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MG DEVASAHAYAM LINKING EMOLUMENTS TO PERFORMANCE? p38 BIHAR ELECTIONS SHUBHABRATA BHATTACHARYA & VIJAY SANGHVI p46

December 5, 2015 ` VOL. 9, ISSUE 9

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Union Minister for Mines & Steel Narendra Singh Tomar and Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu with Lifetime Achievement Awardee Dr Anil Kakodkar

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From the Editor

vol. 9, ISSUE 9 | DECEMBER 2015 Anil Tyagi | editor TR Ramachandran | executive editor Niranjan Desai | roving editor GS Sood | consulting business editor Vartika Nanda | consulting editor Rakesh Bhardwaj | editorial consultant Naresh Minocha | contributing editor Anish Gandhi | consultant, foreign affairs Narendra Kaushik | associate editor Sanjeev Acharya | associate editor Venugopalan | bureau chief (bengaluru) Kanika Srivastava | sub-editor & coordinator Mayank Awasthi | reporter Manasvi Sharma | trainee sub-editor Pawan Kumar | production coordinator Sumer Singh | assistant manager, logistics Nipun Jain | finance Gautam Das | legal consultant Bushchat Media | edit & design Madan Lal | Webmaster Abhisshek Tyagi | director advertising & marketing delhi: PALLAV MOITRA | director marketing +919810119937; e-mail: pallav@gfilesindia.in e-mail: adv@gfilesindia.com chandigarh: RAMESH SHARMA— +918699519405 e-mail: rameshsharmaemail@gmail.com mumbai: 48/C-1, Areshwar, Mhada, S.V.P. Nagar, Andheri(W), Mumbai 400 053 bengaluru: 2210, 10b main road, 3 block, jayanagar, bengaluru 560 011 CONTACT — +91 9845730298 e-mail: venu@gfilesindia.in $1,/ 7<$*, 35,17(5 38%/,6+(5 QG IORRU GGD VLWH QHZ UDMLQGHU QDJDU QHZ GHOKL ă +All information in gfiles is obtained from sources that the management considers reliable, and is disseminated to readers without any responsibility on our part. Any opinions or views on any contemporary or past topics, issues or developments expressed by third parties, whether in abstract or in interviews, are not necessarily shared by us. Copyright exclusively with Sarvashrestha Media Pvt. Ltd. All rights reserved throughout the world. Reproduction of any material of this magazine in whole, or in part(s), in any manner, without prior permission, is totally prohibited. The publisher accepts no responsibility for any material lost or damaged in transit. The publisher reserves the right to refuse, withdraw or otherwise deal with any advertisement without explanation. All advertisements must comply with the Indian Advertisements Code. Published and printed by Anil Tyagi on behalf of Sarvashrestha Media Pvt. Ltd at Kala Jyothi Process Pvt Ltd. E-125, Site-B, Surajpur Ind. Area, Gautam Budh Nagar, Greater Noida-201306 U.P. (INDIA). All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts in New Delhi only

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“There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.�— Ronald Reagan

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files believes in this dictum and this is the reason the gfiles Governance Awards were instituted in 2012 to recognise those civil servants who are doing commendable work in their respective fields without caring about recognition. gfiles’ cover story is all about Governance Awards 2015 organised by the publication on November 28, 2015, in New Delhi. gfiles has given Governance Awards to 35 civil servants who have worked and implemented government policies to ameliorate the condition of the common man of India since 2012. There are four Secretaries and one CMD of a PSU among these 35 awardees. Amid a plethora of awards being instituted and given away, why should gfiles have thought of Governance Awards? After publishing gfiles for five years and interacting with senior as well as junior civil servants, we observed that there are many civil servants who are putting in hard work but their efforts are seldom recognised. gfiles decided to celebrate the work of such civil servants by giving them Governance Awards. The Governance Awards would not have become an instant success, had the government not allowed its officers to receive the awards out of the government domain. I thank all Central Government Secretaries and Chief Secretaries for making the awards a success. Narendra Kaushik writes in the cover story, “Right from Jammu & Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, from nuclear science to radio regulatory service to renewable energy to policing to animal husbandry and to finance, the recipients of gfiles Governance Awards 2015—picked by an independent jury comprising former Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar, former Power Secretary Anil Razdan, former Chief Secretary of Haryana Vishnu Bhagwan and former Secretary (Internal Security) MB Kaushal—represented a wide spectrum of services the governance impacts on a daily basis.� I am very thankful to the jury for reading voluminous material and selecting these able officers. I must emphasise to our readers that it’s the jury which is the lifeline of the Governance Awards. Governance Awards 2015 is unique in many senses. The Lifetime Achievement Award was given by Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister for Steel and Mines, to a prominent scientist, Dr Anil Kakodkar; both hail from Madhya Pradesh. Dr Kakodkar was chosen for his stupendous work in utilising thorium as a fuel for nuclear energy. Dr Kakodkar clarified the myth that nuclear scientists get sanctions from the top in no time as they have access to the Prime Minister. He said that he had seen the files of Homi Jahangir Bhabha while he was working as a Secretary in the government. His file notings proved that he meticulously followed the rules. Dr Kakodkar added, “Where there is a will, there is a way. One can do one’s job in full compliance with the rules.� I must also thank Minister for Mines and Steel Narendra Singh Tomar, Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhu and Ambassadors of half a dozen countries who spared time and shared the bonhomie at the ceremony. The young Finance Minister of Haryana, Capt Abhimanyu, drove all the way from Chandigarh to Delhi to give away the awards. Happy New Year! ANIL TYAGI

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gfiles inside the government

vol. 9, issue 9 | December 2015

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CONTENTS

LETTERS editor@gfilesindia.com

6 Bric-a-Brac

old modi foe, losing a winning battle, changing equations in lucknow, india foundation gets busy

10 Cover Story

gfiles governance awards: champions of out-of-the-box thinking

38 Governance

civil service: salaries vs performance 42 modi’s strategic silences

46 Politics

post-bihar scenario

48 changing social structure 50 Leisure

travel to pench

51 Stock Doctor plan for 2-3 years

57 By the Way

negative for cbi, delhi woes, psus stay headless, amending the amendment

High justice After reading the article (“A judge who wields the sword and speaks his mind”, gfiles, November 2015) about the new Chief Justice of India, I am sure the people of the country will get justice. As KTS Tulsi has said, “For Justice Thakur, justice is the right of the weakest.” Corruption—ethical, financial and moral—is rampant in the country, at every level. And the perpetrators are those who occupy high positions and wield tremendous power and people dare not raise their voice against them in fear lest they are harmed. Especially, I would refer to the moral and financial corruption in the media. How workers, in the name of contract, are treated like slaves and exploited is to be seen and understood. Hemant Kumar Shastry via blog

One rank, one pension This is with reference to the article, “Will the twain ever meet” (gfiles, September 2015). As per the recent notification, in future, those seeking Pre Mature Retirement (PMR) would not be entitled to one rank, one pension (OROP). It is a most flawed provision. Those who are superseded or due to other reasons seek PMR, do not have their heart in the profession and thus are not motivated to

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give their best. Denial of OROP to them would act as a disincentive to seek PMR and, being demotivated, they would be dragged on in the system. Unwilling horses do not win races and neither do unwilling soldiers battles. Why keep disgruntled soldiers (term includes sailors and airmen) who may even spread despondency in times of war? They should be given OROP and be encouraged to make way for others. Also, a judge heading the proposed commission is not correct. Judges are trained to interpret laws and not service conditions. It should be a multimember commission with all the stakeholders represented. Brig Harwant Singh (Retd) via email

Leadership mettle I really liked the article, “Man with the Midas touch” (gfiles, November 2015) on senior bureaucrat Anil Swarup, Secretary Coal. His experiences, clearly reflecting his leadership mettle, are very inspirational and show his selfconfidence, dedication and focus towards his work. Such sharing will undoubtedly help many other civil service officers, not only motivating them to do better but also encourage them to pursue policies in a transparent manner. I hope to read a lot more such interesting write-ups in future. Continue the good work! Shreshtha Sehgal via email

MPs’ salaries “MPs maange more!” was a really interesting article (gfiles, November 2015) relating to the proposed Emoluments Commission. It was a detailed and informed piece of writing on the entire debate surrounding the pay scales of Members of Parliament. If this commission is created as per the Indian Constitution, it will hopefully help create transparency about MPs’ salaries and remove public criticism. Prahal Desai via email

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gfiles inside the government

vol. 9, issue 9 | December 2015

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Bric-a-brac mates & meets

RSS’ Vaidya sitting smug prachar pramukh old modi foe

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SS chief Mohan Bhagwat has pitched for a review of the reservation policy, contending that it has been used for political ends. He suggests setting up of an apolitical committee to examine who needs the facility and for how long. This was first carried by RSS mouthpiece Panchjanya, which routinely publishes news related to its parent organisation. Items are noticed by the public only if they are controversial. This piece of news, when it appeared, did not evoke a reaction from the RSS’ top officebearers. But when the All India Prachar Pramukh, Manmohan Vaidya, reacted and spoke to the media about it, the fun began. This happened just before the Bihar elections. Vaidya, a full-time pracharak, knew the impact his speaking to the media would have. Why, then, did he do it? Before moving to Nagpur, Vaidya was the Gujarat Prant Pracharak when Narendra Modi was Chief Minister and they were at loggerheads. Since the RSS is the parent of the BJP, Vaidya had an edge. Besides, he was friends with another strong party leader, Sanjay Joshi, who also did not get along with Modi. So, in effect, Vaidya’s gesture had a fallout in Bihar. The RSS leadership worked to a certain end in Bihar while the top leadership of the Bihar BJP worked in a lacklustre way. Hard feelings die hard.

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BJP snatched defeat from jaws of victory! bihar cm candidate hukum deo blocked

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HAT would have been the result of the Bihar elections if the BJP had declared its chief ministerial candidate? Observers are convinced the scenario w would have been entirely different. It is not that the BJP did not have worthy leaders in its fold, the announcement was not made just due to lack of political will. Insiders reveal that, in the midst of the elections, the BJP top brass sud suddenly decided to announce its chief ministerial candidate. They say s two lakh posters were printed, bearing photos of Amit Shah, Modi and the chief ministerial candidate. When the bales of pos posters were about to be taken from the printing press for pasting on walls, the order came to hold them back. The chief ministe ministerial candidate was Hukum Deo Narain Yadav, a Backward leader a and MP from Madhubani. It would have been a master st troke. It would have shifted the Yadav votes to the BJP as Hukum stroke. De Deo’s image is clean and he is known as an outspoken and hardworking leader. So who blocked the move and why? It’s har still a mystery but insiders reveal signs of the emergence of anothe another leader within the BJP.

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INSIDE EYE

ILLUSTRATIONS: ARUNA

Minister Shivpal cut to size pwd deprived of `20,000 cr

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S this story illustrates, the UP administration is run by many centres of power,, never mind if the de sh Yadav. Shivpal Singh jure boss is CM Akhilesh Yadav, brother of Mulayam Singh ingh Yadav, is i the most powerful politician and minister in the state. He has his own camp, separate from thatt of nephew Akhilesh. He is reputed to be considerate and takes care of his personal and party workers. As the Minister for the Public Works Department, Irrigation, n, Co-operatives, Flood Control, Land ources, Development and Water Resources, his influence is due to the PWD WD portfolio as this important department maintains roads and government buildings. All ow contractors working in UP know

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well how Shivpal functions and they follow the norms within y Surprisingly, p g y, two other powerful politicians, the fraternity. Azam Khan and Ram Gopal Yadav, mentor of Akhilesh, are Y at loggerheads with Shivpal. It is rumoured that Sh someone hatched a plot to cut Shivpal to hat size and got g the CM to transfer approximately approxi `20,000 crore from the PWD for the Agra-Kanpur highway, Lucknow Metro and h other highway projects. Equally interesting: a former Mayawati henchman, Navneet Sehgal (a 1988-batch IAS officer of the UP cadre), is the t in-charge of this treasure. The Th PWD has no money now to ca arry out road repairs and carry maintenance and to pay contractors mainten for completed projects. And Shivpal is at a loss.

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7

Bric-a-brac mates & meets

The Ram & Shaurya team india foundation helps at goa meet

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AM Madhav, an Andhra Pradesh leader and General Secretary of the BJP, who is Modi’s ambassador at large, is very active on the social front. He organised a three-day conclave in Goa, “Lessons from Civilisations”, involving many wellknown personalities from India and abroad, under the aegis of Madhav’s social outfit, India Foundation. Defence Minister and ex-CM of Goa Manohar Parrikar, Minister of State for Finance Jayant Sinha, Goa chief Minister Lakshmikant Parsekar, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Minister of State for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman were the speakers. India Foundation has emerged as an influential NGO as National Security Adviser Ajit Doval’s son, Shaurya Doval, is one of the main architects. An alumnus of the London School of Business and Chicago University, he has worked as an investment banker for GE Capital and Morgan Stanley and heads the India unit of an investment fund, Zeus Caps. He is also very active in planning Modi’s rallies abroad, attended by the Indian diaspora. Ram Madhav has an able partner in Shaurya and his India Foundation.

