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Print from origin : whispersinthecorridors.com > Archive >9th Jun 2011 Thursday

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Dhruvendra Singh



Aaj Ki Aawaz

BJP really trivialized the Satyagraha it undertook at Rajghat!!! You had Sushma dancing..... like ladies dancing at a Punjabi wedding sangeeth!!!! BJP is now called Bharatiya Jhatka Party!!! And now you have Sushma saying her dance was patriotic!!!! She's like a broken record...... she keeps harping about 'BJP having the sole patriotism Agency' and saying that those who do not agree with BJP suffer from 'mental slavery'....... like this time those who slammed her for dancing at Rajghat suffer from mental slavery.......well then her dancing at Rajghat was on account of sheer stupidity!!! The general perception on BJP's so said Satyagraha was that BJP was celebrating Congress's woes...... a political celebration! Now you have Jaitley saying Congress is like a headless chicken..... then BJP's like a puppy after its own tail!!!! Really BJP had so much to gain from this issue but it lost out...... Congress committed hara-kiri by the midnight eviction and BJP throttled itself via its dance satygraha!!!

See how ruling Party and Opposition accommodate each other!!

Ruling Party 'hangs' itself and Opposition apne aap ko karr letti hai 'smother'!!

Ramdev is not what he portrays himself to be!!! He runs his Ashram like a business .........just a few years back his right hand man Balkrishna was the Director in 8 Companies and today he's a Director in more than 35 Companies..... and there are a maze of benami Companies too!!!! Balkrishna came out of hiding..... he was hiding in a Farm House in the outskirts of Delhi......out of Public view Balkrishna they say has some very very odd habits...... and Balkrishna read out his statement and I'm sure in the statement it was mentioned where he had to cry......grimmace......show anger...... croc tears!!! His antecedents are suspect.....and may I ask why does he require a gun and pistol.... maybe to shoot down fruits from higher branches ....... and it's a 'noble shooting' because then the fruits are used for medical purposes (sic)...... And now Ramdev is preparing a personal Army!!!! I feel Ramdev's lost it...... one day he's trying to make up with Congress and the next day he's attacking Congress...... fact is Ramdev is feeling the heat!!!!!

Ramdev and Balakrishna have done it all!!!!!

Why do you think in Haridwar quite a few Ramdev ko Dhongi Baba karte hai call???

Anna is not Ramdev.......this Congress needs to realize this!!!! And if Congress continues on the path it's going very soon there could be an ugly situation in India!!! Public is sick of Sarkaar's corruption and chori and seena jorri ........... the midnight eviction of protestors, mind you not Ramdev, has got the Public livid......Congress says see how many VIPs have landed up in Jail.... well the Public perception is Congress did all it could do to protect them and it's the SC's intervention that's yielded results!! Mohna in fact had defended Raja!!!! A 'toothless' Lokpal will cause National upheaval.... and Anna has the credentials to take on this Sarkaar...... Anna gave the UPA a bloody nose via his fast at Jantar Mantar and if there is a standoff again Anna could very well punch 'Congress out of the ring' ..... TKO!!! Seems Congress is not gauging the anti Sarkaar feeling prevailing in the Nation...... perception is Sonia's pulling the strings but is tactfully keeping mum and out of sight!! And Anna should keep a safe distance from Ramdev..... Ramdev's bad news......... do not give Congress the opportunity to damn Civil Society because of Civil Society's Ramdev connection.....goo on Ramdev is going to hit the fan....... if it does not Anna should be even more careful because then Ramdev would have done another compromise with Congress and would be working quietly from inside to subvert Civil Society's work!!

Into UPA's and Ramdev's paap ka ghada too much scum has flowed!!

Sooner than later both ghadas will explode!!

'Flower' Kani's bail has been refused..... seems this summer Tihar is going to be ' the flower's pot'...... Karuna has demanded that 'Kani the flower' be allowed into a ac room on the Jail premises for a couple of hours on days that she does not go to Court......there are a couple of secret air conditioned rooms for VVIPs!!!! And by the looks of it Maran could be joining her in jail soon!!! As Balu did not want Maran to be named by the CBI Director in his deposition that means DMK got a share of the spoils! Congress too must have got its share....... the whitewash it tried to do for DMK was not only because of its numerical compulsions...... there were some other 'numbers' involved!! Congress in due course will ditch DMK......secret parleys between Amma and Congress are already underway!!! Congress's worry is what if Didi and Amma gravitate towards each other and create a powerful lobby within UPA...... Congress has a few in-house Naradhs , and then there is Amar Singh too, who can be used to keep both apart!!! Will Congress enter into a friendly arrangement with SP.......... both for Delhi and UP compulsions????

