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O P Pandey

Sampath for early electoral reforms
Veeravalli Sundaram Sampath who on June 11, 2012 moved further up the ladder from Election Commissioner(EC) to become the 18th Chief Election Commissioner (CEC)will hold the post till January 2015. He is polite, soft spoken,suave and means business as far as electoral reforms were concerned. He will be CEC when country faces polls to the Lok Sabha in 2014.A 1973-batch IAS officer from Andhra Pradesh cadre, Sampath has held different posts and served with distinction. Sampath was Power Secretary at the Centre before he was appointed Election Commissioner in April, 2009. In an interview to <whispersinthecorridors.com> Sampath unveiled his plans about poll reforms and other election related activities that he contemplates taking up. Here are excerpts of his interview that he gave to Sanjeev Majupuria, Editor & Country Head of <whispersinthecorridors.com>

(Note:-The interview had appeared in our group's English monthly magazine titled "Whispers in the Corridors." It is a rare Collector's item because it was a global souvenir that was brought out to mark our website <whispersinthecorridors.com> having crossed tally of 15 million hits.)

What are your priorities as CEC?
I have already been a part of the Commission for over three years. Naturally, I have been very much a part of the Commission's priorities during this period. I also need to underline that the Commission's priorities keep evolving from the past experiences. Even then, there are certain areas which will receive Commission's higher attention in coming days.

Electoral Roll
First and foremost, a clean electoral roll and hassle free registration are among our highest priorities. Every eligible person shall be on the roll and name of every ineligible person shall be removed. There shall be 100% photos on the roll and every voter shall be given an Elector's photo identity card (EPIC) with correct details. We will engage all outreach methods, voters' education and technology to achieve these objectives.

Electoral Reforms
Next, all of us know electoral reforms are long overdue. There have been a number of consultations between the Commission, Government, political parties and public at large. The reform proposals are at last mile stage. The commission will strive for the early implementation of electoral reforms which are key for putting an end to criminalization of politics and undue influence of money power in electoral arena.

Money Power
Use of money power in elections disturbs the level playing field and vitiates the purity of elections. Our objectives will be two fold - to ensure legal expenses like rally, poster, banner, vehicles etc are kept within the ceiling limits, while simultaneously ensuring that illegal expenses like bribing the voters with cash or kind are effectively prevented.

Training
Going forward, training will continue to get a very high focus, if we have to ensure a cent percent error-free election. Our Institute, India International Institute of Democracy and Election Management is about a year old now and has rolled out 45 courses so far. This has immensely helped in recent elections. A comprehensive cascade of training courses has now been built into every election starting from the training of master trainers and District Election Officers at IIIDEM, going right up to the field level functionaries in the interest of better election management. IIIDEM will be made stronger and its doors will be wide open to all countries wanting to avail its services.

What time frame have you set to implement them?
I have mentioned certain areas of Election Management that would receive emphasis. You would appreciate that these are continuous in nature and not subjected to one time targets. We take improvement in electoral system and electoral management as a continuing process.

Do you think more electoral reforms were needed?
Certainly, I think some important reforms are overdue. We see a consensus among Government, political parties, civil society organizations and parliamentarians about the urgent need for such reforms. Hence, it is surprising that some important reforms have not seen the light of the day yet. These relate to core issues like Criminalization of politics, abuse of money power in elections, Regulating political parties etc. Quite a few of Election Commission's proposals for electoral reforms are already with the government. I am hopeful about some major reforms becoming reality soon.

Two years from now you will have the task of holding general elections.
What steps do you envisage to ensure a free fair and violence free election in the year 2014?
You perhaps mean the next Lok Sabha elections. Election preparedness is the Commission's full time job. General elections to the State Assemblies keep taking place in regular intervals, and this in turn, keeps the election machinery fighting fit. As you know, we had several state elections earlier this year and several others are scheduled in the coming months, right up to the time when the next Lok Sabha elections would be due. The Revision of electoral Rolls, review of staff and material position, systematic training of officials, technological improvements, streamlining of various enforcement measures, voters education and outreach programmes are going on all the time so as to ensue free, fair, peaceful, transparent and participative elections every time, whether to a state Assembly or to Lok sabha.

In the past there have been reports about misuse of media for paid news by political parties and candidates. How will you address it?
The phenomenon of Paid News, which is a serious malpractice affecting elections, has been causing concern to the Commission. Paid News seeks to circumvent election expenditure laws/ ceiling, causes undue influence on voters and also affects their Right to Information. Political parties and media groups had approached the Commission requesting for strong measures against Paid News. There was consensus among all political parties in their meeting with the Commission on 4th October 2010 and again on 9th March, 2011 that stringent measures should be taken against Paid News. The Commission acted decisively using its available discretion and regulatory mechanism to deal with the problem. Starting with June 2010, it has issued instructions to state and district officers to scrutinize, identify and report cases of Paid News. The Commission has appointed Media Certification & Monitoring Committees (MCMC) at District and State levels for certification of advertisements and to monitor media for Paid News.