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gfiles inside the government

vol. 9, issue 9 | December 2015

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COVER STORY

gfiles governance awards

Thinking out The fourth gfiles Governance Awards feted officers and administrators from across the country for their achievements in the field of governance. These were the people whose work touched the lives of millions and impacted them positively

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by NARENDRA KAUSHIK

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NION Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu says governance is like ‘intel’ (informal for intelligence), not so visible yet most important for any government, department and organisation. Prabhu would know. He is in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who defines good governance as “putting people at the centre of development process” and never tires of stressing pro-people and pro-active governance. Besides, the minister has a mandate to make Indian Railways an engine of the Indian growth story through good governance. The Union Minister for Mines and Steel, Narendra Singh Tomar, cred-

its the coal auction, which helped the Modi government rustle up `4 lakh crore, for establishment of a transparent system. He also attributes the large number of disbursals under MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency Bank) to good governance by bankers and bureaucrats. Tomar feels there is a need to recognise and acknowledge excellence of administrators, a task gfiles has been doing for many years now. The monthly has been reporting the success stories of civil servants, scientists and engineers from across the length and breadth of the country. On November 28, the publication once again awarded 11 bureaucrats in a glittering ceremony in Delhi attend-

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of the box ed by, besides Prabhu and Tomar, Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu, High Commissioners of half a dozen countries, eminent politicians, civil servants and editors of newspapers. Right from Jammu & Kashmir to Tamil Nadu, from nuclear science to radio regulatory service to renewable energy to policing to animal husbandry and to finance, the recipients of gfiles Governance Awards 2015—picked by an independent jury comprising former Cabinet Secretary Prabhat Kumar, former Power Secretary Anil Razdan, former Chief Secretary of Haryana Vishnu Bhagwan and former Secretary (Internal Security) MB Kaushal—represented a wide spectrum of services the governance

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impacts on a daily basis. On top of the excellence pyramid was Anil Kakodkar, India’s numero uno nuclear scientist whose contribution to the country’s nuclear energy programme is unparallelled. Dr Kakodkar, who currently chairs the National Institute of Science Education & Research (NISER), an organisation under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

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Vijayakumar, IAS (Secretary, Animal Husbandry Department, Tamil Nadu) received the Exceptional Contribution Award for facilitating employment of persons with disabilities under the Mahatma

PHOTOS: RAJEEV TYAGI & MANOJ

Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS). Shalini Rajneesh, IAS (Principal Secretary, Backward Classes Welfare Department, Karnataka), got the Exceptional Contribution Award for women’s empowerment. Jigmet Takpa, IFS (Director, Ladakh Renewable Energy Department Agency, Jammu & Kashmir), was bestowed with the Exceptional Contribution Award for biodiversity conservation. RS Nayak, Executive Engineer (Civil), Belgaum Corporation in Karnataka, collected the Exceptional Contribution Award for fighting water scarcity while Ajay Singhal, Engineer-in-Charge, International Satellite Monitoring Earth Station, Jalna (Maharashtra),

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gfiles governance awards

bagged the Exceptional Contribution Award for ensuring violation-free usage of satellite spectrum. PK Deshmukh, IAS (Secretary, Department of Water Conservation, Maharashtra), got the Excellent Contribution Award for using e-governance for crop pest surveillance. Rakesh Kumar Gupta, Principal Secretary, IAS (Department of Forests & Environment, Jammu & Kashmir), received the Excellent Contribution Award for IT-enabling the civil services examination in the Union Public Service Commission, while Amulya Patnaik, IPS (Special Commissioner of Police, Vigilance, Delhi Police), got the Excellent Contribution Award for initiating a support programme for victims of traumatic crimes. Meeran Chadha Borwankar, IPS (Director General, Legal & Technical, Maharashtra Police), and Anshul Mishra, an IAS officer in the Union Ministry of Finance, received Excellent Contribution Awards for tackling the underworld in Mumbai and cracking down on illegal mining, respectively.

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AZDAN, as member of the jury, said in his address that the objective of the awards was to acknowledge and encourage officers of varying seniority and recognise creation of new systems and ideas in diverse sectors and diverse regions. “The acid test is that your work should touch the lives of people,” he claimed, adding that the awardees were chosen without any recommendation from any quarter. In his thanksgiving address, Dr Kakodkar said that nuclear energy could be the answer to the burgeoning demand and supply gap in the country, a fact touched upon by gfiles editor Anil Tyagi, who hosted the over three-hour-long programme. Dr

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Minister for Mines & Steel Narendra Singh Tomar “Bankers and bureaucrats have disbursed a large number of small loans under MUDRA (Micro Units Development and Refinance Agency) Bank in record time. This is what good governance is.” Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu “We have come a little late to bat. The asking rate has really increased. The next challenge will be how do we reach out to the people.” Member of Jury, former Power Secretary Anil Razdan “The objective of the awards is to acknowledge and encourage young officers. We look for impact of the officer’s work and how his work touches the lives of people.” Anil Tyagi, gfiles Editor “Our jury scouts for administrators who have done something for the people. It selects competence.” Dr Anil Kakodkar, Nuclear Scientist, Lifetime Achievement Award “Where there is a will, there is a way. One can do one’s job in full compliance with the rules. We have layers and mazes of rules.”

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Kakodkar was sure that layers and maze of rules inscribed in a statute can make it possible for administrators to do everything within the framework of law. Tomar said it was a privilege for him to know that Kakodkar was born in Barwani district in Madhya Pradesh, his home state.

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Dr S Vijayakumar, IAS, Exceptional Contribution Award “MNREGS has first time been implemented for 12564 Panchayats in 31 rural districts in Tamil Nadu. 200 crore have been dispersed to them since 2011. It was a mammoth task.” Dr Shalini Rajneesh, IAS, Exceptional Contribution Award “I got unflinching support of the government…and government servants (in implementing SAKALA). I told officials, You will be citizens after retirement. I hope the success stories (of administrators) get replicated not just in the country but outside too.” Jigmet Takpa, IFS, Exceptional Contribution Award “Our work does not get recognised in the government. The gfiles Governance Awards is a platform to project works of government servants.” RS Nayak, Engineer, Exceptional Contribution Award “We launched the Open Wells project to fight scarcity of water. The sustainability of the wells has been certified by the National Institute of Hydrology.” Ajay Singhal, IRRS, Exceptional Contribution Award “The award has boosted my confidence and morale of my team.”

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ARYANA Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu said that governance was an onerous task because it was all-pervasive and all encompassing. He lauded the gfiles Governance Awards for appreciating the work of administrators. S Vijayakumar divulged how it was a mammoth task to open the MNREGS to disabled, blind and mentally disabled in 31 rural districts (12,564 panchayats) of Tamil Nadu. He said over `200 crore had been dispersed to them since 2011 through banks. The Karnataka-cadre IAS officer, Shalini Rajneesh, who was the youngest in her 1989 batch, launched SAKALA to guarantee in-time delivery of 478 government services to citizens in Belgaum, a district bordering Karnataka and Maharashtra. Takpa, who has been posted in Ladakh for 19 years, thanked gfiles for projecting the work of government servants like him. His initiatives on biodiversity have led to rapid growth in population of snow leopards, the Asiatic ibex, wild yak and bar-headed geese in the region. Nayak, an engineer, revived around 74 small and big open wells in Belgaum, a Tier II city, in 1995 to overcome water scarcity. The wells still meet most of the city’s demand for water. Ajay Singhal, an Indian Radio Regulatory Service (IRRS) officer, who stopped unauthorised and illegal usage of satellite spectrum, said the award boosted his confidence and morale of his team.

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Deshmukh, a 1995-batch Maharashtra cadre IAS officer, who holds an MSc degree in Agronomy, said he worked on pest surveillance after he met a woman who had taken a loan of `25,000 from a moneylender. “I could not answer why I could not protect her crop,” he recollected. This guilt became a stepping stone for pest surveillance through e-governance. Mishra, a 2004-batch Tamil Nadu-cadre IAS officer, was happy that he could save around `10,000 crore by cracking down on the granite mafia in Madurai (Tamil Nadu) during his tenure there as District Collector. Mishra ordered filing of 50 FIRs against illegal granite miners, who were entrenched in three villages of the district. Nearly 100 people were arrested. Amulya Patnaik, a 1985-batch AGMUT-cadre IPS officer, set up Pratidhi (hope in Sanskrit), a collaborative programme in East

Delhi in 1995, to provide holistic assistance—counselling, medical assistance, legal aid, subsistence allowance, vocational training—to victims of traumatic crimes. Rakesh Kumar Gupta, 1986-batch IAS officer, felt the biggest challenge for an administrator was to encourage and assure his team that they would not be punished in case their experiment failed. Borwankar, who did her post-

PK Deshmukh, IAS, Excellent Contribution Award “Crop pest surveillance covers crops like soyabean, cotton, toor, gram and paddy. The per hectare cost of the project works out to around `7.” Rakesh Kumar Gupta, IAS, Excellent Contribution Award “Government servants fear change. The biggest challenge of the administrative leadership is to encourage and assure them.” Amulya Patnaik, IPS, Excellent Contribution Award “The collaborative programme (under Pratidhi) is taken up for holistic assistance—counselling, legal aid, medical support, subsistence allowance, educational support and vocational training—for victims of traumatic crimes.” Meeran Chadha Borwankar, IPS, Excellent Contribution Award “It is entirely due to teamwork. Citizens always supported me.” Anshul Mishra, IAS, Excellent Contribution Award “The awards bring recognition for good work. I am geared up today for another chapter of my career.”

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graduation in English Literature from Jalandhar before being allotted the Maharashtra cadre in the IPS, credited her team and Maharashtra’s men and women for her campaign against underworld terror. She also credited her parents and sister Anita Kapur’s (Chairperson, CBDT) education and ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ (save and educate girl child) slogan in the 1970s.

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HIS was the fourth consecutive awards ceremony organised by gfiles, which began publishing in 2007. In 2014, the publication had honoured former Delhi Police Commissioner Ved Marwah with the Lifetime Achievement Award. A year before that, former Indian Engineering Service officer E Sreedharan, nicknamed ‘Metro Man’ for the successful completion and operation of the Delhi Metro, had received the honour. The monthly was the brainchild of former India Today Executive Editor Inderjit Badhwar, senior journalist Anil Tyagi and well-known financial expert GS Sood. Over the years, the publication has not only added to its content but also exposed some of the worst financial and land scams and has become the most credible source of information on the Indian bureaucracy. g

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COVER STORY

gfiles governance awards

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Dr Anil Kakodkar (right) receiving the award from Union Minister for Mines and Steel, Narendra Singh Tomar (centre). Capt Abhimanyu, Finance Minister, Haryana Government, looks on

Dr Anil Kakodkar Nuclear scientist

For distinguished service in the field of nuclear science, with massive contribution for the advancement of the science and India’s nuclear energy programme

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ORN on November 11, 1943, in Barwani village of Madhya Pradesh, Dr Anil Kakodkar joined the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in 1964 and became its Director in 1996. He was the Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission, and Secretary to the Government of India, Department of Atomic Energy, during 2000-09. He was DAE Homi Bhabha Chair Professor at BARC during 2010-15. In BARC’s reactor engineering division he played a key role in design and construction of the Dhruva reactor, an original high-tech project. He was in the core team of architects

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of India’s peaceful nuclear tests in 1974 and 1998. He also led the indigenous development of India’s pressurised heavy water reactor technology and rehabilitated two reactors at Kalpakkam and the first unit at Rawatbhata. Dr Kakodkar led the pursuit of utilising thorium as a fuel for nuclear energy and development of national capability in all aspects of atomic energy for which he built competent teams of specialised scientists and engineers. Currently, he engages in designing the advanced heavy water reactor, which uses thorium-uranium 233 as the primary energy source

with plutonium as the driver fuel. The unique reactor system, with simplified but safe technology, will generate two-thirds of electricity from thorium. His efforts have made India a country with advanced nuclear technology. Dr Kakodkar has been a recipient of the Padma Shri (1998), Padma Bhushan (1999), and the Padma Vibhushan (2009), besides other highly acclaimed awards in recognition of his immense contributions. He also holds key positions in various important organisations and institutions of repute such as the Atomic Energy Commission, ONGC Energy Centre Trust, IIT Bombay and so on. Currently, he holds the INAE Satish Dhawan Chair of Engineering Eminence at BARC. At present, Dr Kakodkar is the Chairman, Board of Directors, NISER, Bhubaneswar.

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RailTel, Miniratna Schedule ‘A’ PSU under Ministry of Railways , is a premiere telecom infrastructure provider having expertise of over 15 years in providing end to end project delivery in the field of IT & Telecom . RailTel has a wide range of services which includes RailWire broadband, Telepresence, Data Centre, Tower collocation, MPLS VPN service etc.