As Rahul has boasted that he'll become PM if Congress gets a majority on its own!!

Will the seeds for ex Congressis to return to Congress now be sown????

Bharat Kumar
aaj_ki_aawaz@yahoo.com


Contact-suresh.mehrotra@yahoo.com> &

<mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com>


Home for Ghulam Nabi Azad !
As the grapevine has it, Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad is likely to be entrusted with the portfolio of Home Ministry, if the Prime Minister decides to move the present incumbent P. Chidambaram to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in the reshuffle of the Union Cabinet.

NCP has a tough time preparing for its anniversary
The Sharad Pawar-led NCP is organizing a 'Right to Social Transformation' rally at Sion-Trombay on June 10 to mark the party's 11th anniversary. The rally intends to get back the dalit vote bank into the NCP fold so as to negate the loss of Republican Party of India (RPI) that has pulled out of the alliance and joined the saffron brigade, says a party source. Adding to the woes of the NCP is the onset of monsoon that has left the farmers busy in the farmland for sowing operations. Party leaders fear a poor turnout might severely affect the morale of the party cadres - struggling to put up a brave face in wake of allegations on top leaders about administrative inefficiency, corruption and lack of foresight to rein in food prices.

Is Ajit Pawar going the Thackeray way?
Maharashtra's Deputy Chief Minister and the latest poster-boy of NCP, Ajit Pawar seems to have taken a leaf out of the style of Shiv Sena supreme Bal Thackeray on Mumbai politics. NCP watchers say, Pawar has been making inflammatory speeches on various sensitive issues including the renaming of Dadar. Observers say Ajit Pawar might set the dais on fire with his sound bytes during the NCP's anniversary on June 10. Only time would tell, how far he had succeeded in imitating the real Tiger!

Saffron, Dalit rally against corruption
Maharashtra politics is hotting up with the Shiv Sena - BJP combine along with its new alliance partner - the Republican Party of India (Bhim Sena) convening a rally
at the Azad Maidan, Mumbai on June 9. The rally, ahead of the NCP anniversary day celebration, is aimed to expose the Congress- NCP government on the issue of corruption. BJP-Sena-RPI combine hopes to generate enthusiasm among the young voters of the state and to get them to their fold. It is learnt that a substantial number of youth will participate in the rally giving a clear message to the state and centre.


BUREAUCRACY


SURVEY REPORT : Does ACC system have its relevance for all posts?
Does the ACC system has its relevance as far as appointment of incumbents for all posts was concerned? No. If one was to go by the views of the respondents to the survey conducted by the whispersinthecorridors.com. Majority of the respondents said that it was not only time consuming but ministerial arbitrariness, which politicizes bureaucracy to a large extent, also defeats the whole purpose.

While some respondents said that the whole exercise was a sham as its implementation lacks honesty and public purpose, others opined that the system has been exploited so much by vested interests that honesty, devotion to duty, functioning as per the law etc are no more virtues.

Add to it, several respondents said that the CSB should have the final authority on all appointments in the Central Secretariat even as the CSB should have one member each from the IAS and two from Central Services to ensure fairness in selection and afford other services a chance to serve the Centre on their own merit rather than on
extraneous considerations.

For detailed report, read June issue of the Whispers in the Corridors.

Political developments stall 1978 batch IAS empanelment
The Baba Ramdev and Anna Hazare episode has stalled the empanelment of 1978 batch IAS officers to the rank of Secretary in the Government of India. Meeting for empanelment slated for June 3 did not take place. Now there is an uncertainty over the next meeting and empanelment of this batch.