Through enforcement of such measures against Paid News for the first time in the Bihar Assembly elections of 2010, Commission had served notices in 121 cases. In the elections in Assam, Kerala, West Bengal, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu in 2011, over 250 notices were issued. In the recently held 5 State elections, over 500 notices were issued. Our action is already having a salutary impact.

The Commission has also proposed amendment to the Representation of People Act, 1951, to provide that publishing and abetting the publishing of `paid news' for furthering the prospect of election of any candidate or for prejudicially affecting the prospect of election of any candidate be made an electoral offence, with punishment of a minimum of two years imprisonment. A proposal for this was sent to the government more than a year ago.

The Commission would require the support and expertise of a professional agency like the Press Council of India to deal with this complex issue. Ultimately, self-regulation by media and political parties is the answer to the problem.

What steps are you initiating to enhance the turnout of voters during polls?
It is a major issue confronting our electoral democracy. If every eligible elector is not enrolled, and each registered voter does not cast her or his vote, we have a deficit participation in our Democracy. The Commission has taken up an energetic programme called Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP). This is based on a scientific approach and involves filling up of all three gaps - Information. Motivation and Facilitation. In this, we have struck partnership with a range of governmental and non-governmental agencies and worked in a campaign mode. One highlight is the observance of the National Voters Day on the 25th of January every year to enthuse all citizens and particularly the youth to enroll and vote. I am happy to inform you that our efforts have yielded significant results. We had consistently higher voters' turnout in the last 11 elections and historic records in six of these elections. The programme will be pursued more vigorously to further enhance turnout and to make our elections more participatory and meaningful.

Why people should vote and why is it important for them to vote?
Voting is both a right and a democratic duty. People should vote because it is one of the most precious rights conferred on them by the our constitution. Through elections, people decide their representatives and by that also decide their own governance. Vote, therefore, is a true power in the hands of the citizens. They must "vote in every election fearlessly and without being influenced by considerations of religion, race, caste, community, language or any inducement", to quote the pledge of our National Voters' Day.

What is your vision?
I would just like to repeat the simple vision that we have set for ourselves for a while now. It is, "Elections that are completely free of crime and abuse of money, based on a perfect electoral roll and with full participation of voters."

Paralysed NGT would emerge ever stronger?
With the approaching time-frame for the issuance of order stating Supreme Court Justice Swatanter Kumar as the head of NGT apprehensions among the government and the corporate houses are on constant rise. NGT kept resource-fed and was never allowed to function properly. If insiders are to be believed Supreme Court's notice, served recently to a number of VIPs for unauthorised occupation of govt. bungalows, has rung the alarm bell. In the corridors of power whispers are getting louder making apprehensions stronger that NGT in its new 'avatar' is bound to emerge as powerful as it was never before.

Will Kejriwal succeed in hinterland ?
The threat that Salman Khurshid has posed to Kejriwal is just about the way hinterland in India functions 'at the point of a knife/gun' As yet Kejriwal has succeeded in wooing the genteel crowds of television and Delhi , but in hinterland far away from the cameras will he succeed in making a point without risking his life and limb ?

Did consumers of Maharashtra pay for electricity they did not receive?
It is a curious case of electricity supply in Maharashtra. Private players have billed the state for power that has not been supplied to the grid at all. Whispers has learnt from state power ministry sources that the grid did not receive power but the bill was raised by the private suppliers at a cost that is much higher than the rate at which the state generation plants produce at. Usually these supplies by private players have taken place during the night when there are not many personnel to check. The source says consumers are paying for the higher cost of power without receiving the same. Private power producers told whispers that the cost of producing electricity has gone up tremendously due to a hike in oil prices and coal price internationally and so this fraud is an easier route when most of the key personnel in the MSEB are ready to play along. The question now is who passed these fraudulent bills without checking the actual supplies and who got the commissions in the state government the portfolio of which is with alliance partner NCP? Will Prithviraj Chavan look into the matter in detail?

Cabinet reshuffle ruled out?
If some highly placed sources are to be believed, contrary to speculations, union cabinet reshuffle are ruled out till 'Dushehra pooja'. Meetings of Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi with President Pranab Mukherjee, which took place on Tuesday, had triggered the all-round speculations that it would take place on 19 October.

BUREAUCRACY

Meeting to prepare panel for CBI, Chief today
A meeting to prepare panel for the new CBI, Director is going to take place on Thursday under the Chairmanship of CVC Pradeep Kumar.

Appointment of new CBI, Chief from Ten Janpath ?
It is widely believed that only Ten Janpath will have a say in the appointment of new CBI, Chief.