RailTel Corporation of India Ltd. (A Govt. of India Enterprise) Corporate Office: Plot No. 143, Sector- 44, Gurgaon-122003, Harayana Tel:+91-124-4236085-86, Fax: +91-124-4236084

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EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Ajay Singhal IRRS For successfully overseeing the initiative on spectrum monitoring and licence administration, ensuring violation-free usage of satellite spectrum in India

A

N RI¿FHU RI WKH ,QGLDQ 5DGLR Regulatory Service, Ajay Singhal has been credited with successfully overseeing the mission to provide an effective mechanism for monitoring the spectrum allocated to various service providers of satellite-based services provided by the WPC wing of the Ministry of Communication and IT, Government of India. Spectrum is a limited natural resource of the country with every citizen having a right to its legal and optimum utilisation. While spectrum allocation to service providers is governed through licences issued under the Indian Telegraphy Act, 1885 and

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Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933, its effective administration depends on resolving major problems, such as lack of effective mechanism to prevent unauthorised usage of satellite spectrum, non-availability of technical infrastructure for checking allocation to various service providers, lack of operational ability to continuously monitor and verify spectrum services and non-availability of software database for monitoring outcomes. To overcome these problems, the ISMES launched the Orbit Spectrum initiative headed by Ajay Singhal. He developed low-cost technical infrastructure, introducing the Mission

Ajay Singhal receiving the award from Union Minister for Mines and Steel, Narendra Singh Tomar (second from left). Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu (left) congratulates Singhal as Bangladesh High Commissioner Syed Muazzem Ali looks on

Orbit Spectrum and coordinating with the WPC wing of the Ministry. This successfully heralded the revival of the Earth Station, endowing it with effective infrastructure, including enhanced operation capability and database creation for monitoring and verifying the spectrum licence administration, and effectively identifying and eliminating violations. Singhal’s initiative has been widely reviewed and appreciated by the government. In recognition of his RXWVWDQGLQJ FRQWULEXWLRQ LQ WKH ¿HOG of satellite spectrum monitoring and management, the Ministry of Communication and IT presented him a &HUWL¿FDWH RI $SSUHFLDWLRQ At present, he is the Engineer-inCharge, International Satellite Monitoring Earth Station, Jalna, Government of Maharashtra.

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EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Dr Shalini Rajneesh IAS

Dr Shalini Rajneesh (right) receives the award from Union Minister for Mines and Steel Narendra Singh Tomar. Capt Abhimanyu, Haryana Finance Minister (left), and Australian High Commissioner Patrick Suckling (second from right) are also seen

For outstanding contribution towards women’s empowerment and developing measures to improve public administration efficiency

D

R Shalini Rajneesh is a women’s topper and youngest member of the 1989 batch of the IAS. As Principal Secretary, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, Government of Karnataka, she was instrumental in implementing Karnataka’s Guarantee of Services to the Citizens Act, 2011, popularly known as SAKALA. The Act ensures time-bound delivery to citizens of 478 services covering 47 departments. In just two years, since April 2012, 60 million citizens successfully availed of time-bound services that earned SAKALA the Prime Minister’s Award, Google Innovation Award,

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National e-Governance Award for Outstanding Performance in Citizen Centric Service Delivery, QCI-DL Shah Quality National Award and CAPAM Award. During her stint as Deputy Commissioner, Belgaum district, the first historic legislative session was held outside the state capital. Her contribution through a book on inclusive growth for upliftment of the backward regions of Karnataka bore fruit in the form of an amendment to the Constitution vide Article 371 J, giving special status to the Hyderabad-Karnataka region. As Secretary, Panchayati Raj, she

saw Karnataka win the 2nd Best Panchayati Raj National Award. She also served as Secretary, Women and Child Development, and her contributions earned nationwide appreciation and recognition. In 2013, Karnataka State Women’s university made her a ‘Doctor of Literature’. Besides Karnataka, she has worked in many capacities in the central government, including in the ministries of finance, civil aviation, shipping, agriculture and road transport. She has written 10 books in English and Kannada covering subjects like management, personality development, women’s empowerment and so on. At present Dr Rajneesh is the Principal Secretary, Backward Classes Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka.

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EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Dr S Vijayakumar IAS For successful contributions towards empowering persons with disabilities through participative inclusion in the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS)

D

R S Vijayakumar, an IAS officer of the 1993 batch of the Tamil Nadu cadre, has a distinguished record with enviable acumen in public administration. He is known for proficiency in giving shape and structure to government schemes and policies such that they are optimised in accomplishment of their objectives. As the Commissioner, Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Dr Vijayakumar was instrumental in conceptualising and initiating efforts to include Persons with Disabilities (PwDs) under the MNREGS. While the MNREGS guidelines indicated

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Dr S Vijayakumar (right) receives the award from Union Minister for Mines and Steel Narendra Singh Tomar as Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu (second from left), Capt Abhimanyu (left) and Cyprus High Commissioner Demetrios A Theophylactou (second from right) look on

providing equal and suitable opportunity for employment of PwDs, its implementation suffered due to factors such as lack of clarity, barriers in attitude, availability of suitable work and services, and so on. Taking cognisance of the problem and with the conviction that the empowerment of any socially disadvantaged group has to be a cyclic and sustainable process, Dr Vijayakumar, engaging the key stakeholders, initiated a multi-agency approach, leading to the development of the Tamil Nadu Government’s Guidelines for PwDs in MNREGS. The project achieved

remarkable success with 1.49 lakh PwDs, constituting 80 per cent of all PwDs and forming nearly 3 per cent of the total workforce under MNREGS, working regularly and achieving social and financial inclusion. This work has been evaluated by known research institutions. In recognition of his contribution, the Rural Development Ministry, Government of India, has fully adopted the TN guidelines, while the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has circulated the initiative to all chief secretaries across the country. His achievements also earned the formal appreciation of the National Advisory Council (NAC). Dr Vijayakumar is at present posted as the Secretary, Animal Husbandry & Dairy Development Department, Government of Tamil Nadu.

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EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Jigmet Takpa IFS

Jigmet Takpa (right) receives the award from Union Minister for Mines and Steel Narendra Singh Tomar. High Commissioner of Kingdom of Lesotho, Bothata Tsikoane (left), and Capt Abhimanyu (second from left) are also seen

For successfully implementing biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihood improvement programmes in the Ladakh region

J

IGMET Takpa pioneered biodiversity conservation, rural development and renewable energy in Ladakh and established a benchmark in the Himalaya. An officer of the Indian Forest Service (IFS) from Ladakh, his achievements are testament to his dedication. Takpa’s initiatives to address the development and conservation challenges facing Ladakh’s fragile ecosystem include establishing flagship projects in identifying, devising and adapting suitable technologies for efficiently managing the natural resources of the high-altitude Himalayan regions. He conceptualised the livelihood

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improvement programmes for the Ladakh region and adopted a landscape-level approach to biodiversity conservation. His efforts resulted in a rapid growth in the populations of key flagship species such as the snow leopard, bar-headed goose, blacknecked crane, wild yaks, Asiatic ibex and the Tibetan antelope. He is credited with the success of Project Snow Leopard that turned Ladakh into the snow leopard capital of the world. The Ladakh Ecotourism Project has directly benefitted the community. The Ladakh Renewable Energy Initiative vastly alleviated the longstanding problem of energy

shortage in the region and reduced the tremendous expenditure of the Government of India in sustaining the energy sector. Access to electricity in Leh and Kargil districts has brought alternative livelihood options and has improved the efficiency of PHCs and defence establishments. Takpa has been conferred various prestigious awards—the Environmental Hero Award, the State Award for Meritorious Public Service, J&K, the Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra Award, the Renewtech Award for Best Nodal Agency, and the Gyalwang Drukpa Award. He also figures in the Book of Guinness World Records for the most trees planted simultaneously (2011). Takpa is at present the Director, Ladakh Renewable Energy Development Agency, Government of Jammu & Kashmir.

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EXCEPTIONAL CONTRIBUTION AWARD

RS Nayak Engineer

Capt Abhimanyu (left) congratulates RS Nayak (right), who received the award from Union Minister for Mines and Steel Narendra Singh Tomar (second from left). Zimbabwe Ambassador Maxwell Ranga is also seen

For outstanding contributions in developing and improving civic amenities, serving to provide an exemplary model on sustainable ground water utilisation for the nation as a whole

I

N 1995, Belgaum city in Karnataka was faced with severe scarcity of water, with delayed rainfall, and with its main reservoir, the Rakaskop, running dry, the city had to find alternative sources of water and quickly. As Belgaum raced against time to solve the emergent crisis, RS Nayak, city engineer, took the lead and initiated the Open Wells project. The Open Wells programme was literally an invigoration of the city’s history, taking cognisance of how the landscape used to be dotted with open wells prior to the advent of piped water supply. The ingenious project,

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under the able stewardship of Nayak, took the form of a participative local initiative with long-term orientation. His initiative and persuasiveness in involving the local community, social organisations like Rotary Clubs, Lions Clubs, NGOs, private entrepreneurs and donors rejuvenated several highyielding open wells which supplied potable water to around one-third of the city’s population. The project was not only successful in that it helped Belgaum tide over the crisis, it also served to augment existing infrastructure. The National Institute of Hydrology has certified the sustain-

ability of these wells for at least the next 50 years. An effective low-cost programme, the key ingredients of the Open Wells project was promoting and harnessing neighbourhood innovation and tapping into local resources. For his visionary leadership, Nayak was conferred prestigious awards such as the National Urban Award by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, the Outstanding Award at the Bangalore World Water Summit, and the Sarvaottam Award by the Government of Karnataka, among others. He has also been widely appreciated by the press both at the state and national level and has gained repute across the country. At present he is the Executive Engineer (Civil), Corporation of the City of Belgaum, Karnataka.

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EXCELLENT CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Amulya Patnaik IPS

Amulya Patnaik (right) receives the award from Union Minister for Mines and Steel Narendra Singh Tomar (second from left). Capt Abhimanyu (left) extends his congratulations

For successfully improving crime investigation and initiating a support programme for victims of traumatic crimes

A

N IPS AGMUT-cadre officer of the 1985 batch, Amulya Patnaik is a renowned personality in the field of law and order. His dedication and impeccable leadership brought vast improvement in crime investigation, leading to noteworthy detections such as the Bombay blast accused, the parcel bomb case, the sensational Sarita Vihar kidnapping of a schoolboy by armed gangsters which was solved in a record 12 hours, the dreaded Asghar gang of dacoits and so on. He was at the forefront of the police action to quell riots in an anti-Dunkel mammoth rally. He received a grave

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injury during the anti-Dunkel rally in 1994 in which the mob turned violent. In 1995, Patnaik took the initiative to launch Pratidhi, a Delhi Police programme to extend counselling and other assistance to victims of traumatic crimes. It is working successfully to this day. During his stint as IG, SPG, he is credited with the planning and managing of the security of the lone train journey undertaken by a Prime Minister in 2003. Patnaik handled Central, East and South Districts of Delhi Police wherein his focus on preventive planning and police-community partnership led to a drastic fall in heinous crimes.

His innovative steps, like launching of the Anti-Obscene Calls Cell and Anti-Stalking Cell, not only prevented crimes against women in Delhi but became a precursor of several such initiatives. As Joint CP, he had the rare distinction of heading both the Crime Branch and the Southern Range. He also served as SSP, Law & Order, Puducherry, and DGP in the sensitive North-Eastern state of Mizoram. Besides other recognitions for his illustrious contributions, he is also a recipient of the President’s Police Medal for distinguished service and the Police Medal for Meritorious Service. At present, Patnaik is the Special Commissioner of Police, Vigilance, Delhi Police.

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EXCELLENT CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Anshul Mishra IAS

Anshul Mishra (right) receives the award from Union Minister for Mines and Steel Narendra Singh Tomar (centre). Capt Abhimanyu (left) congratulates him as Zimbabwe Ambassador Maxwell Ranga (second from left) and Australian High Commissioner Patrick Suckling (second from right) look on

For setting up an effective, innovative, multi-mode grievance redressal mechanism and cracking down on illegal mining, saving the state losses worth several thousand crore rupees

A

Tamil Nadu-cadre IAS officer of the 2004 batch, Anshul Mishra is a postgraduate in Political Science from JNU. He ensured fairness and transparency in administration by establishing an Information Centre/Complaint Cell at the Collectorate as Collector of Madurai in 2012. The online complaint registration system ensured speedy and qualitative disposal of grievances, enabling people to track the status and also reduced repeat grievances considerably. He also set up a Facebook page— ‘Collector Madurai’—an innovative

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idea for redressing grievances and publicising the government’s welfare schemes through the social network. It soon became popular and people started posting common civic issues that affect the common man. The system proved so effective that it could dispose of around 80 per cent of the issues raised in a qualitative manner during his tenure, that ended in 2013. The impact he had could be gauged from the fact that the social media tagged the day he was transferred from the district as ‘Black Friday’. As Collector, Madurai, Mishra also carried forward the crackdown on ille-

gal granite quarrying initiated by his predecessor, U Sagayam, who pointed at major violations by many granite quarries in the district. The loss, initially estimated to be more than `16,000 crore to the state exchequer, was claimed to be worth around `1 lakh crore by many activists. Several influential persons, including political heavyweights, were booked for grave violations and illegal mining of granite and sand under the crackdown initiated by Mishra. He is also credited for the fair and transparent recruitment of Anganwadi workers and noon meal organisers, and facilitating differently abled persons to get statesponsored benefits. Mishra is at present PS to the Minister of State for Finance, Government of India.

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EXCELLENT CONTRIBUTION AWARD

PK Deshmukh IAS

PK Deshmukh (right) receives the award from Union Minister for Mines and Steel Narendra Singh Tomar (second from right). Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani (right) and Capt Abhimanyu are also seen

For contributing towards agricultural development and e-governance for crop pest surveillance

A

N Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer of the 1995 batch of the Maharashtra cadre, PK Deshmukh has served the government in various capacities. He has been involved in a number of successful government initiatives for rural development and improvement of agricultural productivity. As CEO of the Zilla Parishad, Kohlapur, Maharashtra, he was credited with implementation of the Rajashri Shahu Sarvangin Shikshan Karyakram programme for quality improvement in primary education, and the Ideal Village programme in Lodhavade village, Satara district. It earned him the Prime Minister’s Award for

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Excellence in Public Administration on Civil Services Day on April 21, 2008. He was instrumental in the successful implementation of the Maharashtra Crop Pest Surveillance and Advisory Project, and also played a role in the CROPSAP Programme, a multi-stakeholder ICT-based initiative launched to synergise central and state institutes working in the field of agriculture and horticulture research, setting the platform for online realtime advisories to farmers for productivity improvement and crop protection. The project, covering more than 100 lakh hectares, also earned him the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration.