Atul Chaturvedi wins the race
Former Secretary, Steel Atul Chaturvedi, who is presently Principal Advisor to the Prime Minister, has won the race for the post of Member PESB. The Prime Minister has cleared the appointment of Atul Chaturvedi, a retired IAS officer of the 1974 batch who belonged to the Uttar Pradesh cadre. Though, Atul Chaturvedi made it another Chaturvedi, namely Sudhir Chaturvedi, the Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the Powergrid, alongwith several other IAS officers who were in the race for the post lost out.
(We said this on March 28 and June 8)

Who will be new JS Petroleum?
Who will be new the Joint Secretary, Petroleum in the Government of India? Names of Rajeev Kapoor, an IAS officer of the 1983 batch hailing from Uttar Pradesh cadre and M.K. Das, a 1990 batch Gujarat cadre IAS officer have started doing the round for the post.

Process for top slot of POWERGRID is on
Process for appointing new incumbent for top slot of POWERGRID i.e. Chairman and Managing irector (CMD) is on. Interviews this were held on March 28, 2011. Subsequently, R. N. Nayak POWERGRID's Director (Operations) was placed number one in the panel.

Vidyavathi to join IFC?
Joint Secretary in the PMO, V. Vidyavathi is reportedly joining the IFC. Vidyavathi is an IAS officer of the 1991 batch who belongs to the Karnataka cadre.

K Naresh Babu to be MD (BC) HAL
K Naresh Babu is being tipped to be new MD (Bangalore Complex ) of the Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL).

Namita Datta joins CGIAR as Consultant
After completing a five-year stint with the IFC, World Bank in Washington DC, Namita Datta has reportedly joined the CGIAR, World Bank as long term consultant. She is an IAS officer of the 1991 batch who hails from the UT cadre.

Where is Cherry Malik?
Cherry Malik, an IAS officer of the 2004 batch from Bihar cadre who left the cadre after
just four years is reportedly missing in action.

Meeting for CBDT Members inconclusive
Meeting held on June 7 to prepare panel for the new Members of the CBDT reportedly remained inconclusive.

Mishra gets in-situ promotion
Jai Shanker Mishra Chief Executive Officer, Khadi & Village Industries Commission under the Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises have been given in-situ promotion in the pay of Additional Secretary, with effect from 06.12.2010. He is an IAS officer of the 1980 batch who belongs to the UP cadre.

Khan to be Dy Governor RBI ?
Latest information says that H.R. Khan is being appointed as the new Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). He is presently Executive Director of the RBI. The post of Deputy Governor with RBI is falling vacant on June 20 following the superannuation of Shyamala Gopinath.

N.C. Jha as CIL head gets 3 months extension
N.C. Jha Director Technical in Coal India Ltd (CIL), who is the acting Chairman of CIL from March 1, 2011 has been on three months extension as CIL chief. He had succeeded Partha S. Bhattacharyya who had retired on February 28, 2011.

Eight IRS officers in panel for CBEC's members
As many as eight officers of the rank of Chief Commissioner have reportedly been cleared for being appointed Members in the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC). They are:Praveen Mahajan, Ms.Sheela Sangwan, Sreela Ghosh, M.S.Badhan,Donald Ingty,Mary Jain Shantisundaram,R S Siddhu and Vineet Kumar.

Activities to pick in railways afer June 9, 2011
Activities in the Railway Minisry will pick up once Chairman Railway Board (CRB) Vivek Sahai comes back from Spain on June 9, 2011.

15 IPS officers allocated Uttar Pradesh cadre
As many as 15 IPS officers who had qualified for the all India Police service during 2009 civil services examination have been allocated Uttar Pradesh cadre. They are Sanjeev Tyagi , Vaibhav Krishna , Prabhakar Chaudhary , Himanshu Kumar , Kuntal Kishore , Kalanidhi Naithani , Rajiv Ranjan Singh , Ms Poonam , Satyarth Anniruddha Pankaj , Gaurav Singh , Harish Chander , Kiritkumar H Rathod , Shougan Gautam , Satendra Kumar and Shivhari Meena.

IAAS officer, Ms. M. Himabindu transferred to Bangalore
Ms. M. Himabindu (IA&AS-1999), on return from leave, has been transferred and posted as Director, in the office of the Principal Director (Scientific Departments), New Delhi, Branch office, Bangalore..

S.K. Tripathi a hot contender for NMDC's top slot!
As the grapevine has it, S K Tripathi, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), MSTC Limited is one of the two top contenders for the post of Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of the NMDC. Interviews for the post are slated to be held on June 27, 2011.

