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Your site is addictive. More useful to retired officers. Gives good information on government and corporate world. Good site to share views on some important social issues also. Regards.

Z S Nirwal

Some Ministers keen to join Organisation?
Some Ministers in the Union Organisation are now keen to work for the Congress Organisation. The wise ministers know that the Congress will not return to power in the next elections. Then atleast they will be on post in the party organization.

What is CAG working next on?
It is heard that CAG is burning its midnight oil on auditing the files of the aviation industry. Very soon the details of this industry which has been questioned over and over again will unravel says a source close to the development.

BUREAUCRACY

Who will be new DG, Revenue Intelligence?
Who will succeed R S Sidhu as DG Revenue Intelligence on October 1? Tie is said to be between Najib Shah and S S Rana.

Sidhu to join Settlement Commission?
DG, Revenue Intelligence RS Sidhu is tipped to join Settlement Commission in Delhi in place of RK Gupta who retires in mid September.

Rajendra Prasad to be new President Settlement Commission
In all probability IRS (C&CE) officer Rajendra Prasad is going to be new President of the Settlement Commission.

Sharma to be CC, Central Excise in Delhi?
Karan Sharma DG, Audit is likely to be appointed new Chief Commissioner Central Excise in Delhi.

Ramesh Abhishek to be elevated in Forward Market Commission
Ramesh Abhishek is likely to be elevated to the rank of Additional Secretary in the Forward Markets Commission, Mumbai. He is a 1982 batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre.

Will Malhi be Member, CAT?
Gurjot Singh Malhi, Commissioner Bureau of Civil Aviation-Security (BCAS), Ministry of Civil Aviation, Government of India is likely to be appointed as Member CAT. He is a 1974 batch IPS officer of Haryana cadre.

Is everything fine in Commerce and Coal Ministry?
Is everything fine in Commerce and Coal Ministry these days? Only senior officials of these two ministries can answer to this question.

Vijay Laxmi Joshi to proceed on long leave?
Grapevine has it that, Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce Ms Vijay Laxmi Joshi is proceeding on long leave. She is a 1980 batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre.

Finally Chidambaram wins
Finally Anup Wadhawan is being relieved this week by the Commerce Minister to join the Department of Economic Affairs as Joint Secretary Capital Market. He is a 1985 batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand cadre.

Expansion in ED in a couple of months
Expansion in the Enforcement Directorate is expected to take place in a couple of months.

Rahul Bali selected as Director (Tech.), SIL
Rahul Bali, Chief Engineer, ONGC, has been selected for the post of Director (Technical), Scooter India Limited (SIL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held on September 10, 2012.

Samar Ghosh to be Chairman, State Administrative Tribunal
West Bengal Chief Secretary, Samar Ghosh who is retiring this month end is likely to be appointed Chairman of the State Administrative Tribunal. He is a 1977 batch IAS officer.

Post of IG, CISF, South Sector, still lies vacant
Post of IG, CISF, South sector still lies vacant after the retirement of RP Dubey.

Three names doing the rounds for IG CISF, South sector
As many as three names have been doing rounds for the slot namely: Jayant Murali, DIG, CISF, AK Das, DIG, CISF and Sandeep Rai Rathore, DIG, CISF.

Orissa cadre IAS officer to be Director, NDMC
Orissa cadre 2002 batch IAS officer Mrinalini Darswal is all set to join as Director, New Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC).

Hectic lobbying for next DGP of Jharkhand on
Whispers in the corridors of power are that the hectic lobbying has been going on for the slot of DGP. As many as three names are doing rounds as the main contenders namely; Rajiv Kumar, Asha Sinha and A K Sinha. They are IPS officers of 1981, 1982 & 1983 batch respectively.

Krishnan appointed to the newly created post in Karnataka
Dr KP Krishnan has been appointed as Principal Secretary DIPR, a newly created post by the Government of Karnataka. Krishnan, a 1983 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre, is Secretary Economic Advisory Council to the PM.