He was responsible for the implementation of the innovative scheme of ‘Close user Group’ with BSNL, covering more than 7.5 lakh farmers. Deshmukh has also received other prestigious awards, including the National Award Gold Medal for e-governance for the Crop Pest Surveillance and Advisory Project, the Best Performance Award 200809 for Pulses in the Central Western region in National Food Security, the Krishi Karman Award 2010-11 for the highest production of pulses, and the Shining World Leadership Award by the Supreme Master Ching High International Association for Organic Farming and Group Farming. At present, he is posted as the Secretary, Department of Water Conservation, and EGS, Government of Maharashtra.

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EXCELLENT CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Rakesh Kumar Gupta IAS

Rakesh Kumar Gupta (right) receives the award from Union Minister for Mines and Steel Narendra Singh Tomar (left) as Zimbabwe Ambassador Maxwell Ranga looks on

For implementing path-breaking reforms in the UPSC examinations by IT-enabling of the entire examination process and implementing reforms in the Civil Services examinations

A

1986-batch IAS officer of the Jammu & Kashmir cadre, Rakesh Kumar Gupta has had a distinguished career. He served as Chief Vigilance Officer, National Consumer Cooperative Corporation (Government of J&K) and Principal Secretary to the Governor (Government of J&K), among other positions. As CEO and J&K State Election Commissioner, he handled the challenging job of conducting elections in the state in a peaceful manner and computerised the electoral rolls in urdu, using unicode software. As Commissioner of Science and

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Information Technology, Government of J&K, he formulated the IT policy for the state. He was instrumental in setting up Community Information Centres in backward areas to increase information technology penetration in rural areas and bridge the digital divide in J&K. As Special Secretary, Social Welfare, Gupta is credited with setting up the council for rehabilitation of victims of militancy. As Power Secretary, he initiated power sector reforms, drafted the regulatory Commission Act and gave a big boost to non-conventional energy sources. Gupta graduated with distinction

from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in civil engineering. Additionally, he has an MBA degree from IGNOU and an MA in governance and development from the University of Sussex, UK. As Additional Secretary and Controller of Examinations, UPSC, he is credited with IT-enabling of the entire examination process in the UPSC, initiating and implementing reforms in the civil services examinations and introduction of ethics papers in the Civil Services (Main) examination. In recognition of his contributions, he was conferred the Chief Minister’s Gold Medal for Honesty, Integrity, and Meritorious Public Service by the Government of J&K. At present, Gupta is the Principal Secretary, Department of Forests & Environment, Government of Jammu & Kashmir.

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EXCELLENT CONTRIBUTION AWARD

Meeran Chadha Borwankar IPS For playing an instrumental role in tackling the Mumbai underworld and unearthing some of the most infamous scandals in the history of Maharashtra Police

A

1981-batch IPS officer, Meeran Chadha Borwankar is the second woman IPS officer of Maharashtra, the first woman IPS officer to lead the Mumbai Crime Branch, the first woman Superintendent of Police (Aurangabad and Satara districts) and Commissioner of Police (Pune) in Maharashtra. Born in Gurdaspur, Punjab, she did her postgraduation from DAV College, Jalandhar. Later, she also studied Policy Analysis in Law Enforcement at the University of Minnesota, USA. Known as a woman super-cop,

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Borwankar has played a huge role in the extradition of Abu Salem, Monica Bedi, Tariq Parveen and Sharmila Sitaram Naik alias Sharmila Shanbhag. She was awarded the President’s Medal for distinguished service in 2006, apart from the police medal in 1997 and the Director General’s insignia for meritorious service in 1996 and a Hubert Humphrey Fellowship (2001-2). Amongst other posts, she has served as DCP, Ports (Mumbai Port Trust), DCP, Zone 4 (a key posting in Mumbai), DSP, Aurangabad and Satara. She also handled important

Ambassador of Spain Gustavo de Aristegui (left), congratulates Meeran Chadha Borwankar (right), who received the award from Union Minister for Mines and Steel Narendra Singh Tomar (second from right). Capt Abhimanyu looks on

assignments with the Crime Branch, Mumbai, Economic Offences Wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Mumbai, and was DIG of the Anti-Corruption Bureau of the CBI in New Delhi. Borwankar shot to fame when she supervised investigation of the infamous Jalgaon sex scandal in 1994 after which she came to be known as an expert in investigating such scandals. She is remembered for putting a number of Mumbai mafia members behind bars, including Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan gang members as Mumbai’s first woman Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), the job she took when the Mumbai police’s reputation was in tatters. She is at present Director General, Legal and Technical, Maharashtra Police.

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THANK YOU

FOR MAKING

GOVERNANCE AWARDS 2015 A SUCCESS FOR BRANDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR GFILES GOVERNANCE AWARDS 2016 CONTACT www.gfilesawards.com Mobile: +91 99111 10385 Phone: +91 11 2874 4789 Fax: +91 11 4508 2832 Email: awards@gfilesindia.com

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Civil services: pay, perk and performance? T

Due to the collective failure of civil servants in living up to the covenant of the Constitution, India’s democracy has diminished, giving place to kleptocracy

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EN years ago, when the Sixth Pay Commission gave a hefty hike in pay and perks to civil servants, it also entered a caveat on performance by adopting the maritime ‘mantra’— ‘shape up or ship out’—to send a clear message. The Fifth Pay Commission had also attempted something similar. Both have failed and now, when civil servants are revelling in the pay and perk bonanza of the Seventh Pay

Commission, the question of performance again comes to the forefront. An important Term of Reference (ToR) of the Seventh Pay Commission was: “To work out the framework for an emoluments structure linked with the need to attract the most suitable talent to government service, proPRWH HIÂżFLHQF\ DFFRXQWDELOLW\ DQG responsibility in the work culture, and foster excellence in the public

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governance system to respond to the complex challenges of modern administration and the rapid political, social, economic and technological changes, with due regard to expectations of stakeholders, and to recommend appropriate training and capacity building through a competency based framework.â€? 7KH SHUIXQFWRU\ DQG VXSHUÂżFLDO manner in which the Commission dealt with this important ToR is evident from the chapter on “Principles of Pay Determinationâ€?: “Para 4.1.1: ‌The principal role of the government as the prime facilitator has JDLQHG ÂżUP JURXQGÂŤ7KHUH LV D VSHFLÂżF HPSKDVLV RQ 0LQLPXP *RYHUQPHQW DQG 0D[LPXP *RYHUQDQFH harping on the concept of a leaner bureaucracy with more skilled people. 7KHUH LV DOVR D GHÂżQLWH QHHG WR KDUmonise the functioning of the Central *RYHUQPHQW ZLWK WKH GHPDQGV RI WKH emerging global economic scenario. This Commission had to keep all WKHVH IDFWRUV ZKLOH ÂżQDOLVLQJ WKH compensation structure for Central *RYHUQPHQW HPSOR\HHV ´ “Para 4.1.23: The Commission feels that there is strong need to create a culture of performance in the government–from establishing standards of performance, to measuring, and promoting people based on performance. To emphasise the culture of performance, the Commission has recommended that all the non-performers in the system should be phased out after 20 years. The Commission has recommended that Performance Related Pay should be introduced in the government and that all bonus payments should necessarily be linked with productivity.â€? As of now, the perception of civil VHUYDQWVÂś SHUIRUPDQFH LV FRQÂżQHG to a Performance Monitoring and

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Evaluation System (PMES) in the &HQWUDO *RYHUQPHQW XQGHU ZKLFK D Results-Framework Document (RFD) was prepared for every department and ministry. Several ‘Ad-hoc Task Forces’, comprising management professors and retired mandarins, were set up to work out ‘success indicators’ and reporting formats. The helmsman for this “most happening missionâ€? was an American hand— former Harvard professor and World %DQN HFRQRPLVW 3UDMDSDWL 7ULYHGL² who was designated Secretary, Performance Management. According to him, “RFD will be akin to a Bill of Rights for government functionaries. It will liberate the bureaucracy from vagaries of ad hocism, VXEMHFWLYLW\ DQG XQFHUWDLQW\ ´

What about the balance 70/75 per cent for whom it is basic governance at the state, district and grassroots level that matters? Here the performance of civil servants has been dismal At the core of this Mission was the effective implementation of the ongoing MNC-driven ‘development agenda’ crafted by Dr Manmohan Singh when he was Finance Minister in the early 1990s. This agenda, co-promoted by the government and the corporate sector, includes Indo-US CEO agreement; 100 per cent FDI by real estate MNCs; landgrab licence for SEZ-MNCs; surrendering tribal territories to mining MNCs; $100 billion nuclear bonanza and exemption from civil liabilities for energy MNCs; ramming *0 FRWWRQ DQG IRRG GRZQ SHRSOHÂśV throats to propitiate agri-MNCs;

mortgaging India’s farming to US interests through ‘Knowledge Initiative in Agriculture’ and ‘Agriculture Cooperation and Food Security’ MoUs; rampaging retail MNCs and grand entry of foreign (read American) universities into India!

T

HE present BJP-led NDA government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi has further expanded this agenda and is pursuing it with much more vigour. The extensive foreign tours and roadshows conducted by the Prime Minister to market India to MNCs, the undue haste with which amendments to the LARR Act, 2013, were rammed through, the corporate-driven Smart City Mission and the recent ‘big bang’ foreign direct investment (FDI) reforms, easing conditions across 15 sectors, including defence, banking, construction, retail, broadcasting and civil aviation, are adequate proof of this. The question, therefore, arises as to whether the massive hike in the pay and perks of civil servants recommended by the Seventh Pay Commission is an incentive to accelerate their ‘performance’ to expeditiously implement this agenGD ZKLFK ZRXOG EHQHÂżW WKH ÂľPLGGOH XSSHU HFKHORQVÂś VD\ DW EHVW per cent of the population. :KDW DERXW WKH EDODQFH SHU cent for whom it is basic governance at the state, district and grassroots level that matters? Here the performance of civil servants has been dismal. In 2010, on the ‘Shastipoorthi’ (60th year) of India’s Independence and the birth of its superior civil services, former President KR Narayanan described the state of the nation thus: “Sixty years into the free life of RXU QDWLRQ ZH ÂżQG WKDW MXVWLFH²VRcial, economic and political—remains an unrealised dream for millions of RXU IHOORZ FLWL]HQV 7KH EHQHÂżWV RI

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our economic growth are yet to reach them. We have one of the world’s largest reservoirs of technical personnel, but also the world’s largest number of illiterates; the world’s largest middle class, but also the largest number of people below the poverty line; and the largest number of children suffering from malnutrition. Tragically, the growth in our economy has not been uniform. Many a social upheaval can be traced to the neglect of the lowest of society, whose discontent moves towards the path of violence.� This continues to be so.

I

N a letter to a colleague written around that time, JB D’Souza, a PHPEHU RI WKH ÂżUVW EDWFK RI WKH ,$6 (1947), explains why: “At my age (84), I alternate between anger and sadness over the miseries our colleagues DUH LQĂ€LFWLQJ RQ WKH SRRU RYHU WKH wretched condition 58 years of ‘freedom’ have brought them to... We are no longer a service; we have become a set of parasites, palanquin commandHUV RU MXVW H[SHQVLYH SURVWLWXWHVÂŤ $V D PHPEHU RI WKH YHU\ ÂżUVW ,$6 EDWFK I ask myself whether the training we JRW ZDV GHÂżFLHQW 7KHUH ZDV D VPDWWHU RI ODZ D VXSHUÂżFLDO ORRN DW ,QGLDÂśV history, and a bit of economics. Nothing on ethics, the sanctity of the law of the land, the irrelevance of political intervention when it is illegal, or the management of politicians. Some RI XV LQ WKDW ÂżUVW EDWFK ZHUH ZLWKLQ ÂżYH \HDUV RI HQWU\ DOUHDG\ VXVSHFWHG of corruption.â€? This ‘suspicion of corruption’ has now become deeprooted and an allpervading stink. Every citizen of the country knows that unmitigated corruption from top to bottom is the lethal poison that has near totally destroyed governance. In the event, India is being consistently rated among the most corrupt countries in

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India is being consistently rated among the most corrupt countries in the world. A majority of the population pays bribes to access revenue services, municipal services, public distribution, healthcare, education, electricity, land records, registration, forest, housing and so on WKH ZRUOG $ PDMRULW\ RI WKH SRSXODWLRQ pays bribes to access revenue services, municipal services, public distribution, healthcare, education, electricity, land records, registration, forest, housing and so on. Corruption LQ WKH LVVXH RI FRPPXQLW\ FHUWLÂżFDWHV ration cards and old-age pension is far worse. Millions of Below Poverty Line families had to pay bribes to avail the EHQHÂżWV RI WKH JRYHUQPHQWÂśV Ă€DJVKLS 015(*$ VFKHPH ZKLFK LV SDUW RI the ‘social security’ net. All these are happening under the very nose of the district collectors who are all young civil servants.

