffle... this is also aimed at showing that Congress's ethos is steeped in Democracy....... imagine Madam taking advice from her minions.... what a joke???? Pranab Da is going to ask for security sweep when he meets Madam....... PC is going to go on his knees and beg for Finance........Kamalnath will assure that Parties share in his alleged 15% will got up to 5%...........just a sample..... and all the Leaders when asked how to improve Congress's image will say 'make Rahul PM'....... minions tend to say what the Boss wants to hear... after the demands made by a Congress Leader it's pretty clear Madam wants Rahul to move into 7 Race Course!!! And Mohna will be meeting Editors in an attempt to quell the rumour that he's lost his voice!!!

Congress has to stay out of power for 5 years and writing is clear on the wall!!!!!

Only hope for Congress is BJP trips and does fall!!!!

PS. Kani's poetry....... Congress is an ally so I expected for me it will fight, Forcefully say that what is being attributed to me was because of my oversight, Alas when will DMK regain its might!!

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com

Contact-suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com> &

<mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com>

"It'll be disastrous for country"

Given the today's political scenario, if both the Congress and the BJP really get less than 100 seats each in the next Lok Sabha elections, a coalition government - with the help of regional parties full of vested interests - which may not last long would be formed which would again be disastrous for the country as has been the case in the past mainly in 1996.

The above opinion has emerged on eliciting the views of the surfers - of thewhispersinthecorridors.com - who were asked "If today's political scenario is taken into account, both the Congress and the BJP will get less than 100 seats in the next Lok Sabha elections. In such a case, what could be the emerging scenario?".

While some said that in the above situation, it would be better to switch over to Presidential form of Government, others said that it would be a repetition of 1996 which would be disastrous for the country.

Majority surfers felt that a national democratic front of small/likeminded/ regional parties supported from outside by either of the two national parties will be in place for one year after which mid term elections will be held to have a stable government.

One thing that can't be ruled out is that in the case of none of the national parties getting majority of their own, there will be unprecedented horse trading and whichever be the government it will be of the mercenaries by the mercenaries and for the mercenaries. We shall have maximum corruption.

For detailed report see July issue of the Whispers in the Corridors.

Cabinet reshuffle delayed due to finalization of list

Much awaited Cabinet reshuffle at the Centre is getting delayed to non finalization of the list.

BUREAUCRACY

Will Chandramauli succeed Suvarathan ?
Secretary Health in the Government of India K Chandramauli is likely to succeed Chairman of the Food Safety and Standards Authority P I Suvarathan who has been given three months extension in his tenure. He is 1975 batch IAS officer of UP cadre.

Why Shekhar Agrawal was not appointed Secretary Defence Production ?
Secretary Defence Pradeep Kumar has been given additional charge of the Secretary Defence Production. Despite the fact that 1977 batch IAS officer Shekhar Agrawal is posted in the Defence Ministry as Special Secretary he was not made Secretary Defence Production. Does this mean that he is being moved out of the Ministry ?.

Who will be Secretary Youth Affairs ?
Who will succeed A K Upadhyay as Secretary Youth Affairs in the Government of India ? Now names of two 1977 batch IAS officers Shekhar Agrawal and Naved Masood are in circulation.

Gujral is new Secretary Revenue
Secretary Road Transport R S Gujral has been moved as Secretary Revenue. Orders of appointment of 1976 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre were issued on Tuesday. He will succeed Sunil Mitra on July 1 who is retiring on June 30.
(We said this on June 24 )

Upadhyay appointed Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Official orders have been issued for the appointment of A.K. Upadhyay, IAS (BH:75), presently Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, as Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
( We said this only yesterday )

Rakesh Kackar is Secretary Food Processing Industries
Rakesh Kackar has been appointed new Secretary Food Processing Industries. He is 1977 batch IAS officer of TamilNadu cadre.
( We said this on June 2)

Alok Rawat is Secretary Coordination
Alok Rawat has been appointed on Tuesday as new Secretary Coordination in the Government of India.1977 batch IAS officer of Sikkim cadre Rawat is presently posted in the UPSC.
( We said this on June 24)

K Jose Cyriac is new Secretary Petro-Chemicals
Special Secretary Revenue K Jose Cyriac has been appointed Secretary Chemicals and Petro-chemicals on Tuesday.He is 1977 batch IAS officer of Kerala cadre.
( We said this on June 24 )

Cadre of Verma to be changed ?
Grapevine has it that Cadre of 2000 batch IAS officer Manish Kumar Verma is being changed from Orissa to Bihar.