Post of Deputy Chairman Tea Board vacant
The post of Deputy Chairman Tea Board, Kolkata, has been lying vacant ever since Ms Roshni Sen who so far on central deputation was holding the post of Deputy Chairman, Tea Board has gone back to her parent cadre of West Bengal. She is an IAS officer of 1993 batch. The post is meant for any Group-I officer.

Director NPA to get apex scale
V N Rai, Director, Sardar Vallabhbhai National Poice Academy, Hyderabad, is likely to granted apex scale of 80,000. He is an IPS officer of 1977 batch who belongs to the Haryana cadre.

Ministry of Railways asks for panel of IPS officers
Ministry of Railway has asked Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India.(MHA) for a panel for the appointment of one Additional Director General(ADG) and 4 Inspector General(IG).

Ms Kismat Anil Sagar gets selection grade
Indian Information Service (IIS) officer, Ms Kismat Anil Sagar presently, working as Joint Director, DFP, Lucknow, has been accorded selection grade.

IRS (IT) officer Chet Ram empanelled as Joint Secretary in GoI
Indian Revenue Service-Income Tax (IRS-IT) officer of 1985 batch, Chet Ram has been empanelled as Joint Secretary or Equivalent in the Government of India.

Sadu Israel empanelled as Joint Secretary in GoI
Indian Audit & Accounts Service (IA&AS) officer of 1990 batch, Sadu Israel has been empanelled as Joint Secretary or equivalent in Government of India.

Anoop Srivastava empanelled as Joint Secretary in GoI
Indian Defence Accounts Service (IDAS) officer of 1989 batch, Anoop Srivastava has been empanelled as Joint Secretary or equivalent in the Government of India.

Four officers found in corrupt practices in OFB
As many as four officials have been charged with corrupt practices in Ordance Factory Board (OFB). The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has recommended action against such officers.

Swaika moves to MEA Headquarters
First Secretary in Indian Embassy Beijing Adarsh Swaika has been moved to the MEA Head Quarters.

IAS reshuffle in Chandigarh Administration
Satya Gopal will hold the additional charge of Secretary Labour and Secretary Employment .Ajoy Sharma will hold the additional charge of Secretary Technical Education and Secretary, Education. D K Tiwari, CITCO, MD will hold the additional charge of Chief Administrator and Secretary Engineering and Secretary Urban Planning .Anil Kumar has been given the additional charge of Finance.

S K Pattanayak selected as Director (Fin.), HECL (UPDATED)
S K Pattanayak, FA & CAO, Indian Railways, has been selected for the post of Director (Finance), Heavy Engineering Corporation Limited (HECL) at a Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) meeting held on September 11, 2012.

NBCC supports Bengal's future kids scheme (UPDATED)
National Buildings Construction Corporation Ltd (NBCC), a State owned Civil Engineering giant under the Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India, has recently signed an MoU with Bengal Tennis Association (BTA), sponsoring the latter's Future Kids Scheme to produce future champions in tennis. Signed in presence of Anoop K Mittal, Director (Projects), NBCC, between R Wanchoo, GM (CSR & Trg.), NBCC and Prosenjit Chatterjee, Advisor (Projects), BTA, NBCC, under the MoU, paid an amount of Rs 5 lakh to BTA as sponsorship. The amount would be spent by BTA on promising Tennis Kids of Bengal, for their studies, tennis equipments, clothing, coaching, fitness, participation in tournaments and in exchange programmes with reputed academics in Europe, Australia & America.

NMDC awarded as best organization (UPDATED)
NMDC has been honored as the Best Organization supporting Quality Circle movement at the CCQC-2012 function organized by Quality Circle Forum India (QCFI), Hyderabad Chapter at Hyderabad on September 8 and 9, 2012. The award was received by K Harinarayana, General Manager (CSR & HRD) and V V S Sundaram, Jt. General Manager (HRD) from Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Minister for Information, Technology and Communication, Govt. of AP, Hyderabad and Dr. Jayaprakash Narayan, MLA.The 'ACTIVE' Quality Circle from Donimalai Project of NMDC has been adjudged as Best Quality Circle Co-sharing with NRB Bearings. The trophy was received from T Harish Rao, MLA and R K Wanchoo, Executive Director, BHEL, Hyderabad.