The police force is the most corrupt among the services surveyed. Registration and investigation of FIRs is the primary responsibility of the district superintendents of police. But this has become a racket and a massive source of corruption, forcing citizens to go to High Courts to seek relief. The general public has to pay bribes and compromise their dignity in the process. Having lost faith in honest delivery of services by civil servants, citizens are demanding a Right to Services Act and appointment of commissioners to undertake this task! Electoral corruption is the mother of all corruption and this is due to the ineptitude of civil servants who JHW LQĂ€XHQFHG DQG EURZ EHDWHQ E\ corrupt and unscrupulous politicians and fail to rein in the obnoxious practice of buying and selling of votes. Even the constitutionally mandated Election Commission, manned by former civil servants, has failed in this duty. Bribe-giving for votes has now developed into a sophisticated cash-and-carry business model with advance bookings, IOU coupons and VR RQ 6DOH SXUFKDVH RI YRWHV LV QR

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longer a stealthy activity, but is done in the open and even boasted about by making the voters ‘shareholders’ in corruption! The entire election supervising machinery, from the Election Commission down to the District &ROOHFWRU 6XSHULQWHQGHQW RI 3ROLFH is manned by civil servants. During election time, they have a clear constitutional mandate and exercise vast powers. If corruption and crime have overtaken the electoral process, it is the civil servants who are to be largely held responsible. In the protection of natural resources and preventing its plunder E\ PDÂżD JURXSV WKH SHUIRUPDQFH RI civil servants has been very poor. The same is the case with safeguarding citizens’ liberty and civic rights. 0RVW ,$6 DQG ,36 RIÂżFLDOV GDQFH WR WKH WXQH RI WKH SROLWLFLDQV DQG PDÂżD groups and listen to their diktats without any concern for the law of the land, rules, regulations and principles of good governance. There are many examples but mentioning a few would VXIÂżFH²WKH &RPPRQZHDOWK *DPHV * 6SHFWUXP DQG &RDOJDWH VFDPV DW WKH &HQWUH EHDFK PLQHUDOV ULYHU VDQG JUDQLWH SOXQGHU LQ 7DPLO 1DGX prime farmland and river-front grab

to build a ‘monster capital’ for Andhra Pradesh; ‘real-estate’ loot in Haryana; the Vyapam scam in Madhya Pradesh; Hyderabad landgrab; and the Noida heist in Uttar Pradesh.

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LL these have made true the prophetic words of India’s ÂżUVW *RYHUQRU *HQHUDO &5 5DMDJRSDODFKDUL WKHQ D IUHHGRP ÂżJKWHU Âł(OHFWLRQV DQG FRUUXSWLRQ LQMXVWLFH DQG WKH SRZHU DQG W\UDQQ\ RI ZHDOWK DQG LQHIÂżFLHQF\ of administration will make hell of life as soon as freedom is given to us.â€? To prevent this from happening, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel virtually fought with the Constituent Assembly to establish the superior civil service to ÂłJLYH D IDLU DQG MXVW DGPLQLVWUDWLRQ WR the country and manage it on an even keelâ€?. To ensure this and safeguard civil servants from the “vicissitudes of political convulsionsâ€?, these services were covenanted in the Constitution. But, unfortunately, over the years civil servants have been dragged into these very “vicissitudes of convulsive politics, scams and scandalsâ€? against which they were supposed to be a bulwark. Due to the collective failure of civil servants in living up to the

covenant of the Constitution, India’s democracy has diminished, giving place to ‘kleptocracy’, a ‘government of the thieves, by the thieves, for the thieves’! I wonder whether the Seventh Pay Commission is rewarding the civil servants collectively for this ‘distinguished’ performance and encouraging them to do more of the same! %XW WKHUH DUH FRQVFLHQWLRXV REMHFWRUV among the old guard. An email sent by DK Oza (IAS, 1957, Tamil Nadu) to me and the Secretary of the Tamil Nadu 5HWLUHG ,$6 2IÂżFHUV $VVRFLDWLRQ VD\V that during his entire career he had not done a stroke of good work, which is equally true of all the government servants, then and now all over India. Yet his pension will go up by `25,000 from the present about `100,000. To him, the Pay Commission’s report is a folly. Now that the Commission has been dissolved, the government (Finance Ministry) should put the report fairly high on the shelf with the date on it indicating that it should be taken down in the year 2025. “We must think of the future. We must think of the country. The ‘government’ is unDEOH WR FRQWURO LQĂ€DWLRQ 7KH JRYHUQPHQW RIÂżFLDOV DUH QRW VDFUHG GHLWLHV ´ he says. Incidentally, Members of Parliament are in a race with civil servants for a huge raise in pay and perks. For them also, ‘performance’ has a meaning which includes non-attendance, disruption of Parliament and storming the ‘well’. An Emoluments Commission has been set up and MPs will also have their desired rewards very soon. At the end of the day, it is the poor tax-payers who are the victims of all these ‘superlative performances’ and who will be footing the ELOO 0D\ *RG EH ZLWK WKHP g The writer is a former Army and IAS officer. Email: deva1940@gmail.com

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vol. 9, issue 9 | December 2015

41

GOVERNANCE politics mk kaw

The strategy of silence

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N politics, consummate players have to know when to speak and when to be silent. Manmohan Singh lost his gaddi because he maintained a studied silence at all times, hoping that the storms would spend their fury and vanish into the horizon of comparative calm. Since Rahul Gandhi found his tongue after the extended sabbatical of introspection, he has decided to be loud, uproarious, brash and vulgar, hoping that the pitch and timbre of his vocal fury would move some of his listeners to side with him. Narendra Modi is a flawless player. He let the entire Lalit Modi affair fade away into the drainage system of the proverbially short memory of the public. He did not speak a word. His loyal fans see a deeper strategy behind the master’s silence. The Opposition criticism reduced the carefully crafted image of those partymen who could pose a political challenge in the future, and Modi let the Opposition perform this odious task for him. It is, however, not equally evident why he lets the fringe of the Hindutva crowd get away with comments that diminish the stature of the NDA government without even a mild admonition or rebuke. There are several schools of thought to explain away this studied silence. The most popular belief is that he feels that such hegemonic slogans in defence of Hinduism tend to solidify the Hindu vote bank, which has traditionally been fractured into the secularists and the Hindutva-lovers. To some extent, those Hindus who found it morally superior to flaunt a pro-Muslim stance on contentious issues and personalities of the past

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may have found it possible to saunter their way into the motley crowd of Muslim-baiters. This kind of volte-face might not apply to strong characters like Girish Karnad, who might even indulge in deliberately provocative stances in order to receive death threats a la Salman Rushdie. But such exceptions only tend to prove the point. The second school of thought avers that the views of the lunatic fringe are an extreme version of the basic belief held by Modi himself that Hinduism represents the highest form of civi-

Modi’s opponents contend that his studied silence on crucial issues gives the wrong impression, that the statements made by the Sangh functionaries have been averred in the public domain with blessings from the Prime Minister lised thinking over the millennia and across the continents. The way he has introduced yoga into the international arena, persuaded the UN to celebrate World Yoga Day on June 21, patronised the efforts to train millions of people in yoga, introduced yoga education in the schools and so on is one such initiative. At the philosophical level, he is an acolyte of Swami Vivekananda and is a great votary of Vedanta as being the acme of spirituality. He is a patron of the Vivekananda Foundation and has drafted some of his top advisers from that body. The third theory contends that he

was an RSS pracharak all his life and has been popularising the Sangh ideology by travelling from village to village. Although he was married, he has led a life of bachelorhood. He deeply believes in the theory of an Akhanda Bharat and would like India to emerge as a Hindu Rashtra. Modi’s opponents contend that his studied silence on crucial issues gives the wrong impression that the statements made by the Sangh functionaries have been averred in the public domain with blessings from the PM. This may be far from the truth. Let us take the declaration about the need for a rethink on the entire policy of reservation made by Mohan Bhagwat as an instance. At this point of time, when the waters have been muddied by statements and counter-statements galore, it is difficult to guess what Bhagwat meant in the first place and whether it was a casual remark or the result of a carefully thoughtout strategy. Did he mean abolition of reservation of seats in educational institutions and the earmarking of posts for recruitment to posts under the government ? If so, it could at best be a slip of the tongue for a seasoned politician like the Sarsanghachalak. And Modi is no greenhorn to have instigated it or even tolerated it, considering the potential damage this would cause in the Bihar elections. If it was a deeply thought-out strategy to fracture the reserved category vote into families receiving the benefit of reservation for the first time and those who had already benefitted from it, that would be a completely different matter. But then, Bhagwat should have made it clear in the very first place. The explanations offered

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by the spokespersons might have contained the damage somewhat, but it is undeniable that the declaration gratuitously allowed Lalu Prasad Yadav to reap unforeseen political dividend . There are other instances of Modi’s silence. Take the appointment of the Chairman, FTTI, Pune which has snowballed into a long-drawn controversy. It boggles the imagination as to whyy the appointment of a nobody

nip the agitation in the bud. There have been numerous aberrations perpetrated by the Shiv Sena, which is an uneasy partner of the BJP in Maharashtra. The Sena has opposed any sports or cultural contact with Pakistan. Even a discussion on a book did not materialise. Such antics on the part of the Sena may be acceptable, but not the inability of its BJP partner to distance itself

apathy it led to the return of Sahitya Akademi awards and other prizes and honours received by writers, actors, scientists and so on. The Centre’s defence of its inaction did not cut much ice. To paint the response of the creative community as political and confined to the favourites of previous regimes rubbed salt in their wounds. It was no use pointing out that the Akademies and other o bodies could not be held responsible b for the atmosphere of intolerance, if fo there was any. The episode could have th been nipped in the bud by registering b a CBI case to investigate the murder and giving an assurance from the highest level that such dastardly acts would not go unpunished. ac

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like Gajendra Chauhan, who is neither a celebrated actor nor a notable BJP sympathiser, should have been made a point of prestige by the I&B Ministry. The explanation offered that even in the past persons who were close to the establishment were appointed to such posts is neither here nor there. No one holds the view that a first-rate film actor like, say, Shatrughan Sinha or Hema Malini would have elicited the same kind of response. It is not clear why a call from the PMO did not

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from such extreme viewpoints and to ensure that the events took place with the active support of the government and its law and order machinery. That brings us to the murder of a literary figure in Karnataka and its fallout in the literary world. It may technically be true that the primary responsibility for maintaining the rule of law rests on the shoulders of the state government. But this does not absolve the Centre of its share of responsibility. The murder of this literary giant sent ripples in the entire community of creative persons and when the Centre showed complete

HAT said, it has to be admitted that India is inherently tolerant because that is the n nature of Hindus. Hindus are taught w with mother’s milk that the whole w world is one family and that non-violence is the highest rule of righteous le co conduct. Thus Hindus have traditional ally suffered repression and tyranny at the hands of rulers, invaders and co conquerors. Many would call this cowardice, not tolerance. co After independence too, the Hindus h have followed a policy of treating the m minorities with kid gloves. We adopted a version of secularism which favours the minorities. The received wisdom has been that if Hindus favour the minorities, they are secular, but if they favour Hindus they are communal. The result is that the civil code of Hindus has been amended to accord with the modern values of gender parity, monogamy and so on. The civil code of the minorities has remained untouched. This has caused a demographic imbalance that has pushed the percentage of Muslims to 19 per cent of the total population.

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Many observers feel that, with the ascension of Modi to power, there has been a qualitative difference in the way these policies have been adumbrated in the past. The Hindu Rright has started asserting itself. For a long time Nathu Ram Godse was consigned to eternal damnation for having assassinated the Father of the Nation. Now the Godse apologists have emerged from the woodwork. The defence statement of Godse has been widely, openly and extensively circulated and there are several groups who feel no hesitation in criticising the Mahatma for his proBritish, pro-Muslim policies. They defend the murder on the ground that it was the only way the Hindu interest could have been served.