Orders of Sanjay Mitra issued
Orders of the repatriation of Sanjay Mitra to the parent West Bengal cadre have been issued.1982 batch IAS officer Mitra who was Joint Secretary in the PMO will now be Principal Secretary to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamta Banerjee.
(We said this on June 20 )

Why confusion in Railway postings ?
The main reason for confusion in postings is lack of transparency in inter departmental/services common seniority, specially for postings under general pool i.e. CRB, GMs, AGMs, DRMs etc. There are instances where senior of one service has worked under junior of other service. In the present situation, where appointment of present Member Mechanical as CRB is likely to be challenged or derailed mainly as some of the other members have worked in superior positions before Handa became GM/ AGM. Also, there is a fixed tenure rule which was enforced while appointing Shri R K Singh as CRB superceeding several other Board members. The solution is that general pool inter services seniority needs to be prepared at the time of promotion to SAG and circulated to all including DOPT. On the basis of this ADRMs, DRMS, AGMS, and above should be given postings without pick and choose. DOPT should be involved from SAG level itself.

Geetesh Sharma to be Ambassador to Uzbekistan
Geetesh Sharma whose central deputation as a Joint in the Atomic Energy Department is going to end soon will be new Ambassador of India to Uzbekistan. He is an Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer of 1986 batch.

Chhattisgarh Government gives NOC to Amitabh Jain
ADG Foreign Trade, Department of Commerce Amitabh Jain is now all set to go to London as Minister, Economic at the India High Commission. Finally the Chhattisgarh Government has given NOC to 1989 batch IAS officer Jain for further deputation.
( We said this on June 23 )

Sunil Kumar relieved from HRD
Additional Secretary Higher Education in the Department of HRD Sunil Kumar has been relieved at the end of seven years of central deputation tenure.1979 batch Chhattisgarh cadre IAS officer Sunil Kumar has been sanctioned two months tenure leave.

Sisodia moves in place of Sunil Kumar in HRD
R P Sisodia has take charge from Sunil Kumar in the Department of Higher Education in HRD Ministry on June 28.He is 1991 batch IAS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.
( We said this on June 17 )

T. P. Das's deputation to end next month
Central deputation of T.P. Das as IG Security in the Atomic Energy Department
is going to end on July 28, 2011. He is an IPS officer of 1979 batch who belongs to the Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Dr Abhishek Gupta moves to Delhi
Dr Abhishek Gupta has been transferred from Kolkata to Delhi in the office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India, as Principal Director (Local Bodies).He is 1992 batch IA&AS officer.

Chopra is MD of CRIS
Vikram Ajit Chopra is new MD of Centre for Railway Information Service (CRIS).He is 1976 batch IRTS officer.

Anoop Kumar is back to FCI as GM -P & A
Anoop Kumar on his return from Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA where he did one year course on expenditure matters in public administration is back to FCI.Anoop Kumar has rejoined as General Manager (GM)Personnel & Administration (P & A) with the Food Corporation of India (FCI) headquarters in Delhi. He is an IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre who belongs to the 1990 batch.

Will Sakthikantha Das return to TamilNadu ?
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha during her recent Delhi visit reportedly sounded Sakthikantha Das IAS (TN:80), Additional Secretary (Budget), DEA to come as the State Finance Secretary. The outcome of this is not known as yet. The present Finance Secretary Shanmugham appointed by the DMK government is yet to be changed in the major bureaucratic reshuffle undertaken during the last one month when all the other Secretaries have been changed. If Shakthikantha Das does not return, then Krishnan of 1989 batch and former Private Secretary to P. Chidambaram may be appointed as the Finance Secretary. One has to wait and see.