P K Raghav shifted to Northern Railway (UPDATED)
P K Raghav, SAG/IRTS, ECR, has been transferred to Northern Railway and posted in the cadre.

Two PA promoted as PS (UPDATED)
Two Personal Assistants (PA) have been promoted to the grade of PS of CSSS. They include Nitin Jain of Petroleum & Natural Gas and Deepak Ramvani of Justice in Government of India.

CORPORATE
Natarajan re-designated as MD, Spicejet Ltd
S Natrajan, Executive Director, Spicejet Ltd has been re-designated as the Managing Director of the company with immediate effect.

Viswanathan nominated as Director, PNB
Union Ministry of Finance, Department of Financial has nominated NS Viswanathan, Regional Director, Reserve Bank of India, Chennai, as Director on the Board of Punjab National Bank (PNB) with immediate effect

Vasanthan nominated as Director, Dena Bank
The Central Government has nominated V Vasanthan, Chief General Manager, Reserve Bank of India as Director on the Board of Dena Bank with immediate effect

Viswanathan ceases to be Director, Dena Bank
NS Viswanathan ceases to be a Director on the Board of Dena Bank.

Ruhl appointed Country Director, World Bank
World Bank has appointed Onno Ruhl as the Country Director, India.

Shetty re-designated as Director, Mudureshwar Ceramics Ltd
Naveen R Shetty has been re-designated as Director of Murudeshwar Ceramics Ltd from the post of Joint Managing Director due to his other professional commitments.

Nagarajan withdrawn as Nominee Director, Ambika Cotton Mills Ltd
IDBI has withdrawn the nomination of Ms Seethalakshmi Nagarajan as a Director from the Board of Directors of Ambika Cotton Mills Ltd.

Udayakumar appointed Nominee Director, Ambika Cotton Mills Ltd
G Udayakumar has been appointed as IDBI's Nominee Director on the Board of Directors of Ambika Cotton Mills Ltd.

Bharti quits Surya Industrial Corporation Ltd
Ms Shobha Bharti, Company Secretary of Surya Industrial Corporation Ltd has resigned from the company.

Garg to be Regional Leader (Growth Markets), Mercer
Mercer has appointed Gaurav D Garg as Regional Leader (Growth Markets).

Jain appointed Company Secy. Tijariya Polypipes Ltd
Ms Kanak Lata Jain has been appointed as Company Secretary Tijariya Polypipes Ltd.

Parekh quits Surabhi Chemicals
Yatish Parekh has reigned as Director of Surabhi Chemicals.

Basha appointed as MD, Exelon Infra
Ameer Bahsa has been appointed as MD, Exelon Infra.

Mansukhani ceases as MD of Man Industries
JC Mansukhani has ceased be MD of Man Industries.

Joshi appointed as Director of Adi Rasayan
Sanjiv Joshi has been appointed as Director of Adi Rasayan

(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)

How are SC and ST members faring in government hierarchy?