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strong lobby is emerging that there should be a quid pro quo in Indo-Pak relations. It does not see any point in India’s unilateral generosity in granting the most preferred nation treatment to Pakistan, when it is not willing to reciprocate. On the issue of terrorism, this hawkish lobby asserts that we should not allow Pakistan to have the best of both worlds at our cost. They are sympathetic to the Shiv Sena ideology. They would not permit cricket matches to be played, Pakistani singers to visit India on long, lucrative tours, Pakistani actors to act in Indian plays, serials and films, Pakistani books to be discussed and sold in India and so on until Pakistan shuts up its terrorists within its own boundaries. On the issue of beef, this lobby wants states which have not yet passed legislation that prohibits the slaughter of cows to do so at the earliest. Those which have banned only cow slaughter should extend the ban to bulls, heifers and so on. Muslims

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should not be allowed to slaughter, keep and even privately eat the prohibited species. The Census figures of 2011 which show a marked jump in the proportion of Muslims have triggered a debate on the need to change the law relating to marriages. They should not be permitted to have more than one wife. A special family planning drive should be launched to limit their growing numbers. There should be a strict vigil on the borders with Bangladesh to prevent the entry of

Some overt gestures Modi has made to Hinduism are the promotion of yoga and Sanskrit and his open acceptance of Swami Vivekananda as his spiritual mentor; he has not broken the arrangement with the Shiv Sena and has adopted a somewhat tough posture towards Pakistan illegal immigrants into this country. Some over-enthusiastic lobbyists have called on the Hindus to boycott films with Muslim heroes. Baba Ramdev has gone to the extent of suggesting that Shahrukh Khan should prepare an estimate of his increased earnings consequent upon the conferment of awards on him and transfer the hundreds of crores of rupees to the PM's Fund, instead of merely returning a piece of paper to the government. During the Bihar elections some of these tendencies came to the fore. It was suggested that if the BJP won the elections in Bihar, sweets would be distributed in Pakistan. It is not

uncommon for people pleading the cause of Muslims to be advised to migrate to Pakistan and let the Hindus live in peace in India. Some secularists have had their faces blackened with ink or coal tar. A few years back, Francoise Gautier and Konrad Elst had bemoaned the fate of long-suffering Hindus and put forward the bizarre theory that the Hindus collectively suffered from a “death wish�. The time had come when Hindus should transform themselves into a more assertive community and learn to be aggressive or at least militantly defensive, they said. Although Modi is generally silent on all these contentious issues, there are some who feel that his very presence at the helm of affairs is a tremendous boost to the Hindu morale. Some of the overt gestures he has made to Hinduism are the promotion of yoga and Sanskrit, his adulatory references to Hindu heroes and philosophies, his presentation of the Bhagwad Gita to world leaders, his open acceptance of Swami Vivekananda as his spiritual mentor, his appointment of persons known to be close to rightist ideology and so on. He has not broken the arrangement with the Shiv Sena. He has adopted a somewhat tough posture towards Pakistan. In conclusion, one could say that Modi has used the strategy of silence very effectively. He is not always silent, unlike his immediate predecessor. In fact, on most issues he is voluble, loud and repetitive. But on contentious matters, he often lapses into a silence that seems uncharacteristic of him and allows his silence to be variously interpreted both by his admirers and detractors. Therein resides his consummate skill in communication. g MK Kaw is a former Secretary, Government of India. (The views expressed are those of the columnist.)

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gfiles inside the government

vol. 9, issue 9 | December 2015

45

POLITICS

bihar shubhabrata bhattacharya

After the Bihar storm Post the Bihar election results, new political formations are on the anvil. And it is the anti-BJPism that will drive these formations as the Congress has certainly ceded political space to its prime rival

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IHAR has once again changed the paradigm: in 1917, Champaran set the tone for the freedom struggle; in 1974, the JP movement heralded the end of Congress hegemony at the Centre; in 2015, the fiercely contested Assembly poll has set a new course for contemporary political discourse with antiBJPism as the focal point. Stock markets have a concept of course correction; overvalued blue chip stocks sometimes come crashing to ultimately recover and reach their optimal levels. The Bihar outcome should be seen as an opportunity for course correction by the BJP under Narendra Modi. The euphoria of the 2014 triumph has somewhat evaporated. Modi had created hope and thereby generated respect. Eighteen months later, the promise of achhe din is providing grist for mockery. The Modi government has made a difference, but that difference is overshadowed by incessant political sabre-rattling by the ruling party and a resultant sniping by the opposition. Rising prices, inter alia, have made the government’s achievements opaque. The Delhi Assembly result was apparently taken lightly. For the BJP, its Achilles’ heel is Amit Shahstyle functioning. This has caused murmuring in its ranks. Post-Bihar, Modi’s proud claim of chappaninch-ka-seena is being challenged (a social media post said 3 in Delhi and 53 in Bihar made up for chhappan).

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The BJP has now definitively emerged as the pivot of Indian politics, a niche hitherto occupied by the Congress. The swearingin of Nitish Kumar saw a revival of antipolarisation in Indian politics of the kind witnessed in the late 1960s, the 1970s and even in the first half of the decade of the 1980s

However, the fact remains that the BJP has now definitively emerged as the pivot of Indian politics, a niche hitherto occupied by the Congress. The swearing-in of Nitish Kumar saw a revival of anti-polarisation in Indian politics of the kind witnessed in the late 1960s, the 1970s and even in the first half of the decade of the 1980s, when anti-Congressism was a binding factor. The credo of anti-BJPism emerged in Patna. For the Congress, which snatched a moment of glory by riding piggyback in Bihar, the path ahead is arduous. Party general secretary CP Joshi, citing Bihar, said recently that after the West Bengal poll in 2016 (where he hopes to forge an understanding, if not alliance, with the Trinamool Congress) the Congress will emerge as the “kingmaker”. Joshi perhaps unwittingly foretold the future—the Congress can no longer produce a king, it has to limit its role to that of a kingmaker. It can be a lever in coalitions, not the fulcrum. The debate in Parliament on the Constitution anniversary showed that the Congress has more adversaries than the BJP has critics. Foes rarely turn friends; critics can be converted. The BJP and the Congress are the two nationwide formations today. Strong regional parties, many of whom have an umbilical link with the Congress, have dug in deep. In any Lok Sabha election today, only in around 180 of the 542 seats is the contest between the BJP and the

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Congress—the rest of the seats see multipolar fights which tend to be skewed in favour of regional forces. Nitish’s coronation saw a jamboree of these forces, with the Congress basking in reflected glory. The talk about stability of the new Nitish regime began as soon as he was sworn in. However, the event provided a fine opportunity for back-slapping and bonhomie. It will not be wrong to say that the Queen Bee who emerged at Patna was Mamata Banerjee. The tea party hosted by the new CM was apparently organised at the suggestion of Mamata. She reached Patna early that day. Before the swearingin, she had tea with Arvind Kejriwal at the Maurya Hotel, from where she and Kejriwal strolled to the adjacent venue in Gandhi Maidan. At the tea reception, she shared a sofa with Rahul Gandhi and even ordered a soft drink of his choice, making him remark that she remembers everything. Later, at the airport, on seeing Mamata on the tarmac, Rahul yelled, “Mamataji!” and left his aircraft to greet her again. From Nitish’s CM bungalow, Mamata walked to Lalu Prasad Yadav’s home, a short distance away, and spent time with his family.

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HILE Nitish as giantkiller certainly has his shadow cast on the national arena, it is Mamata who is to be watched in the years to come. She is acceptable to a wide spectrum—both non-Congress and the non-BJP formations, as well as the large number of regional formations of former Congresspersons. KCR of Telangana was once a Youth Congress officebearer. Ditto for his next-door rival, Chandrababu Naidu of the TDP. Both the CM and the Leader of Opposition in Andhra Pradesh, who heads the YSR Congress, are from the Congress stable. For the

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Congress, which is bound to remain a player on the national scene, its truncated numbers notwithstanding, it will be a Hobson’s choice between Mamata and Nitish. It remains to be seen if Rahul, whose emergence as Congress President now seems a certainty, will have the advantage of saner advice or if his present team of advisers will prevail. Post the 2014 defeat, Rahul has rebooted. Perhaps in the style of North Korea’s “Great Successor”, Kim Jong-

missed. There is no sibling rivalry between Rahul and Priyanka. There is an undercurrent in the Congress, especially in Uttar Pradesh, that Priyanka should be assigned the role of organising the party’s campaign in UP in 2017. If she emerges, Priyanka may prove to be the person who may revive the sagging Congress. For Narendra Modi, who has run an unblemished regime for 18 months, it must be confusing to balance the Modi-mania among Indians abroad

un, he disappeared from the public eye for nearly two months last year. When he returned, he was a changed person. But, that change is perceivable to his partymen (those who get access to him) and not to the people at large. The recent interaction with students of a college in Bengaluru, where the youth vehemently disagreed with his perception of the Modi sarkar, shows the chasm. In his autobiography, Chinar Leaves, ML Fotedar recalled that in 1984, Indira Gandhi felt that Priyanka Gandhi would emerge as the heir and upholder of her tradition when she grew up. Fotedar claims that he had conveyed this to Rajiv Gandhi and later Sonia Gandhi, but he was dis-

and the Modi-bashing at home. The debate on secularism, triggered by his Home Minister, may cause a hiatus for his new reconciliatory stance. In his Wembley speech in London, Modi singled out Imran Khan of Alwar for highlighting an Indian with vision; in his Mann Ki Baat he praised Noor Jehan of Kanpur. PostBihar, Modi seems to be in a mood to negotiate and capitulate. Political rivalry can be settled at the hustings. In the interim, good governance demands effective cooperative federalism, a slogan on which the BJP got the 2014 mandate. g The author is a former national-level Editor. He served as Senior Consultant in the Planning Commission.

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47

POLITICS

bihar vijay sanghvi

Social upsurge The results of the Bihar elections signal tough times ahead as the ‘haves’ feel threatened by the rise in political power of the ‘have-nots’

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HE outcome of the fiercely contested Bihar assembly polls has given a new direction to Indian politics to open avenues for mobilisation of the huge majority of the deprived. It may help in a quick rise of those always on the margins. Yet, it can be a dangerous weapon in the hands of unseasoned and immature minds determined to reap quicker political benefits. The misadventure of populism with a new instrument for a quicker rise in power games can be a dangerous development. The long list of recognised and unrecognised parties with the Election Commission speaks of the mushrooming growth of shops by individuals with intent to grab a seat of influence, which-

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ever way. Such individuals are not averse to resorting to nefarious ways, including blackmail and compromises, to derive their pound of flesh from the needy. The urban middle class has reacted sharply to the Bihar results for they had perceived a new saviour in Narendra Modi. His defeat by the “caste-ridden” politics is not only a disappointment for them, but also a cause for acute resentment. Their extreme dislike is reflected in issues like resentment over use of cow hide to make shoes. They do not perceive the unity of the deprived class as a healthy political development. It causes resentment as the upper castes have lost power levers to the OBCs

once again. The class that was always confined to the lower rungs of society for centuries will now certainly call the shots. The development may not remain confined to only one state; it may follow other states, they fear. The cause for resentment is not the loss of political power, but the sudden change in social structure. The structural social change since the betterment of economic conditions following the Green Revolution was a slow process. Increase in literacy rate was perceived to be a healthy development as it improved the image of India. It also helped the middle class. Expansion of media did not cause panic even though it was an instrument of social and individual awakening. But political power reaching the hands of the lower rungs of society sends signals of panic as it is perceived as a threat to the middle class. The political and economic institutions were their exclusive domain but will no more remain their exclusive preserves. Soon, the resentment will get converted into contempt for the lower class, resulting in daily conflicts and clashes outside Bihar. The unity of the deprived became the winning hand and will give ideas to several of them to unite in other states as well. The Gujarat situation became explosive in 1985 only because of the attempt to provide better treatment to the Bakshi castes, as Other Backward Classes in Gujarat are known. The development has explosive

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Women line up to vote in Bihar (left) and participants at the anti-reservation rally in Gujarat in September 2015

potential, as shown by the strong resentment expressed by the Meena community in Rajasthan during negotiations with the Gurjars for a share in reservations by the state government. The OBC men in the constabulary in Gujarat wielded their lathis strongly to disperse the Patidar participants in the anti-reservation rally in September; it was another indication as to how the situation can develop. It is a different kind of communal conflict. The imperative need is to anticipate the developments and take preventive measures. Unfortunately, political parties have not displayed a desire to comprehend the situation or care for its national consequences. Earlier, debates were allowed to churn out factors involved in different issues. For the past 20 years, a new trend of stalling any debate in Parliament is in vogue. The strategy of stalling proceedings is an extension of the parties’ electoral failures. The Bharatiya Janata Party sought to bring down the Manmohan Singh government somehow as it could not understand the causes for its two consecutive electoral failures. It adopted a blind policy for thwarting the government by stalling every government proposal, regardless of its origins. The Vajpayee government turned the expansion of telecom into a meas-

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The cause for resentment is not the loss of political power, but the sudden change in social structure. The structural social change since the betterment of economic conditions following the Green Revolution was a slow process ure of rapid social development by ensuring its cheap availability. The CAG recommended it should be turned into a revenue-earning service by adopting the auction of spectrum usage licences. He even gave his estimates of the revenue potential. The BJP lapped up his recommendation, even though it dictated reversal of the Vajpayee government policy, as it suited its politics of proving the corrupt government aummulating revenue loss. As a political party of national importance, it ought to have castigated the CAG for overstepping his constitutional constraints. It did not even understand the impact of giving leverage to moneybags to corner services through auction, a method suggested by the former bureaucrat. It showed no hesitation in joining hands with the communists in an attempt to

bring down the Manmohan Singh government over the civil nuclear deal with the United States. Deal negotiations were initiated by the Vajpayee government and concluded by the successor government. The BJP joined the game as it accorded an opportunity to bring down the government. The Congress too did not adopt better politics, but instead copied its predecessors on the Opposition bench. It opposes everything, including the economic reforms. It does not have strength inside in the House, but that is no deterrent to its ambitions.