Three-year term for Prasar Bharati Board members
From now on, Members of the Prasar Bharati Board will have a fixed tenure of three years.

Dy MDs in SBI to be allocated new assignments
Allocation of assignments to four Chief General Managers (CGMs) who had made it to the final panel for elevation as Deputy Managing Directors (Dy MDs) in the State Bank of India (SBI) is going to be done. Their interviews were held on May 25, 2011. They are: Mrs.Soundara Kumar CGM Bangalore, P. Nand Kumaran CGM Gujarat Circle, P. Pradeep Kumar Managing Director (MD) of the State Bank of Travancore (SBT) and Bhagavantha Rao.CGM Madhya Pradesh Circle.

Anita Kapur to head new Committee
DG Income Tax (Administration) Anita Kapur will head the Committee set up by the Government of India to suggest ways to trace tax defaulters, reveal their identity and recover the tax.

Ms. Shubha Kumar to take over as Director General
Ms. Shubha Kumar, Principal Director, in the office of the Comptroller & Auditor General of India has been promoted to the grade of Principal Accountant General. On her promotion, she will take over as Director General.

Kumar, Bansal to get district postings in Punjab
It is almost certain that Pradeep Kumar, IPS, 2002 batch, Punjab cadre along with Harsh Bansal, IPS, 2005 batch will be given district postings. The IPS reshuffle is expected this week. These officers have not done any district postings as SSPs so far.

IAS changes in West Bengal
Nurul Haque, has been given charge of animal resources development and minority affairs department, SK Thade will be Secretary backward classes welfare department.

Six new Collectors in Kerala
The new Kerala Government has appointed six new district collectors. They are :- hiruvananthapuram - P.M. Francis; Kollam - Rathan U. Khelkar; Pathanamthitta - P. Venugopal; Alappuzha - Dinesh Arora; Malappuram - M.C. Mohandas; and Idukki - E. Devadasan..

IAS changes in Kerala
There is first IAS reshuffle in Kerala. Rani George will be new Tourism Director with additional charge of Coir Special Secretary. Gopala Menon will be Cooperation Secretary. V.J .Kurien has been made Principal Secretary Water Resources and MD, CIAL.T.K. Manoj Kumar will get additional charge of Land Revenue Commissioner. Manoj Joshi will be Port Secretary and additional charge of PWD Secretary. K.R. Jyothilal has been appointed GAD Secretary. T.T. Antony will be Labour Commissioner. C. Raghu will now be Land Revenue Joint Commissioner. K.S. Sreenivas will be Social Welfare Director. Sajan Peter has been given additional charge of Secretary Sports. Tom Jose will be Special Officer Kochi Metro Rail Project and Noel Thomas, CEO, NoRKA.

T.V.Antony tipped to head Plan panel in Tamil Nadu
T.V.Antony (IAS:56), former Chief Secretary to the Government of Tamil Nadu is likely to be appointed Vice Chairman of the State Planning Commission of Tamil Nadu.

11 IFS officers promoted in Rajasthan
The Rajasthan Government promoted 11 Indian Forest Service (IFS) officers with senior time scales. Those promoted include messrs- Mrs. T.J. Kavitha (2000 batch) on deputation to IB as Joint Director, Nidhi Shrivastava (2001 batch, transferred to Punjab cadre), Vijay N. (2003 batch) Deputy Conservator of Forests, Kota, Akansha Choudhary (2003 batch) Deputy Conservator of Forests (Wild Life) Jodhpur, Mrs Shailaja Devat (2004 batch), Deputy Conservator of Forests, Udaipur South, P. Kathirvel (2004 batch) under training PG Diploma Course in Wild Life, S.R. Venkateshwara Murthy (2004 batch), Deputy Conservator of Forests to CCF Jodhpur, Mrs. Khyati Mathur (2005 batch) Deputy Conservator of Forests, Forest Protection, Jaipur, Chanda Ram Meena (2005 batch), Deputy Conservator of Forests, Swai Madhopur, Anoop K.R. (2005 batch), Deputy Conservator of Forests, Bharatpur and Sharada Pratap Singh (2006 batch), Deputy Conservator of Forests, Sariska, Alwar.