Shashank Shekhar Singh calling shots in UP
Shashank Shekhar Singh Cabinet Secretary to the Uttar Pradesh government is calling shots under the regime of Chief Minister Ms. Mayawati.

Panel for Director Atomic Energy sought
The Atomic Energy Department is has sought panel for the post of a Director.

Thinking to have a Secretary as FMC's chief
As the grapevine has it, there is a thinking in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs to appoint an IAS officer of Secretary level because once the related bill (of which draft is ready) was passed then a bureaucrat of Secretary level will have to be appointed.

Three IPS officers allocated Haryana cadre
As many as three IPS officers who had qualified for the all India Police service during 2009 civil services examination have been allocated Haryana cadre. They are Ms Sulochana Kumari, Naveen SL and Ms Sangeeta Rani

Panel of three names sent for UT Home Secretary's 'post
A panel of three IAS officers has been sent by the Haryana government to the Chandigarh Administration for the post of UT Home Secretary. Those named in the panel are R R Jowell of 1986 batch and Anil Kumar and P K Das both of 1986 batch. The tenure of the present Home Secretary Ram Niwas ends on September 24.

Vinod Kumar Pipersenia declines to join GoI
Vinod Kumar Pipersenia who on central deputation was posted in the Government of India's (GoI's) National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC) has declined to join there in GOI. He is an IAS officer of the 1980 batch who belongs to the Assam cadre.

Post of FCI's GM in Assam vacant
The post of General Manager (GM) Assam in the Food Corporation of India (FCI) has fallen vacant as previous incumbent on completion his deputation has returned to his parent cadre of Assam. So far the post was being held by Har Prasad an Indian Forest (IFS) officer of 1984 batch.

Pravir Krishn nominated for 37th APPPA
Pravir Krishn - Joint Secretary & Special Officer (CWG), Sports Authority of India, New Delhi, has been nominated for the 37th Advanced Professional Programme in Public Administration (APPPA) commencing at the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi on July 1, 2011. The programme includes detailed framework of conceptual and applied modules to enable professional exposure on public administration in Indian and international context.

Pakistan : DG health gets show cause notice sans charges
Pakistan's health minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada has served a 'show cause notice' to the DG Health Services Dr Asad Hafeez for his 'objectionable acts' but the precise charges involving the objectionable acts have not been mentioned. According to some insiders the minister is actually annoyed with the DG because of the latter's proximity to the cabinet secretary Nargis Sethi who is also presently holding charge of health secretary. The Show Cause Notice has been issued just three days before the minister demits charge of the health department as a result of devolution of the department to the provinces as per the 18th constitutional amendment.

IPS changes in Uttar Pradesh
M K Bashal will now be IG Moradabad . IG Moradabad Badri Prasad Singh has been made IG CB-CID.IG Allahabad R P Singh and IG Bareilly Javed Akhtar have swapped places while IG Gorakhpur Sandeep Sanluke has been posted as Secretary (Home).IG intelligence Vijay Kumar will now be IG Gorakhpur. DIG, Chitrakoot, S K Mathur has been transferred to Devipatana in the same capacity and he will be replaced by DIG of Faizabad Mutha Ashok Jain. Devipatan Anand Swaroop has been moved to Faizabad.

IAS transfers in Uttar Pradesh
Madhusudan Swarup Raizada has been appointed Divisional Commissioner Faizabad. while Moradabad DC Dr Gurdeep Singh will now be DC Azamgarh . Surendra Kumar Verma has been posted as Moradabad DC, while Mirzapur DC has been made Secretary Finance. Commissioner and secretary Revenue. L Vanketashwar Loo has been transferred to Mirzapur as DC. Rajeev Kumar has been made Commissioner and Secretary, Revenue in Lucknow. Kamini Ratan Chauhan has been made additional commissioner, entertainment.