Sundareshan to be Regulator, Automobiles ?
S Sundareshan , Secretary, Heavy Industries is likely to head the Auomobiles Regulatory Authority. A 1976 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer Sundareshan is scheduled to retire on October 31.

Decks cleared for Mrs V R Iyer to be CMD, Bank of India
Mrs V R Iyer who is currently Executive Director, Central Bank of India on elevation will soon be joining as Chairperson cum Managing Director (CMD) of Bank of India (BoI). Her vigilance clearance has come.

Decks cleared for R K Dube to be CMD, UCO Bank
R K Dube who is currently Executive Director, Central Bank of India on elevation will soon be joining as Chairman cum Managing Director (CMD) of UCO Bank. His vigilance clearance has come. Originally he was to be elevated as CMD of the Canara Bank.

Kanwaljit Deol to be new DG (Inv.), NHRC

Mrs Kanwaljit Deol has been appointed as Director General (Investigation), National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). She is a 1977 batch IPS officer of AGMUT cadre.
(We said this on September 20, 2012)

Kusum Singh is new JS Defence
Kusum Singh will be new Joint Secretary, Defence. Kusum Singh is a 1984 batch IRPS officer.

K V Chowdary gets zonal charge
K V Chowdary, Member (Investigation), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), has been assigned zonal charge of all DGs (Inv.) and CC (Central circles)

Anita Kapur assigned charge of MP, CG, UP
Anita Kapur, Member (A & J), Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT), has been assigned zonal charge of MP, Chhattisgarh and UP.

S S Rana II joins Vigilance/CVO, C & CE
Indian Revenue Service-Customs (IRS-Customs) officer, S S Rana II, has joined as Director General of Vigilance/CVO of Customs & Central Excise. However, he will continue as Chief Commissioner of Central Excise, Delhi zone, until a substitute is posted against the post.
(We said this on October 1, 2012)

B N Singh to get two years extension ?
Member (Technical) National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) B N Singh is expected to get two years extension.

Ajit M Sharan yet to join Women Commission
Ajit M Sharan, who was appointed as Member Secretary, National Commission for Women, is yet to join the office. The orders of his appointment to this Additional Secretary level post were issued on October 3, 2012. He is a 1979 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.

Reddy appointed DGP Andhra Pradesh
V Dinesh Reddy has been appointed as Director General of Police, Andhra Pradesh on the direction of Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). He is a 1977 batch IPS officer of Andhra Pradesh cadre.

Pratap to get extension in deputation tenure ?
Dr K S Pratap, Director, National Institute of Fashion Technology, Government of India, Andhra Pradesh has got NOC for extension of two years in central deputation tenure to Government of India. He is a 1993 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre.

Aarti Dewan Gupta to be Director (Finance), Coffee Board
Aarti Dewan Gupta is joining the Coffee Board in Bangalore on deputation as Director (Finance).She is a 2002 batch IDAS officer.

P K Tripathi gets extension
P K Tripathi , Advisor in NDMA (JS Level) has been granted three months extension in central deputation tenure. He is a 1987 batch IAS officer of J & K cadre.

DPC of JAG1 and JAG2 IFS on November 2
The meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) of Indian Foreign Service (IFS) JAG1 & JAG2 has been scheduled on 2nd November, 2012.

Tamil Nadu House; the only state-guest-house of its kind in Delhi
The state-guest-house of Tamil Nadu, in New Delhi, is the only state-guest-house of its kind having ISO-9001 certification.
(Our esteemed reader Agraja Pratap comes up with the right answer to our question on 12 October.)

Three IRS-IT officers get additional charges
Three officers of Indian Revenue Service-Income Tax (IRS-IT) have been assigned additional charges. Accordingly, Deepa Krishan, CCIT-II, Delhi, has been given an additional charge of DGIT (L&R), New Delhi while K K Mohapatra, CCIT-I, Kolkata gets additional charge of CCIT, Durgapur and S S Kanan, CCIT-I, Chennai was assigned additional charge of CCIT, Coimbatore.

Three IRS-IT officers to attend training programme in USA
Three officers of Indian Revenue Service-Income Tax (IRS-IT) are scheduled to attend an Advanced Mid Career Training programme being held at Whartan School, University of Pennsylvania, USA from October 29 to November 9, 2012. The officers include: N K Sangwan, DGIT (L&R), New Delhi, V K Bakshi, CCIT, Durgapur and Jagtar Singh, CCIT, Coimbatore.

Post of Jr Investigation officer vacant in Kolkata Custom Settlement Commission
The post of Junior Investigating Officer is lying vacant in the office of Customs & Central Excise Settlement Commission, Additional Bench, Kolkata. Those willing to apply for this deputation post of three years can send their applications to the department at the earliest.