How are members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes faring in the government hierarchy? At the very top level of the government bureaucracy, out of a total of 149 secretary-level officers, there were no SC officers while there were only 4 ST officers, as of March 2011, according to a reply given by the MoS in the Prime Minister's Office V Narayanasamy. At the next rung of additional secretary, out of 108 officers , there are just two each from SC and ST. Further down, out of 477 joint secretaries , 31 belong to SC, that is, 6.5% and 15 belong to ST that is 3.1%. And out of 590 directors, 17 belong to SC (2.9%) while seven belong to ST (1.2%). There is no reservation for these posts but one would expect that out of the pool of officers from SC and ST entering the civil services through quota 15% for SC, 7.5% for ST and 27% for OBC a better proportion would have made it to these top rungs by now. Actually, even in the most sought after civil services, IAS, IPS and IFS, the proportion of SC, ST and OBC officers was below the mandated quotas. Out of 3,251 directly recruited IAS officers, SC officers made up 13.9%, ST officers 7.3% and OBCs just 12.9%. This information , too, was stated in the Lok Sabha by Narayanasamy in 2011. Clearly, the underprivileged sections are not yet getting the full advantage of affirmative action envisaged by the Constitution makers. This is further confirmed by the huge number of vacancies in government positions reserved for SCs and STs. According to a statement given in the LS in November last year by Narayanasamy, there were 25,037 'backlog' posts for SC lying vacant in 73 government departments and bodies. These are positions reserved for SC members that have not been filled over the years and thus have accumulated. They include both direct recruitment and promotion-based positions. Out of these, 4,518 positions were vacant because no candidate was available for promotion. Similarly for ST, 28,173 'backlog' posts were vacant, of which 7,416 were meant for filling up by promotion. If you look at all central government employees, 17% of them were SC while 7.4% were ST. This appears to be fulfilling the mandated norms of 15% SC and 7.5% ST. But there is a catch. There is a deep skew of SC/ST members in the hierarchy of central government jobs as you move up the ladder, there are less and less employees /officers from SC/ST. Among Group A officers, only 11.1% were SC and 4.6% ST. In Group B, the shares were 14.3% and 5.5%, respectively. In group C, there were 16% SC and 7.8% ST, slightly more than the quota . And in Group D, there were 19.3% SC and 7% ST.

This high proportion of SC in Group D is because nearly 40% of "safai karamcharies" are SC. This pushes up the proportions all round. Actually it only denotes the harsh reality that despite all the talk of ending discrimination and socio-economic upliftment, dalits are

still forced to do most menial jobs.

B Prasad

It's insulting

Ascribing absence of any SC/ST in top positions like Secretary to GoI due to higher age of entry of such candidates is insulting and patronizing as usual. It presupposes that no SC/ST candidates are able to enter service without the crutches of reservation and age relaxation! Objective, dispassionate study will reveal that there are several such officers, including those who joined IAS, IPA and IFS etc in open merit and also at young, even youngest age, who are systematically sidelined and targetted throughout their career by those who occupy disproportionate share of top government positions. A real study of 1969 to 1979 batches handled for such posts by UPA-1 and UPA-2 will be en eye opener! Stop humiliating them further with such patronizing talk about merit and morale.

Aurrat

SC/ST OBC & Minority Officers and promotions

That GoI or State Governments do not have officers from these categories in higher echelons of bureaucracy is a fact not addressed by Governments till recently. It is very important to have significant proportions of these officers in top slots to maintain proper

representation of all social classes. The candidates from these communities generally join the services late and as a result retire early. More important reason being the in service conditions in various Ministries and Departments. Because of their action oriented attitude these officers are slapped with vigilance cases which are continued for decades. The meritorious officers are punished by pick and choose in order to curtail their rise. Its interesting to note that in spite of constitutional protection and protection under Prevention of Atrocities on Sc/St Act false vigilance cases are launched to scuttle the chances of these officers. It is high time a serious relook on the reality takes place.

A Civil Servant

GoI implementing policy of transfers on promotions in right earnest !

GoI in right earnest is implementing the policy of transfers on promotions which has resulted in a very positive change in the mindset of employees by reaching to the new frontiers instead of rotting in one Department. But it seems the policy is not being implemented in a fair manner. Recently there has been a large number of promotions from Under Secretary to Deputy Secretary but some officers are not going to the new postings as Deputy Secretary even after a lapse of many months as they want to join Ministry of Home Affairs despite they have been in MHA for over 25 years. The officers who have transferred to other Ministries should be forced to join the place of postings or their pay should be stopped. DOPT should come heavily on these
delinquent officers and let the system work.

Rajan

Where is the discrimination ?

There are two members of Central Board of Excise & Customs, who are S Cs. There are total six members and this post is of Special Secretary rank. Where is the discrimination or less representation.