IPS reshuffle in Assam
Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta has been transferred as IGP (Training and Armed Police). Lungriading has been moved as IGP (Border).GP Singh will be new IGP of the Central West Range while incumbent Pallab Kumar Bhattacharya has been transferred as IGP (Special Branch).DN Hazarika has been made IGP (Special Operation Unit).Jyotirmoy Chakrabarty has been posted as IGP (Security), while incumbent SN Singh would be the new IGP of the State Fire Service Organisation.AYV Krishna has been transferred as DIG (Northern Range). Binod Kumar will be the new DIG of Southern Range.

P K Gopinath Member of Postal Services Board to retire
P K Gopinath Member of Postal Services Board is going to retire on June 30, 2011.

Who will cut Gordian knot on new CRB?(UPDATED)
Who will cut the Gordian knot as far as appointment of new Chairman Railway Board (CRB) was concerned? It is a hot topic of discussion in corridors of power due to following factors:-

(1)PMO wants to go by seniority for new CRB.In that case Sanjiv Handa becomes new CRB who has eight months of service.

(2) If criteria of more than year of residual service was applied then A.P. Mishra is condidered to be "the suitable candidate" .

(3) If the criteria that was applied while appointing R.K.
Singh as CRB was applied now also then Vinay Mittal is considered to be "the suitable candidate". Mittal has served as over a year as General Manager (GM)of open line and has more than two years of residual seervice left.

(4) If tenure policy is applied then A.P. Mishra is number because he is already a Member and has more than one year of service left. Next to him is Vinay Mittal who is the senior most GM of an open line who has done over one year as GM in open line and has two years of service left.

Sanjiv Handa to get charge of CRB (UPDATED)
As he grapevine has it Sanjiv Handa who is in the reckoning for the post of Chairman Railway Board (CRB) will be given the charge of CRB.Presently, he is Member-Mechanical in Railway Board. He is also looking after the duties of Integral Coach Factory (ICF).

Interviews for SEBI Members on July 1,2011 (UPDATED)
Interviews for two posts of Members in the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) will be held in Mumbai on July 1,2011.The panel for interview will be headed by SEBI chief U. K. Sinha while other its members are : Shekhar Chaudhary Director- Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Kolkata and Suman K. Bery leading Economist. Among 10 contenders are:Dr.Charapatri Shivaji an IAS of 1986 batch from Maharashtra cadre, Ms.Usha Narain ED-SEBI, S Sridhar ex Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Central Bank of India (CBI) & Dr. Shashank Saxena Director Financial Services. Dr.Saxena is basically an officer of the Indian Economic Service (IES).

Mystery shrouds about Kailash Gupta of NMCE being haunted (UPDATED)
Mystery shrouds the manner in which Kailash Gupta ex-Managing Director of the Ahmedabad based National Multi-Commodity Exchange of India Ltd (NMCE)
is being haunted. It is a hot topic of discussion that while there exist irregularities in such other instiotutions why the NMCE-- India's first multi-commodity exchange has been singled out?

Swarnamala Rawla to be Secretary BRPSE (UPDATED)
Swarnamala Rawla is being appointed new Secretary of the Board for Reconstruction of Public Sector Enterprises (BRPSE). 1980 batch IAS officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre Rawla is presently Additional Secretary Animal Husbandry in the GoI.
Is LG Delhi on his way out?

mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com or suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com

CORPORATE

Tanksale to take charge as CMD CBI today
M . V. Tanksale has been appointed as Chairman and Managing Director of Central Bank of India. He is taking over charge on Wednesday.
(We said this only yesterday )

Shyamal Acharya SBI's DMD gets new desk
Shyamal Acharya who so far was Deputy Managing Director (DMD) Midcorporate in the State Bank of India (SBI) has been given charge of Associates & Subsidiaries of SBI.