Modia applies for ED
Piyush Modia, SP, Sitapur, has applied for the post of Deputy Director-Enforcement, Directorate. He is a1998 batch IPS officer of UP cadre.

Khobargade to go to New York
D Devyani Khobargade who is Director in the Ministry of External Affairs has been moved to New York as Consul.

PESB seeks applications for Director (Mktg), MMTC
Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has invited applications for the post of Director (Marketing), MMTC Limited, fallen vacant since September, 2012. Those willing to apply can send their applications to PESB before November 14, 2012.

Four IAS officers get fresh postings in Tamil Nadu
As many as four officers of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) have been transferred and posted at different places in Tamil Nadu. Accordingly, Mohmmed Nasimuddin has been posted as Secretary, Youth Welfare & Sports Development Department while Dr P Muthuveerran will now be Director, Handlooms & Textiles and G A Rajkumar is being posted as Additional Chief Secretary/ CMD, Tamil Nadu Industrial Explosives Ltd. Besides, V Palanikumar has been posted as Director, Anna Institute of Management with additional charge of DG Training.

271 IRS-IT officers promoted to Deputy Commissioners
As many as 271 officers of Indian Revenue Service-Income Tax (IRS-IT) have been promoted to the grade of Deputy Commissioner. The officers include: M Lakshmi Bai, K Giresha, B R Ramesh, P Suresh Rao, A Ramesh Kumar, Satyaprakash R Singh, Ms Beena Dinesh, V Murlidharan, Ms Rajeshwari M Motwani, Ms Sudha Ramchandran, Ms Agnes Thomas, Rajiv S Keswarani, Dharmavir D Yadav, Arkendra Singh, O P Pathak, Ajay Kumar Mishra, Usha V Ramarao, S S Kulkarni (Suhas), R M Majumdar, Ashok Khanna, Ravinder Kumar Mittal, Shiv Nath Sharma, Nittin Garg, Ganshyam Sharma, Anil Kumar Dhir, Mukesh Kumar sharma, Kamal Mangal, C S Sharma, Sanjib Kumar Pal, Mrinal Kanti Chanda, Dhrubajyoti Roy, Sandip Sengupta, Supriyo Pal, Harish Gidwani, Harish Chandra, P K Sharma, A S Nehra, K C Gupta, Divakar Chakraborty, Ajit Kumar Laskar, Chandal Nag, Mohd Javed, A K Singh, I B Khandel, A K Koli, P S Chouhan, A K Das, S Seeni, A R Rewar, Shivraj Singh, Ramesh Chander, Dulal Ch Mondal, Sanjib Kumar roy, chandan Das, Shankar Halder, Bikas Biswas, Swapan Bepari, Debabrata Baidya, Sailen Samaddar, Dr Anup Biswas, Javanta Mridha, A N Sontakke, Rajeev Kumar, Gitesh Kumar, R R Chandekar, E Sulochna, F R Meena, T P V Latha, S K Mitra, V R Rao, V J Boricha, N D Gupta, A Sunderajan, Namita Khurana, K Ranga Rao, Mini chandran U, Dipti Agrawal, Shweta Mishra, Partha Sarathi Roy, Bimal Krishna Bandyopadhaya, Praveen Verma, Subhransu Mitra, Apoorva Bhardwaj, Sumit Roy, V Vidhyadhar, Saurabh Singh, Abhijit Dutta, Arju Gardia, Sita Shrivastava, Ullas Kumar Saha, N Hemalatha, Amit Katoch, Swapan Das, Manish Kumar Jha, Bidyut Kumar Begchi, Sumit Kumar Verma, Tarun Kumar Bhhattacharya, Divya K J, Alok Singh, Pulak Aich, Raman Garg, Sudip Bandopadhya, Geetinder Mann, Sanjay Paul, S Sunder Rajan, Kaushik Kumar Das, Shaurya Shashwat Shukla, Provash Roy, Veni Raj, Anidya Bandopadhayay, Mahender Bishnoi, Rati Deb Barman, Prashant Kumar Mishra, Anup Bhhattacharjee, Rajat Mittal, Anup Singh, Gautam Patra, Shudhanshu Shekhar, Arun Kanti Dutta, Deepti Chandola, Ashim Kumar Chakraborty, Vaibha Jain, Subhra Das, Mahesh Gopinath Jiwade, Rajat Datta, Anchal Khandelwal, Sanat Kumar Raha, Runi Pal, Pranaba Kumar Koley, Pankaj Srivastava, Arup Chatterjee, Manas Mondal, Koushlendra Tewari, Biswanath Chakraborty, Vikrant Pal Singh, Amaninder Singh Dhindsa, S T Sheshadri, Bipin C N, K S Deshpande, Amit Kumar Jain, M G Jasmani, Mundhe Vishwas Sopan Rao, A V Shapur R, M Anitha, A Vengugopal, Prashant Ranjan, Sourab Kumar Rai, V Srinivas Raj, A Padma Meenakashi, Amresh Kumar Tiwari, M S Nethrapal, Manav Bansal, Anuparna Singla, Kishore W Vispute, Shahnawaz UL Rahman, Ram Tiwari, T A Khan, Amit Dua, Deshpande Saurabh Girish, Veerander Kumar Sheoran, R S Arvindhakshan, Beena Santosh, Ram Prakash Maurya, P Nagendra Kumar, Monika Rana, Vikas Singh, Laganpreet Sandhu, Arvind G Desai, Faran Khan, Sandeep Kumar Mishra, Madan Lal, Aditya Shukla, R K Agarwal, Ashish Tripathi, Ajay Kumar, Virendrea Singh, Rajamma Paul, Rajesh Mahajan, Shinde Sudhakar Namdeo, Binod Kumar Sinha, Suman Kumar, Vivekanand Mishra, Renuga Devi P, H Kabila, Sanjay Kumar, Kirti S, Ram Prakash Rastogi, J K Lenka, Yashvender Singh, A K Mohanty, C Yamuna, Raghu Nath, S Nataraja, Shabana Praveen, Meenakshi Dohare, S A Fazulullah, Jenardhanan V, P V Subha Raju, V Justin, K Ravi, Rajni Rani Roy, N Gopi Krishna,Samrat Rahi, G Johnson, Tarundeep, K S Meena, Pavuna Sundari E, Bhavani Shankar, Anoop Singh, Maimun Nisha Ansari, Anil Kumar Sharma, B Ramanjiancyulu, Giriraj Pareek, Purshottam Kumar, O P Chaudhary, Vijayendera Kumar, Bobde Amit Ashokarao, Jagdish Prasad Talania, Shivanand H Kalakeri, Rajesh Kumar, Das Rignesh Kalpesh, Brij Mohan Singh, Murali Mohan M, Sanjay Kumar Yadav, Shailesh Kumar, B Naveen Kumar, Subash Verma, Amit Raj, Sher Singh, Rajesh Kumar Yadav, Sudha Singh, Kiran D, Narendra Kumar Naik, Kamal Kumar Khanna, Abhishek Meshram, R B Singh, Mrinal Kumar Das, Sanjeev Mahajan, Inder Solanki, Panak Kumar Saxena, Pallavi, Yogesh Kumar Sharma, Dhoke Ajay Gopalrao, Parmar Alpeshkumar Trikamalal, Poonam Rai, Uma Shankar Prasad, V Srinivasan, Mohit Mrinal, Sheila Parthasarthy, Waghmare Vipul Digambar, R Durairaj, Shashi Kajke, Chanchal Meena, G Chandrababu, Kranti, B Sagadevan, Rintel Renthlei, Prem Prakash Meena, Bimal Kumar Meena, T M Suganthamala, M C Omi Ningshen, Satya Pal Singh Meena, C P K Dutta, roshanta Kumari Meena, Siddhar Bhim Singh Meena, Kumar Aikal Manu, Sumit Kaur, G N Raghavendra Rao, Pooja Swaroop, T Satyanandam and P Muthushankar.