Hari

Reservation in promotion

Most of the CR's of the SC/ST officers are deliberately spoiled or downgraded despite the fact they are no less efficient and hardworking. The previous Postal Secretary did just that. What divisions in society are people talking about, society got divided the day the Aryan marauders destroyed the Indus civilization and brought in Varna system. First they deny us education, then they deny us promotion despite being meritorious so that our career prospects are curtailed and now they talk about division in society, death of merit etc. Look at all those bureaucrats involved in perpetuating scams see which community they belong to. so much for merit !

Gautam

Benefits of reservation

This is especially for group 'A' services. If the benefits of reservation has been taken by three generations and the current family, majority of them Group 'A' officers, then it should be withdrawn with respect to that family. Thereafter, the other SC/ST families, who have not availed the benefit of reservation, should be given priority. This is only the way to make the reservation policy all pervasive. Government service/servants comprises of only 1.6 %(1 .6 Cr.) of the total population of India (1.67 Cr.). Others forms of reservations, benefitting SC/ST, should also be explored.

A Srivastava

Posting of secretaries on the basis of seniority

The Cabinet Secretary is not going for the posting of secretaries on the basis of seniority. It was evident in the posting of Ashish Bahuguna as Agriculture Secretary who superseded nine of his batch mates in terms of seniority to become a Secretary.

S C Mishra

Travel by Private Airlines

I travelled in private Airlines last December. I wrote many letters to get the permission. But it was not attended to. I understand that the Ministry does not have staff to attend this job.

Hence, the Civil Aviation ministry may issue orders as follows. "when permission or post facto approval to fly in private airlines is sought by an official, it may be ordered that if no objection is received from the ministry within a fixed duration, say 15 days, it may be assumed that the permission is given".

This will help the working condition/travel of the Government organisation.

NSB

CVC vigilance clearance procedure opaque

The existing procedure followed by CVC for giving vigilance clearance is opaque and needs a review. Extraneous considerations come into play while giving vigilance clearance. There should be a greater transparency in these matters.

S Gopal

TAIL-PIECE

GOVERNMENT SYSTEM

You will never reach your destination. If you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks ! Better keep biscuits for them and move on.

An Industrialist

RIT

Can an appellant demand inforamtion in Hindi under RTI?

The appellant sought information in Hindi regarding ICDS projects operating in Delhi including details of each project on a CD, number of Anganwadi centers operating along with details of Anganwadi centers, details of budget allocations for each Anganwadi and also the details of beneficiaries (women and children) of Anganwadi centers etc..

The appellant filed a complaint before the Central Information Commission (CIC) alleging non-disposal of his request by the Public Information Officer(PIO) and First Appellate Authority (FAA). The respondents stated that information has been furnished by all the 94 PIOs of different ICDS
projects to the appellant and that they had provided the information as available in the records and some on CDs in cases where the information was available as computer data. The appellant stated that only 71 PIOs had furnished him the information, that too in a delayed manner and it has not been translated into Hindi or provided on CD. Further, the FAA had not bothered to dispose off his appeal.

The CIC issued SCN to the PIOs as to why penalty u/s 20(1) should not be imposed upon them for not responding to the RTI Application within the prescribed time period. The CIC also directed the FAA to show cause as to why disciplinary action should not be recommended against him. The CIC ruled that there is no provision for translating documents and then providing them to the Applicant under RTI Act. The CIC also ruled that information may be provided on CD, free of cost if the information is already available as a computer record. Details of all ICDS projects including budgets allocated to them, details of personnel working for these projects etc. were directed to be put up on the website of the Department as per section 4(2) of the RTI Act.

Comments

Translation or reducing the documents to electronic form in order to transfer them on to a CD just because the Appellant wants the information on a CD, is not mandated as per the RTI Act.

Citation: Mr. Shiv Kumar Saxena v. Department of Women and Child Development in File No: CIC/AD/A/2012/000794

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