Uday Khanna is new non-executive Chairman of Bata India
Lafarge Managing Director and CEO Uday Khanna is taking over as the non-executive Chairman of the board of Bata India next month.

Foster resigns as Director, ESAB India
Michael George Foster has resigned as a Director of ESAB India Ltd with effect from June 27, 2011 .

Rastogi appointed Nominee Director, Nagarjuna Fertilizer & Chemicals Ltd
The ICICI Bank Limited has nominated Yogesh Rastogi, Joint General Manager, ICICI Bank Limited, Hyderabad, as their Nominee Director on the Board of Nagarjuna Fertilizer & Chemicals Ltd with effect from March 4, 2011

Nanda ceases to be COO, Nagarjuna Fertilizer & Chemicals Ltd
R S Nanda ceased to be Director and Chief Operating Officer of Nagarjuna Fertilizer & Chemicals Ltd with effect from June 26, 2011.

Kejriwal ceases to be Director, Birla Corporation Ltd
N K Kejriwal ceased to be a Director of Birla Corporation Ltd on June 27, 2011.

Pinto appointed COO, Corporation Bank
C G Pinto, General Manager, Corporation Bank has been appointed as the Chief Financial Officer (COO) of Corporation Bank with effect from June 25, 2011.

Seth appointed Chairman, Pearl Engineering Polymers Ltd
Harish Seth, Managing Director, Pearl Engineering Polymers Ltd has been appointed as the Chairman of the Board with effect from May 28, 2011.

Bishnoi appointed Ex-Officio Non Exec. Chairman, OMDC
P K Bishnoi, CMD, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd(RINL) has been nominated as the Ex-officio Non-Executive Chairman of The Orissa Minerals Development Company (OMDC).

Singh nominated as Director OMDC
U P Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel has been nominated as Government Nominee Director on the Board of The Orissa Mineral Development Company .

Chandra appointed Ex-officio Non Exec. Director, OMDC
Umesh Chandra, Director (Operations) RINL has been nominated as an Ex-officio Non-Executive Director on the Board of The Orissa Mineral Development Company .

Singh ceases to be Director, OMDC
Dr Dalip Singh, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Steel has ceased to be Director on the Board of The Orissa Mineral Development Company.

Sisodiya appointed Company Secy. Siddhartha Tubes Ltd
Ms. Priyanka Sisodiya has been appointed as Company Secretary of Siddhartha Tubes Ltd w.e.f. May 24, 2011.

Gupta resigns as Director, KMF Builders & Developers Ltd
The Board of KMF Builders & Developers Ltd has accepted the resignation of Pradeep Gupta from the directorship of the Company who resigned due to personal reasons.

Few points to ponder:

1.A Government is formed with support of only 25-30% of actual votes cast, not existing voters

2. Unfortunately in current scenario, more than 50% of MPs have criminal case against them

3. It is highly probable that among these more than 50% MPs one can become Prime Minister

4. The appetite and potential to do harm to the country and people of India by such person is unimaginable

5. Anna Team at least have a backing of majority of people

6. Hence as far as number of people support is concerned Anna Team is ahead

7. The Government has been trying to curb corruption and made many laws in last 62 years

8. The efforts of Government has failed and in fact been counterproductive

9. LokPal is only to look into corruption not fr other executive function ( Sibal is wrongly saying that they are trying to establish parallel Government)

10. Anna Team deserves a chance for the sake of Nation in having their draft Bill considered

Now,I request all the intellectuals and readers to understand the points raised above which reflects the apathy of laachaar janata of India

Mohan

Feudalism, nepotism and parochial tendencies also ruining the country

Feudalism, nepotism and parochial tendencies in the Government is also ruining it other than corruption. Some movement of the society should also be end this tendency. Then only the real paid towards the poor will be realized. Why can't a Minister/Secretary's spouse and children also travel in the public transport? They have no business to misuse vehicles at Government cost. Tax payer's money is involved in meeting the cost of the subsidies on petrol and their salary Why should there be a servant in their house at Government cost? Why should they not do their some of the domestic chores with proper time management?. When these very same people are posted outside the country, peform the household chores including cleaning the toilet. If people think that I am wrong then up there in sky they will get explanation and punishment.