IFS officer is new MD, APSMFC
Indian Forest Service officer M A Waheed has been appointed new MD of the AP State Minority Finance Corporation ( APSMFC) .

Rajendra Kumar posted as Transport Commissioner in Delhi (UPDATED)
Rajendra Kumar, Commissioner, Commercial Taxes, has been transferred as Commissioner, Transport in Government of Delhi. He is a 1978 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre.

Prashant Goyal appointed Commissioner, Commercial Taxes in Delhi (UPDATED)
Prashant Goyal, Member Finance, Jal Board Delhi Government, has been transferred as Commissioner, Commercial Taxes in Government of Delhi. He is a 1993 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre.

Dr S C L Das is PS, Health in Delhi (UPDATED)
Dr. S C L Das, on return from Central, has been appointed as Principal Secretary, Health in Government of India. He is a 1992 batch IAS officer AGMUT cadre.

Anshuprakash deputed to GoI (UPDATED)
Anshuprakash, Principal Secretary, Health, has been appointed as Joint Secretary in Government of India. He is a 1986 batch IAS officer AGMUT cadre.

Narendra Kumar posted Secretary, GAD in Delhi (UPDATED)
Narendra Kumar, Commissioner Food and Supplies, Delhi Government, has been transferred as Secretary, Generation Administration Department in Government of Delhi. He is a 1988 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre.

Dharam Pal is Secretary, Revenue in Delhi (UPDATED)
Dharam Pal, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies, has been appointed as Secretary, Revenue, Department in Delhi Government. He is a 1988 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre.
(We said this September 13, 2012)

S Kumar Swami posted Food Commissioner in Delhi (UPDATED)
S Kumar Swami, Secretary, GAD, has been transferred as Commissioner, Food and Supplies in Government of Delhi. He is a 1991 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre.