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ARTIES are unable to come to a minimum understanding on national priorities. Industrial expansion is necessary as the agriculture sector can no more accommodate the high need for additional employment. There is a need for expansion of the industrial sector, but the Congress is not willing to make it easy for the NaMo government to take that route. Politicians will engage in the game of blaming each other and bureaucrats would tend to treat the new flareups as law and order situations. A flare-up is not far off because the UP Chief Minister has also declared his desire to bring about the unity of OBCs with the support of the Dalits and the poor Muslims. Bugles are sounding the warning. g

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49

LEISURE

travel madhya pradesh

Land of ‘The Jungle Book’

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HE Pench Tiger Reserve and its neighbourhood is the original setting of Rudyard Kipling’s most famous work, The Jungle Book. The terrain of the park is undulating with mainly gentle slopes crisscrossed by seasonal streams and nullahs. The Pench river, flowing through the centre of the Reserve, is dry by April but a number of water pools, locally known as ‘dohs’, are found, which serve as waterholes for wild animals. Its close proximity to Nagpur, just 90 km on NH7, gives it an advantage in terms of logistics and services. The wildlife population, especially that of the tiger, has grown encouragingly. The undulating topography supports a mosaic of vegetation ranging from moist, sheltered valleys to open, dry deciduous forest. Over 1,200 species of plants have been recorded from the area including several rare and endangered plants as well as plants of ethno-botanical importance. It is dominated by fairly open canopy, mixed forests with considerable shrub cover and open grassy patches. The area has always been rich in wildlife. The high habitat heterogeneity favours the population of chital and sambar. Pench Tiger Reserve has the highest density of herbivores in India (90.3 animals per sq km). The area is especially famous for large herds of gaur (Indian bison), cheetal, sambar, nilgai, wild dogs and wild pigs. The key predator is the tiger followed by the leopard, the wild dog and the wolf. Other animals include sloth bears, chousingha, chinkara, barking deer, jackals, foxes, palm civets, the small Indian civet,

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vol. 9, issue 9 | December 2015

jungle cats, hyenas and porcupines among others. Pench can be described as a bird -watchers’ paradise. There are over 285 species of resident and migratory birds including the Malabar pied hornbill, Indian pitta, osprey, grey-headed fishing eagle, whiteeyed buzzard and so on. In winter, thousands of migratory waterfowl including Brahminy Ducks, pochards,

GETTING HERE From Nagpur (92 km) 80 km along National Highway 7 to Khawasa and then 12 km to Turia Gate. From Jabalpur (195 km) to Nagpur, Chhindwara (120 km), Seoni (60 km).

STAY Kipling’s Court Tel: (07695) 232830 / 232850 / 9300327575 Email: kcpench@mptourism.com

barheaded geese, coots and so on visit the tanks and the Pench reservoir within the park. Four species of the now endangered vultures, the white-rumped, longbilled, white scavenger and king vulture, can be seen in good numbers in the Reserve. The other fauna present include 50 species of fishes, 10 amphibians, 30 reptiles, 45 butterflies, 54 moths and numerous other insects. Situated at a distance of just 18 km from Pench’ s Turia gate is the tiny, spotless Pachdhar village. Outside practically every home, potters sit at their wheels, shaping glorious art from lumps of clay. Watch them work their fascinating craft, and take a piece of it home. You can even try your hand at the wheel if you desire. There is also a cluster of villages around the park where you can get a glimpse of the local culture and customs of the Gond tribe. g

www.gfilesindia.com

STOCK DOCTOR dr gs sood

P

Consolidate in the lull

OST the September quarter earnings, the market may remain bearish in the short to medium term due to stretched valuations with earnings not likely to pick up soon and further downgrades by analysts for FY 2016 and 2017. Also, the Fed rate hike is not going to be a one-off affair; rather, there may be a series of hikes. The world markets, especially the emerging markets, are likely to be on tenterhooks. Despite improved macro-economic fundamentals, India may still not be completely immune due to the impact the Fed hike may have on the outflows of FPI money. The global recovery too is taking longer than expected, resulting in Indian exports falling by 17.3 per cent y-o-y in October, the 11th successive month of contraction. Most analysts feel that the dollar rally has just begun and that the rupee may weaken further. A weak rupee will not only push up inflation but can also result in financial trouble for companies that have un-hedged dollar loans as the rupee cost of their debt will mount. The dollar debt of Indian companies has grown rapidly and is estimated at $125 billion now. Though global oil prices are generally seen to have a negative correlation with the dollar, it is yet to be seen whether the trend holds this time too. All this can have a serious impact on the financial stability of the economy. The banking system continues to be under considerable stress, which is affecting both the earnings momentum for the market and investment activity in general. India’s growth story also appears to be fading out, as indicated by declining exports and

also by the fact that non-oil, non-gold imports are not improving—pointing to declining domestic demand, especially investment demand. Bank credit growth too has declined in October. FPIs have sold stocks worth `14,212 crore so far in this financial year. The market might have witnessed sharper correction but for the support provided by record buying of domestic institutional investors (DIIs) on behalf of retail investors who returned to the market in 2014. These flows are expected to sustain, given the lack of attractive investment alternatives and the general belief that the present government has been doing its bit on the reforms front. FDI has shown strong growth, providing some cushion to the rupee in the near term.

India still remains the most attractive market globally. Not only have macro parameters such as current account deficit, fiscal deficit and inflation improved considerably, the government is committed to reforms, boosting growth and creating jobs without going populist. This is evident in the spate of announcements post the BJP’s debacle in the Bihar elections. India’s attractiveness stems from the fact that nowhere else in the world can investors find a $2 trillion market growing at 7 per cent, with the economy at the bottom of the cycle and monetary policy becoming more accommodative. Investors may make effective use of the current lull in the market to get decent returns over a time horizon of two-three years. g

Stock Shop BY

RAKESH BHARDWAJ

Banco Products (India) (CMP `137)

T

HE company has been supplying highquality engine cooling components and engine sealing gaskets for over five decades now. Its four modern manufacturing plants based in Vadodara and Mumbai have state-of-the-art facilities for production, design and development and quality assurance. It offers over 12,000 varieties of gaskets in multi-layered steel, graphite, fibre steel and copper designs for automotive, agricultural vehicles, and diesel commercial vehicles; radiators for cars and pickups, industrial radiators, air-to-air intercoolers, custom-designed intercoolers, intercooler cores for various commercial vehicles and off-road indus-

trial applications; and compressed jointing sheets using non-asbestos raw materials which are environment-friendly. The company is an OEM to Indian automobile majors including Telco, Ashok Leyland, Mahindra & Mahindra, Premier Auto, Hindustan Motors and Maruti. It exports to Australia, Germany, Singapore and the United Kingdom. An almost zero debt company, EPS for two consecutive quarters is more than `8, giving a PE of less than 9 based on annualised EPS for FY2016 as against industry PE of around 40. With the promoters’ holding at 68 per cent, the company is riding on the boom in the auto sector that will get further bolstered with implementation of the 7th Pay Commission and a more accommodative monetary policy. Buy for decent returns over a period of 2-3 years.

The author has no exposure in the stock recommended in this column. gfiles does not accept responsibility for investment decisions by readers of this column. Investment-related queries may be sent to editor@gfilesindia.com with Bhardwaj’s name in the subject line.

www.indianbuzz.com

gfiles inside the government

vol. 9, issue 9 | December 2015

51

birthdays IAS officers’ birthdays Dec 16, 2015 — Jan 15, 2016

IAS officers’ birthdays Dec 16, 2015 — Jan 15, 2016

Narsingh Narayan Pandey

Rajneesh Gupta

Raj Bir Singh

Praveen Kumar Srivastava

CADRE: JHARKHAND

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: HARYANA

CADRE: ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

pandeyn3@ias.nic.in

guptar2@ias.nic.in

singhrb1@ias.nic.in

spraveen@ias.nic.in

Subodh Agarwal

Manikant Prasad Singh

Amarendra Kumar Dubey

Arvind Ray

CADRE: RAJASTHAN

CADRE: PUNJAB

CADRE: KERALA

CADRE: UNION TERRITORY

subodha@ias.nic.in

singhmp@ias.nic.in

dubeyak@ias.nic.in

raya@ias.nic.in

Neeraj Mittal

Vijayendra Kumar

Bhagwan Sahai

Kush Verma

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

CADRE: HARYANA

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

mittaln2@ias.nic.in

kumarv9@ias.nic.in

sahaib@ias.nic.in

vermak@ias.nic.in

MK Varshney

Shyam S Agarwal

Debashis Sen

Kishan Singh Atoria

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: RAJASTHAN

CADRE: WEST BENGAL

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

varshney@ias.nic.in

ssagarwl@ias.nic.in

sendeb@ias.nic.in

atoriaks@ias.nic.in

Mandeep Singh Sandhu

Vinesh K Jairath

Sudarsanam Srinivasan

Ganesh Shanker Mishra

CADRE: PUNJAB

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: ODISHA

CADRE: CHHATTISGARH

sandhums@ias.nic.in

jairathv@ias.nic.in

snivas7@ias.nic.in

mishrags@ias.nic.in

Upamanyu Chatterjee

Shashi Shekhar

G Mathi Vathanan

Ekroop Caur

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

CADRE: KARNATAKA

upmanyuc@ias.nic.in

shekars@ias.nic.in

vathanan@ias.nic.in

caure@ias.nic.in

Sanjay Kumar Singh

Pankaj Jain

Anand B Kulkarni

K Ellangovan

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: KERALA

singhsk4@ias.nic.in

jainp4@ias.nic.in

kulkarna@ias.nic.in

ellango@ias.nic.in

Malini V Shankar

KP Krishnan

Gurjot Kaur

Ashutosh Bhargava

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: KARNATAKA

CADRE: RAJASTHAN

CADRE: RAJASTHAN

svmalini@ias.nic.in

krishkp@ias.nic.in

kaurg@ias.nic.in

bhargav5@ias.nic.in

Subash Chandra

Amit Kr Ghosh

Sada Kant

Pradeep Kumar Mohanty

CADRE: KARNATAKA

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

csubash2@ias.nic.in

ghoshak@ias.nic.in

kants@ias.nic.in

mpradeep@ias.nic.in

N Muruganandam

KM Abraham

Gagan Kumar Dhal

Naini Jayaseelan

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

CADRE: KERALA

CADRE: ODISHA

CADRE: UNION TERRITORY

manandn@ias.nic.in

abrahamk@ias.nic.in

dhalgk@ias.nic.in

jayaseel@ias.nic.in

Sudhir Kumar

Rajeev Ranjan

Radhey Shyam Poddar

Amita Prasad

CADRE: UNION TERRITORY

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: JHARKHAND

CADRE: KARNATAKA

kumars14@ias.nic.in

ranjanr2@ias.nic.in

poddarrs@ias.nic.in

prasad4@ias.nic.in

Saraswati Prasad

Ajeet Singh Pannu

Suresh Chandra

Raghuveer Shrivastava

CADRE: ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

CADRE: PUNJAB

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

prasads8@ias.nic.in

aspannu.ias@ias.nic.in

csuresh@ias.nic.in

sraghu@ias.nic.in

Aariz Aftab

Chandrakant Kumar Anil

Shekhar Prasad Singh

Pramod Kumar Jain

CADRE: WEST BENGAL

CADRE: BIHAR

CADRE: ANDHRA PRADESH

CADRE: JAMMU & KASHMIR

aftaba@ias.nic.in

kumarca@ias.nic.in

singhsp4@ias.nic.in

jainpk2@ias.nic.in

16-12-1956

17-12-1965

17-12-1967

18-12-1956

18-12-1957

19-12-1959

20-12-1962

22-12-1958

22-12-1959

23-12-1967

23-12-1974

24-12-1960

24-12-1964

25-12-1963

26-12-1959

26-12-1969

27-12-1956

27-12-1958

28-12-1956

28-12-1965

29-12-1959

29-12-1966

30-12-1957

30-12-1963

31-12-1956

31-12-1967

01-01-1957

01-01-1959

02-01-1958

02-01-1960

03-01-1956

03-01-1966

04-01-1956

04-01-1959

05-01-1958

05-01-1960

06-01-1956

06-01-1963

07-01-1958

07-01-1962

08-01-1960

09-01-1956

10-01-1957

10-01-1957

11-01-1975

12-01-1962

13-01-1957

13-01-1958

14-01-1957

14-01-1962

15-01-1956

15-01-1958

For the complete list, see www.gfilesindia.com

52

gfiles inside the government

vol. 9, issue 9 | December 2015

www.gfilesindia.com

birthdays IPS officers’ birthdays Dec 16, 2015 — Jan 15, 2016

IPS officers’ birthdays Dec 16, 2015 — Jan 15, 2016

Soumen Mitra

Rajvir Pratap Sharma

Ahmed Javed

Sanjay Kumar Singh

CADRE: WEST BENGAL

CADRE: KARNATAKA

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: ODISHA

smitra@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

rpsharma@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

ajaved@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

sanjay_kumar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Paramjit Singh Grewal

Ashish Gupta

Ravi Kumar Gupta

Rina Mitra

CADRE: PUNJAB

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

psgrewal@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

ashishgupta@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

ravikgupta@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

rinamitra@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Amrit Kalash

Sanjay Kumar Agrawal

Sudhir Pratap Singh

P Nagarajan

CADRE: RAJASTHAN

CADRE: RAJASTHAN

CADRE: RAJASTHAN

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

amrit@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

s_k_agarwal@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

sudhirpsingh@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

pnagarajan@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

M Madhukar Shetty

Swati Lakra

Suresh Kunhi Mohamed

Gopal Lal Meena

CADRE: KARNATAKA

CADRE: ANDHRA PRADESH

CADRE: KARNATAKA

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

kmshetty@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

swatilakra@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

skmohamed@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

glmeena@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

PM Mohan

Pawan Kumar Shrivastava

Tirthraj

Nayyar H Khan

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: GUJARAT

CADRE: BIHAR

pmmohan@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

pkshrivastava@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

tirthraj@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

nhkhan@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

N Kannan

Rajnish Seth

Thandi Lal Meena

Jayesh K Bhatt

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: RAJASTHAN

CADRE: GUJARAT

nkannan@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

rajnishseth@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

kishankumar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

jkbhatt@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Tadasha Mishra

RJ Savani

Arun Kumar Sharma

Bhajani Ram Meena

CADRE: JHARKHAND

CADRE: GUJARAT

CADRE: GUJARAT

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

tmishra@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

rjsavani@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

arunksharma@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

brmeena@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

G Janardhan

GR Meena

Ravi Kanta

Damayanti Sen

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: ODISHA

CADRE: WEST BENGAL

gjanardan@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

grmeena@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

rkbihar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

damayanthisen@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Amar Kumar Pandey