Eight IRS officers in panel for CBDT's members
As many as eight officers of the rank of Chief Commissioner have reportedly been cleared this afternoon for being appointed Members in the Central Board Direct Taxes (CBDT). They are: S S Rana,Madhavan Nair,S P Jaini,Sudha Sharma,R K Tiwari,S S Bajpai,Vijay Sharma and S Pradhan.

T. Radhakrishnan is ACS public grievances in Chhattisgarh
T. Radhakrishnan who so far Director General (DG)of the state Academy of Administration in Chhatisgarh has been posted as Additional Chief Secretary (ACS) public grievances. In addition to this he will continue as DG of the state Academy of Administration. He is IAS officer of 1978 batch who belongs to Chhattisgarh cadre.

Puneet Yadav is MD,Health Systems Corporation-WB
Puneet Yadav has been posted as Managing Director (MD) of the West Bengal (WB)Health Systems Corporation. He is IAS officer of 1999 batch who belongs to West Bengal cadre

 

DEBATE

Next Lok Sabha-Congress and BJP to get less than 100 seats ?
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? Mail your valuable views to us at -

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


CORPORATE


Bureaucracy more aligned with businessmen
Bureaucracy these days is more aligned with businessmen than the politicians as used to be the case earlier.

Ms.Kaveree Bamzai is Editor, India Today
Kaveree Bamzai has taken over as Editor of leading English magazine titled "India Today". She has been in journalism for two decades.

Jamal Shaikh is Editorial Director of Business Today
Jamal Shaikh is now Editorial Director of Business Today. He also edits of the Indian edition Men's Health magazine.

Khosla to be Max India Chairman
Rahul Khosla will succeed Max India founder chairman Analjit Singh for the position.


Ranjan resigns as Part-time Director, Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd
Rajeev Ranjan, Part-time Official Director of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Ltd has resigned as Director w.e.f. May 26, 2011.

Suryawanshi appointed Director (Marketing), HOCL
The Central Government has appointed J. N. Suryawanshi, Chief General Manager (Marketing), Hindustan Organic Chemicals Ltd (HOCL) as Director (Marketing) for a period of five years.

Jain appointed CFO, ESAB India
ESAB India has appointed Sharad Jain as Chief Financial Officer with effect from May 2, 2011.

Mohan appointed VP (Operations & Strategic Projects), ESAB India
B. Mohan who was Chief Financial Officer, ESAB India has taken over as the Vice President (Operations & Strategic Projects) of the company.

Adhikary ceases to be Alternate Director, Asian Hotels (West) Ltd
Rajesh Adhikary has ceased to be an Alternate Director to Sunil V. Diwakar, Director of Asian Hotels (West) Ltd w.e.f May 30, 2011.

Bansal ceases to be Director, Gillette India Ltd
Subhash Bansal ceased to be Director, Gillette India Ltd w.e.f. May 31, 2011 consequent to his retirement from the Company.

Ohri appointed Executive Chairman, Dentsu India
Dentsu India Group has appointed Rohit Ohri as Executive Chairman, Dentsu India Group.

George appointed Addl. Director, Tulive Developers Ltd
Tulive Developers Ltd has appointed Perumbachiru Villa Johnson George an Independent Director, as an Additional Director on the Board of the Company.

Kekre appointed Head (Planning), Mudra West
Mudra West a unit of Mudra India has appointed Amit Kekre as Head,(Planning).

Kailas appointed VP (Planning), Saatchi & Saatchi India
Saatchi & Saatchi India has appointed Kavita Kailas as Vice President (Planning).

Nath to be CEO of NELCO
P.J. Nath of Sify Technologies will be new Chief Executive Office of the Nelco, a loss-making company from the Tata stable.

Bhavnani appointed Company Secretary of Bharti Enterprises
Mukesh Bhavnani has been appointed as the Group General Counsel and Company Secretary of Bharti Enterprises. He will succeed Vijaya Sampath.

Ms Sampath is now Advisor to Sunil Mittal
Ms Vijaya Sampath has been appointed as Advisor to Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Group CEO, Bharti Enterprises.



FORUM


Next Lok Sabha-Congress and BJP to get less than 100 seats?

BJP, Cong getting less than 100 seats unlikely!