Vijay Kumar Dev is Chief Electoral Officer in Delhi (UPDATED)
Vijay Kumar Dev, Secretary, Revenue, has been appointed as Chief Electoral Office in Election Commission in Delhi. He is a 1987 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre.
(We said this September 13, 2012)

Mukul Goyal is IG, Bareilly in UP (UPDATED)
Mukul Goyal, on return from Central deputation, has joined as IG, Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh. He is a 1988 batch IPS officer of UP cadre.

Sanjay Kumar is Commissioner, EPFO (UPDATED)
Sanjay Kumar, Director, Finance, DSIDC, has been promoted as Commissioner, Employment Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) under Labour Ministry in Delhi Government. He is an IRS officer.

Chandra Mohan to retire in October (UPDATED)
Chandra Mohan, Commissioner Transport in Delhi Government is retiring in October. He is a 1978 batch IAS officer of AGMUT cadre.

G P Singh is IG, BTAD in Assam (UPDATED)
G P Singh, IGP, CWR, Guwahati, has been transferred as IG, Bodoland Territorial Autonomous Districts (BTAD). He is a 1991 batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalay cadre.

S N Singh posted as IG, PHQ in Assam (UPDATED)
S N Singh, IG, BTAD, has been transferred as IG, Law and Order in Police Headquarters in Assam. He is a 1991 batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Pallav Bhattacharyajee gets addl charge (UPDATED)
Pallav Bhattacharyajee, Additional DGP, SOU, has been assigned an additional charge of Police Modernization and CCTN in Assam. He is 1986 batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre.

Pranay Sahay is also DG, SSB (UPDATED)
Pranay Sahay, Director General of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), has been assigned an addition charge of Director General, Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) until a new incumbent assumes the charge. Sahay is a 1975 batch IPS officer of Manipur-Tripura cadre.

Ad-hoc promotion term of 63 PPS extended (UPDATED)
The term of ad-hoc promotion of as many as 63 Private Secretaries (PS) as Principal Private Secretaries (PPS) in Government of India has been extended. They include: K S Kanthimathi, WCD; Sunil Bajaj, Environment; Naresh Chibber, Power; Deepak Kumar, Agriculture; R S Rawat, Defence; Manjeet Kumar Chawla, Urban Development; V Kurien John and M Ramji of Agriculture; R V R Sesharatnam, Planning Comission; D K Sharma, IP & P; P Jagadesan, Telecom; K Sunder, Commerce; K Venkatesan, MHA; Sangeeta Jain, Planning Commission; Ashok Kumar Gupta, Environment; D Jeevaraj, Health & FW; Latha Venkatesan, Planning Commission; H P Sreeramana, Defence; Vandana Banerjee, Posts; Chander Parkash Sharma, Expenditure; R Rangarajan, MHA, S Chanrasekharan, Posts, Mukesh Bali, Urban Development; V S R Murthy, Agriculture; Manbar Singh, Health & FW; Bharat Bhushan Bhatnagar, Planning Commission; Harish Kumar Lakhera, Environment; Jaya Sadanandan, MHA, Anoop Seth, Legal Affairs; Suman Taneja and D K Rathore of Urban Development; Subrata Basak, Posts;S K Gulati, MHA; Brij Bhushan Sharma; Ms Rashmi Minocha and Anil Kapoor of I&B; Ms Machiraj Sarada, IP&P; Narendra Kumar Sharma, Culture; Subhash Chander, MHA; Pradeep Kumar, HRD; Satyabrata Padhy, MHA; Shobhana Menon, Fertilizers; Ms Usha G Rajee, Power; Anandaraman S, Legal Affairs; Satish Kumar Batra, Health & FW; Ms P Gayatri, Expenditure; Dalip Kumar Sharma, MHA; Musthaq Ahmed, Water Resources; M N Radhakrishan, Health & FW; Ms Himalini Prashar, Power; Surender Kumar Sharma, MHA; Baldev Singh, Planning Commission; T V Paulose, MHA; Ms Surinder Kaur, MHA; Anandavalli Raman, Water Resources; Sampuran Singh, Agriculture; A Y Anand Raj, DoPT; Sanjay Kumar, Environment; Anand Kumar, Legal Affairs; R Rengarajan, UPSC; Lekh Raj, Defence and Mrs Suman Mahi of Food.