B B Srivastava

Kerala is least corrupt

My state of Kerala perhaps is the least corrupt; thanks to the Malayalee's inherent habit of spying on the neighbour's house over looking his own. Non-Malayalees should emulate this uncanny ability, so that country can be devoid of corruption. They can also see the advantages complete literacy have brought to our state. All of us can write anonymous letters with both our hands!

N Krishnan

How does it matters ?

Handa or whoever comes to the post.. how it matter ? See performance of Khurana, who came as CRB and his performance everybody knows.

RB

'Unplanned' Planning Commission !

The WIC column 'Planning Commission has helped itself' (June 20,11) by Aarti Khosla was timely. However, there is a need to put the records straight. My discrete inquiries from a source in the Commission revealed startling facts.

The good news is that no decision has so far been taken for approving the annual grant of Rs one crore to its eight Members, each enjoying the status of MOS besides the Deputy Chairman who enjoys the Cabinet rank. The proposal is to give the Commission's Members a free hand to employ consultants to further research projects taken by the commission The proposal, it is learnt, has the solid backing of three Members and the tacit support of others. The total ?Plan? expenditure is estimated to be around Rs 20 crores per annum. This, the Planning Commission proposes to gift itself as part of its grandiose plan of restructuring/reforms . Approval of MOF is not called for. FM would have a look at it while seeking Cabinet approval . The Economic Advisory Council to PM, is likely to push the proposal.

The public is not concerned whether the expenditure is Plan or non-Plan. It is tax payers money. And, the tax payers cannot support wasteful expenditure. There is a need to scrap all discretionary powers to reduce corruption. This was the outcome of the survey carried out by WIC , sometime last year. The NAC headed by Sonia Gandhi had also recommended it. But, the case was finally shelved due to Ministers? opposition.

Strangely, the Congress-led UPA has not learnt its lessons despite the serial scams breaking out by the day. For many years, the planning commission had the leave to veto and approve the workings of the union ministries which never liked excessive interference. One might ask, whether the Arm-chair ( Kamal Nath's terminology) commission in the present scenario. The Planning Commission has often been criticised as being monolithic, stagnant and hierarchical with lack of expert domain knowledge. It has a large army of Members, Senior /Special Consultants, Advisors etc. There is ,in fact,a need to down-size the army of its work force, decentralize its functioning, disempower it by scrapping its discretionary powers. This could be possible by engaging an outside consultant that could give its independent opinion.

And, one final point. The GOI must keep in mind the implications of the ?annual grant proposal? on the State Planning Commissions, in case, the same is accepted.

A K Saxena (A retired civil servant)

Lokpal Bill

Those opposed to jan Lokpal bill are challenging the locus standi of Anna Hazare and his team on the ground that they are not elected representatives of people. How much representative are the elected can be judged by the fact they need state security of z and y category to move around and meet the very people whom they claim to represent

Sudhir Chopra

Details of travel

Certain information (such as, passport & travel document; emergency certificate; certificate of identity; passport application along with supporting documents; police verification report; VISA details etc.) in relation to the passports issued to four persons were denied on the ground that disclosure would cause unwarranted invasion of privacy of the third parties. The appellant submitted that these third parties have been directed by the court to remain present in the city as per conditions mentioned in the bail order. The CIC directed the respondent to provide the available information to the appellant if he is able to provide the documentary evidence proving his allegations against third parties.

Comments

Personal information is ordinarily exempt from disclosure u/s 8(1)(j). However, if larger Public Interest is served, then the information can be accessed under Section 8(2).

Shri Kishor Babubhai Ruparel v. M/o External Affairs in CIC/AD/A/2011/000641.

- 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)