The likelihood of both BJP and Congress getting less than 100 seats in 2014 Lok Sabha elections is extremely rare. The Congress is certainly going to lose many seats and will come down sharply from its present tally of about 205 seats. On the other hand, the BJP is expected to sharply increase its present tally of about 115 seats. In fact, both of them will get more than 150 seats and BJP may get some 20-30 seats more than the Congress. My guess is that the BJP may get 170-180 seats and the Congress may get 150-160 seats. Now, who will form the next Government will depend on which combine is able to manage more coalition partners. If the NDA is able to patch up with Navin Pattnaik in Orissa, Ms. J. Jaylalithaa in Tamil Nadu, Chandrababu Naidu or Jagan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh, Ms. Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal, AGP in Assam etc. as its coalition partners, then the tally of resurgent NDA will cross the magic figure of 272 and the tally of UPA may come down (mainly due to shifting of Ms. Mamata Banerjee), and the NDA will form the next Government. Then the question of Prime Minister will arise. The best person to be the Prime Minister for NDA would be none other than L.K. Advani of BJP. However, in 2014, Advani will be 87 and by the end of the tenure, he will be 92. So, my guess is that Advani might be the PM for the first 2 or 2½ years and then will hand over
the baton to either Sushma Swaraj or Arun Jaitley. However, in case Advani chooses to opt out of the top job due to his age in 2014 itself, someone acceptable from the NDA like Nitish Kumar may be the PM. But for that Nitish Kumar will have to maintain his sterling performance, both electoral as well as governmental.

AG

To improve credibility Govt must rein in loose cannons

Government of the day is losing credibility not because it is faltering on any important policy issue, but because of apparent prevarication, procrastination and initial reluctance to any sane proposal from whatever source. Second, the ruling party's spokespersons are seen to be unusually combative or crafty and more than a touch unaccommodative. And third, the major faces of the Government are lawyers. Lawyers will win you cases, but happier keeping the client on tenterhooks, until the last verdict. That is what is happening. Nothing to worry still, but words-words-words from motor-mouths of the
Government should be moderated

BZ

CS job risky in small companies

Job of company secretary has become risky, particularly in small organisations where the owner is Sethji. CS is forced to do lot of illegal things and have to sign on not very legal documents that he thinks to better resign and look elsewhere for job than risking the career.

Rakesh Tiwari

Consultancy/ Re-employment in Ministry of Finance

Government should ban all kinds of extensions/ consultancy/ re-employments, which are normally given to the near and dear ones. Nobody is indispensable in government of India. It is transpired that there are offices like Custodian office under the Ministry of Finance, where many posts had/have been manned through re-employed staff. There are certain officials who have crossed the age of 70 years and yet continue as re-employed for more than 10 years. In other ministries/ departments, very capable officers fail to get even 6 months extension. The Ministry of Finance/DOPT should issue guidelines for immediate cap on re-employments after retirements. In no circumstances, officials should be kept on re-employment. The sanctioned strength in each office should be reviewed from time to time with reference to the quantum of work in the office, which is rarely done in the Government.

Meenakshi Verma

Redefining family?

I agree with Anurag Srivastava regards the requirement of redefining 'family'. In fact, there are various terms like this which require regular updating redefining. In the case of amount quantified in various rules, it requires regular upgradation, Otherwise, the rules become archaic and not relevant to the changing times and changing values. The rules are made for ensuring an orderly and smooth life for all and not for throttling some and leaving others in luxury.

Dhayalan




RTI

Are Ministers covered under definition of 'public servants'?

The appellant desired copies of instruction under which Ministers are covered under the definition of public servant and the rule under which the Ministers could remain missing from their official duty for weeks and devote themselves for their party works leaving behind their official work unattended. He also wanted to know whether such prolonged absence from official work could be treated as a part of their official duty and whether a Minister could draw pay & perks for the period of absence from official duty to attend personal or party work. The PIO stated that as per records available there are no
specific definitions of whether Ministers are public servant or not. The CIC felt it necessary for the Government to define whether Ministers are public servant or not and this should be available as a requirement of Section-4 declaration.

Comments

The section 4 puts certain obligations on the public authority to pro-actively disclose certain facts about themselves. The civil servants have been at the receiving end for delay or absenteeism but the performance of ministers has not been questioned. Would the RTI
Act be able to force the attendance of the Ministers?

Mr. H.P. Sharma v. Cabinet Secretariat in CIC/SM/A/2011/000263/SG/12650


- 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)

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