Reshuffle likely on Oct. 27 with a message; 'whatever it takes' (UPDATED)
The Congress leadership seems to be giving a tough message through reshuffle expected to take place on October 27; albeit in a different manner. In spite of a series of scams, graft charges causing embarrassment to the leadership, the reshuffle would be kept restricted to as many as sixteen changes; most of them necessary but accommodating in nature. With no significant changes in top ten portfolios it seems to aim at conveying two things; first, the party leadership stands by its leaders inside the government and secondly; all the graft charges and issues of corruption are assumption based and subject to the investigations only. If highly place sources are to believe one MoS would be dropped and one new face may be inducted into the council of ministers. Out of four MoS' three may get independent charge and one may get berth as cabinet minister.

D S Dhesi appointed as Additional Secretary, Commerce in GoI (UPDATED)
D S Dhesi, presently Director General, DGS&D under the Department of Commerce, has been posted as Additional Secretary, Department of Commerce. However, he will continue as DG, DGS&D until the appointment of a regular incumbent. He is a 1982 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre.

8 IRS-IT officers transferred (UPDATED)
As many as eight officers of Indian Revenue Service-Income Tax (IRS-IT) in the grade of Additional/Joint Commissioner of Income Tax have been transferred and posted at different places. Accordingly, Sanjay Goyal has been shifted to Directorate of Vigilance under DIT, North Zone, Delhi while N C Swain was shifted to Additional CIT (OSD), Technical Matters in Media Coordination Division, CBDT and Paramita Mondal Biswas is transferred to DGIT (Admin), Delhi. Similarly, Anurag Goyal has been transferred to DGIT (L&R), Delhi for NJRS project; Sheela Chopra to Additional CIT (OSD), A & J Division CBDT; Shrawan Kumar Gotru to DGIT (Admin), New Delhi; Kesang Sherpa to CCA, Delhi and Vivek Sharma has been shifted to Directorate of Infrastructure, Delhi under DGIT (Logistics).

Shekhar Saran selected as Director (Tech.), CMPDIL (UPDATED)
Shekhar Saran, CGM, ECL, CIL, has been selected for the post of Director (Technical), Central Mine Planning & Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held on October 18, 2012. As many as 11 persons were interviewed for the same.

DEBATE
Is FDI in retail in the interests of economic independence of India? Mail your views to Mehrotra.suresh@gmail.com or Suresh.mehrotra@yahoo. com.

CORPORATE

Hiranandani in trouble ?
Noted builder Niranjan Hiranandani has got into trouble with the sessions court issuing a show cause notice to him and two other bureaucrats TC Benjamin ( former Secretary ,Urban Development in Maharashtra government) and Johny Joseph ( Former Chief Secretary of Maharashtra).

Ela Ramesh inducted in High Level Committee of RBI
Ela Ramesh Bhatt has been inducted in the 'High Level Committee' set up by Reserve Bank of India to spearhead efforts to ensure accessible financial services in the country.


Korde quits Visisth Merchantile Ltd
Chandrashekhar Shantaram Korde has resigned as Director of Visisth Merchantile Ltd.

Shastri appointed Whole-time Director, Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Ltd
Ambalal Sarabhai Enterprises Ltd has appointed Ms Chaula Shastri as a Whole-Time Director of the company.

Srinivasan appointed President, India Operations, Intel
Intel has appointed Kumud Srinivasan as President, India operations.

Natarajan quits Harita Seating Systems Ltd
Ram Natarajan, Non-executive and Independent Director of Harita Seating Systems Ltd has resigned from the company October 1, 2012 due to personal reasons

Rekhy appointed CEO, KPMG, India Operations
KPMG has appointed Richard Rekhy as Chief Executive Officer for its India operations

Welspun Energy awarded for innovative power production (UPDATED)
Welspun Energy Limited (WEL), one of India's leading renewable energy companies and independent power producers (IPP), has been recognized as one of the most innovative power producers in Asia for their 15 MW solar power project at Anjar (Gujarat). Commenting on this momentous occasion, Vineet Mittal, Managing Director, Welspun Energy Ltd said, "We are very pleased to win the Asian Power Award. This award is recognition of Welspun's commitment to innovation and continued focus on renewable energy projects. Our engineering and construction teams have been working round the year to commission projects such as Anjar through several challenges and hardships. This accolade is a wonderful gift for their efforts and will certainly drive us towards achieving greater heights and build on our successes." The 15 MW Anjar project won the Award in the 'Solar Power Project of the Year' category at the recently held Asian Power Awards 2012 also dubbed as the 'Oscars' of the power industry. The award ceremony was held in Bangkok, Thailand recently, after a month long nomination process from July 5 until the August 27, 2012. The selection procedure aims to identify companies that constantly strive for quality and excellence in their respective categories. There are 16 categories where companies are nominated where a select group of judges from the industry choose the best among them during the past year. The judges on the panel for the Awards this year were John Goss, Managing Director, Ceejay International Ltd; John Yeap - Partner, Head of Energy - Asia, Pinsent Masons; Narayan Bhat, Head, Power Asia, Lloyd's Register Group; Geoff James - Principal Research Scientist, Energy Technology, CSIRO Australia; Lachminiwas ('LN') Sadani - Managing Director, Chief, Investment Officer - AFD; and Tim Charlton, Editor-in-Chief, Asian Power Magazine.

(The views expressed in this column are of the contributors. We do not owe any responsibility, whatsoever, of the views of our surfers as they are their personal opinion. However, we would also request our contributors not to be personal, directly or indirectly, in presenting their views. Instead of countering the views which ‘X’ has already expressed, our contributors are advised to present their own views. Also be brief, say about 200 words at the most since any views longer than that if eliminated at our end would carry the risk of the contrbutor’s item losing its original essence)

Reduce IPS strength

The data being put out about the supposed shortage of IPS officers in the country is totally misleading and is based on a superficial look at the number of posts shown as authorised strengths of state cadres and the filled up and vacant posts therein. What is lost sight of is the actual need for police officers at various levels in the state based on functional necessity. Just look at the top-heavy hierarchies in the police departments of states where the district superintendents of police who are the real field-level executants, but in the place of the one supervisory level(DIG) above them as existed in the past and which was quite adequate, now the states are saddled with three highly-paid and superfluous fifth wheels viz DIG,IG,ADG with all paraphernalia like salary, TA, vehicles with stars, flags and beacon lights, personal staff, quarters, police club accommodation etc. These posts have been created just to accommodate time-bound promotions and not on a need-based approach. The officers themselves may be the victims of the limitations of the system having to perforce occupy these ornamental posts without any job satisfaction. It is high time the IPS cadre requirements are objectively reassessed and trimmed to remove flab, save crores of rupees for the exchequer and increase efficiency in this uniformed force.

P K Mohanty

Postal dept takes the cake

The previous Secretary has done so much harm to many officers rated outstanding by downgrading to good. It's time to fight this menace.

A Rao

How our System Works ?

When we heard that one LDC from Guwahati Regional Office was facing vigilance enquiry on the basis of the report submitted by his Head regarding claiming Rajdhani Fare after travelling in ordinary sleeper class, we were astonished. The LDC got transferred to Delhi. The same Department has so many regional offices and the Heads and DDOs collectively indulge in gross misappropriation of funds. Though there were serious reports submitted after investigations, the files are reportedly missing. When sharks are having a happy swim, why the small fish is getting fried ? This is How our System Works.

Rajesh

What is the solution?

There is talk to make the payment of tax as one of fundamental rights/duties of the citizen of India. Good move! Have govt. ever think why less than 3% of the population pay income tax? This may be due to complex tax structure, unfriendly and unhelpful environment in tax departments etc. Government has to analyze the things in proper perspective before moving forward. Even on date, tax payers problems are not resolved in amicable way. If there is discrepancy in tax paid (advance/actual or TDS), it never gets resolved easily. It keeps going on as TDS deductor never takes responsibility for filing correct TDS statements. What is the solution? Government has to find the way out if TDS statements have been filed and if there is mismatch then tax payers assessment should be completed based on ITRs filed. Make it tax payers friendly and complete the assessment early so other people can be attracted in tax net and tax payers base will increase.

N Prakash

The Khemka saga and the portents

It may interest readers to know that apart from his more than 40 transfers in less than half the number of years he has put in the administrative service, which is making news, Dr. Ashok Khemka holds B. Tech (Computer Sc. Engineering), Ph. D (Computer Sc.), MBA (Business Admn. Finance) and MA (Economics) besides 9 publications on diverse subjects and one award to his credit. His vertebrae definitely extend from the skull to the back, which is expected of the entire bureaucracy, and he is a fine specimen of the otherwise corroded steel frame in our supine and self serving democracy. Indeed, there would be many more citizens like him in different walks of life who are crushed into oblivion for speaking up their mind and upholding democratic values. Would WIC as a forum be content merely breaking news of transfers and postings, promoting adulation and encouraging self glorification by officers or raise the bar higher and take up substantive issues which impact the system rather than the individual (officer) and have implications for development and democracy?

S.K. Tewari

Kudos to Khemka

Who handed over power into d hands of Politicians? Ofcourse AIS officers coz they hv least respect for Democracy & rule of law. See hw they treat the CPO officers in postings- All Norms are flouted, Husband wife are not posted together. Postings are made as punishment for cadre officers even if they approach court to redress their grievances. Deputationist IPS are given choice posting in metro's or Hq, & cadre officers are shunted to god forsaken places even if their children are in 10th or 12th. The criteria is you fall in our line or else we will shunt u at our sweet will. The discretionary powers should be taken away or else a grievance redressal mechanism should be set up in MHA.

SR

Why keep that a secret?

Please also mention the name of the IRS officer who introduced. Forensic Accounting !

Sandeep