Harmeet Singh

Safi Ahsan Rizvi

Abhishek Pathak

CADRE: KARNATAKA

CADRE: ASSAM- MEGHALAYA

CADRE: UTTARAKHAND

CADRE: CHHATTISGARH

akpandey@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

harmeet@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

sarizv@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

apathak@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

DK Pattanayak

Rajeev Kumar

Ranveer Kumar

RV Jotangia

CADRE: ODISHA

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

CADRE: WEST BENGAL

CADRE: GUJARAT

dkpattanayak@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

rajeevkumar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

rkumar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

rvjotangia@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Aswati G

Tejinderpal Singh

Avinash Chandra

Ravi Sinha

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: PUNJAB

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: CHHATTISGARH

gaswati@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

tejinderpal@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

avinash@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

ravisinha@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

AK Patnaik

Mohd W Ansari

Nuzhat Hussan

Jasvir Singh

CADRE: GUJARAT

CADRE: CHHATTISGARH

CADRE: AGMUT

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

akpatnaik@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

ansari@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

nuzhathassan@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

jasvir@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

RK Vij

Surajit Kar Purakayastha

Sudhir Kumar Sahi

Sunil Kumar Jha

CADRE: CHHATTISGARH

CADRE: WEST BENGAL

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: BIHAR

rkvij@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

surajitkp@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

sksahi@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

sunilkumarjha@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

16-12-1961

16-12-1956

17-12-1963

17-12-1971

18-12-1957

18-12-1972

19-12-1965

20-12-1963

20-12-1962

21-12-1971

21-12-1973

22-12-1958

22-12-1961

23-12-1960

25-12-1966

27-12-1968

27-12-1970

28-12-1965

29-12-1963

29-12-1959

30-12-1962

30-12-1968

31-12-1968

31-12-1958

01-01-1958

01-01-1957

02-01-1956

02-01-1969

03-01-1958

03-01-1966

04-01-1959

04-01-1957

05-01-1961

05-01-1972

06-01-1966

06-01-1966

07-01-1965

07-01-1966

08-01-1965

08-01-1965

09-01-1959

09-01-1961

10-01-1963

10-01-1973

11-01-1959

12-01-1965

13-01-1970

13-01-1978

14-01-1958

14-01-1964

15-01-1968

15-01-1967

For the complete list, see www.gfilesindia.com

www.indianbuzz.com

gfiles inside the government

vol. 9, issue 9 | December 2015

53

Lok Sabha Members

Dec 16, 2015 — Jan 15, 2016

Lok Sabha Members

Dec 16, 2015 — Jan 15, 2016

Subhash Chandra

Arvind Ganpat Sawant

Bhola Singh

Shibu Soren

BJP (Rajasthan)

SS (Maharashtra)

BJP (Bihar)

JMM (Jharkhand)

baheriasc@gmail.com

arvindsawantg@gmail.com

bholasingh.mp@sansad.nic.in

shisoren@sansad.nic.in

Rattan Lal Kataria

Ram Tahal Choudhary

Kalyan Banerjee

M Veerappa Moily

BJP (Haryana)

BJP (Jharkhand)

AITC (West Bengal)

INC (Karnataka)

ratanlal.kataria@sansad.nic.in

ramtahalchoudhy@gmail.com

kalyan.banerjee@sansad.nic.in

vmoily@kar.nic.in

Manoj Rajoria

Prem Singh Chandumajra

Deepender Singh Hooda

Sakshi Ji Swami Maharaj

BJP (Rajasthan)

SAD (Punjab)

INC (Haryana)

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

manoj.rajoria@sansad.nic.in

chandumajra50@gmail.com

office@deepender.in

sakshi@sansad.nic.in

Raj Kumar Singh

Hari Narayan Rajbhar

Murli Manohar Joshi

Baijayant Panda

BJP (Bihar)

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

BJD (Odisha)

rksinghmpare@gmail.com

harinarayan.rajbhar@sansad.nic.in

murli@sansad.nic.in

bj.panda@sansad.nic.in

Arjun Ram Meghwal

Manhor Untwal

Ranjeet Ranjan

Dimple Yadav

BJP (Rajasthan)

BJP (Madhya Pradesh)

INC (Bihar)

SP (Uttar Pradesh)

arjunrammeghwal@gmail.com

utawalmanohar@gmail.com

ranjeet.ranjan19@sansad.nic.in

dimpleyadav78@gmail.com

Laxman Giluwa

Chandrakant Bhaurao Khaire

BJP (Jharkhand)

SS (Maharashtra)

laxman.giluwa@sansad.nic.in

cbkhaire@gmail.com

17-12-1956

19-12-1951

19-12-1969

20-12-1952

20-12-1953

20-12-1964

31-12-1951

1-1-1942

1-1-1950

1-1-1950

1-1-1950

1-1-1952

Kunwar Sarvesh Kumar

Sanwar Lal Jat

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

BJP (Rajasthan)

sarveshsinghbjp@gmail.com

sanwarlalj@gmail.com

22-12-1951

1-1-1955

Rajesh Ranjan (Pappu Yadav) Udit Raj 24-12-1967

1-1-1958

RJD (Bihar)

BJP (NCT of Delhi)

pappu.yadav@sansad.nic.in

udit.raj@sansad.nic.in

3-1-1939

4-1-1957

4-1-1978

5-1-1934

7-1-1974

11-1-1944

12-1-1940

12-1-1956

12-1-1964

15-1-1978

Rajya Sabha Members Dec 16, 2015 — Jan 15, 2016 Vijay Mallya

INC (Chhattisgarh)

18-12-1955

m.kidwai@sansad.nic.in

IND (Karnataka)

Nand Kumar Sai

mallya.v@sansad.nic.in

01-01-1946

Motilal Vora

BJP (Chhattisgarh)

20-12-1928

nk.sai@sansad.nic.in

INC (Chhattisgarh)

Mohd Ali Khan

vora@sansad.nic.in

01-01-1948

Ramdas Athawale

INC (Andhra Pradesh)

25-12-1959

alikhan@sansad.nic.in

RPI(A) (Maharashtra)

Vijay Goel

CL Ruala

Ramchandra Paswan

INC (Mizoram)

LJSP (Bihar)

rualacl@gmail.com

ramchandra.paswan@sansad.nic.in

Vivek Gupta 27-12-1975

BJP (Rajasthan)

Harishchandra D Chavan

Nityanand Rai

AITC (West Bengal)

Anand Sharma

BJP (Maharashtra)

BJP (Bihar)

harishchandra.chavan@sansad.nic.in

nityanandrai85@gmail.com

AK Antony

INC (Rajasthan)

28-12-1940

anandsharma@sansad.nic.in

Deepak (Dev) Adhikari

Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia

INC (Kerala)

Kanimozhi

AITC (West Bengal)

INC (Madhya Pradesh)

medevadhikari@gmail.com

office.scindia@yahoo.com

Arun Jaitley

DMK (Tamil Nadu)

28-12-1952

kanimozhi@sansad.nic.in

K Maragatham

Ashwini Kumar Choubey

BJP (Gujarat)

MJ Akbar

AIADMK (Tamil Nadu)

BJP (Bihar)

maragathamkmj@gmail.com

25-12-1935

25-12-1951

25-12-1982

27-12-1982

1-1-1962

1-1-1966

1-1-1971

2-1-1953

vivekgupta.mp@sansad.nic.in

ak.antony@sansad.nic.in

ajaitley@sansad.nic.in

04-01-1954

05-01-1953

05-01-1968

11-01-1951

ashwinikumar.choubey@sansad.nic.in

Avinash Rai Khanna

BJP (Jharkhand)

30-12-1960

mj.akbar@sansad.nic.in

Narendra Keshav Sawaikar

Kirti Azad

BJP (Punjab)

Mayawati

BJP (Goa)

BJP (Bihar)

sawaikar.narendra@gmail.com

kirtiazad.office@gmail.com

29-12-1966

2-1-1959

khanna.avinash@sansad.nic.in

Mohsina Kidwai 01-01-1932

15-01-1956

BSP (Uttar Pradesh)

mayawati@sansad.nic.in

For the complete list, see www.gfilesindia.com

54

gfiles inside the government

vol. 9, issue 9 | December 2015

www.gfilesindia.com

Tracking RAKESH SHARMA The 1981-batch IAS officer (retd), Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand, has been appointed Chief Principal Secretary to the Uttarakhand Chief Minister.

ADITYA PRASAD PADHI The 1983-batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre has been appointed new Chief Secretary of Odisha.

UPENDRA NATH BEHERA The 1983-batch IAS officer of the Odisha cadre is the new Additional Chief Secretary to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

SHATRUGHNA SINGH The 1983-batch IAS officer of the Uttarakhand cadre has been appointed the Chief Secretary of Uttarakhand.

R BALAKRISHNAN & VISHAL DEV The 1984-batch IAS officer is the new Development Commissioner and Additional Chief Secretary (Finance) whereas the

For a complete list of appointments & retirements, see www.gfilesindia.com

former will hold additional charge of the Finance department as Special Secretary.

cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Food & Public Distribution.

PROMOD KUMAR JAIN

TVSN PRASAD

The 1985-batch IAS officer has been given Chief Secretary rank in Jammu & Kashmir.

The 1988-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.

UKS CHAUHAN The 1986-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.

AJV PRASAD The 1986-batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries.

PRAVIR KRISHNA The 1987-batch IAS officer of the Madhya Pradesh cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Shipping.

RACHANA SHAH The 1988-batch IAS officer of the Kerala

Moving On: IAS officers retiring in December 2015 ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

Subhash Chandra Das (1981) Davinder Kumar (1984)

CHHATTISGARH

SR Brahmane (2000)

GUJARAT

PP Harshe (1998) DA Satya (2000)

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Jagdish Chand Chauhan (2000)

KERALA

K Ajaya Kumar (1997)

KARNATAKA

M Madan Gopal (1984)

MAHARASHTRA

Shailesh Kumar Sharma (1984) PM Mahajan (2001)

MADHYA PRADESH

Chandrahas Dubey (1994) Ashok Kumar Singh (2000) Chatur Bhuj Singh (2001)

MANIPUR-TRIPURA

V Chhiber (1978) Sanjay Kumar Panda (1980)

ODISHA

Bikash Chandra Mohapatra (1997)

RAJASTHAN

CS Rajan (1978)

TELANGANA

Parvathi Subramanian (2005)

TAMIL NADU

IS CHAHAL The 1989-batch IAS officer of the Maharashtra cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

MANOJ JOSHI The 1989-batch IAS officer of the Kerala cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises (MSME).

SANDEEP SAXENA The 1989-batch IAS officer of the Tamil Nadu cadre has been appointed Deputy Election Commissioner at Joint Secretary Level, Election Commission of India.

PANKAJ JAIN The 1990-batch IAS officer of the AssamMeghalaya cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Financial Services.

KALPANA AWASTHI The 1990-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion.

JITENDRA NARAYAN

Surjit Kr Chaudhary (1980) T Prabhakara Rao (1982) C Manoharan (2006)

The 1990-batch IAS officer of the Union Territory cadre has been appointed Financial Commissioner in the Delhi Government.

UTTAR PRADESH

VANDANA GURNAI

Surya Pratap Singh (1982) Ashok Kumar Verma (1994) Arvind Narayan Mishra (1997) Murali Dhar Dubey (1998) Anil Kumar Singh (2000) Prem Narayan (2000) Vinod Kumar Pawar (2000)

UNION TERRITORY

P Mathew Samuel (2001)

WEST BENGAL

Subesh Kumar Das (1982)

The 1991-batch IAS officer of the Karnataka cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Health & Family Welfare.

TCA KALYANI The 1991-batch IAS officer has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment.

AMRIT ABHIJAT The 1995-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.

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Tracking

For a complete list of appointments & retirements, see www.gfilesindia.com

PHOTOS: PIB

SANJIV KUMAR The 1992-batch IAS officer of the Union Territory cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Revenue.

D SURESH The 1995-batch IAS officer of the Haryana cadre has been assigned additional charge of Resident Commissioner, Haryana Bhawan, New Delhi.

SUJATA MEHTA The 1980-batch IFS officer has been appointed Secretary, West in the Ministry of External Affairs.

PREETI SARAN The 1982-batch IFS officer has been appointed Secretary, East in the Ministry of External Affairs.

President Pranab Mukherjee with Officer Trainees of the 67 RR (2014 batch) of the Indian Police Service from the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad, at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi

AMAR SINHA The 1982-batch IFS officer has been appointed Secretary, ER in the Ministry of External Affairs.

SYED AKBARUDDIN The 1985-batch IFS officer has been appointed the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations at New York.

KB SINGH The 1985-batch IPS officer of the Odisha cadre has been appointed DGP of Odisha.

SATYENDRA GARG The 1987-batch IPS officer of the Union Territory cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.

President Pranab Mukherjee meeting the probationers of the Indian Defence Accounts Services (IDAS) of the 2013-14 batch at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi

SATINDER PAL SINGH

PRADEEP GUPTA

ASHWANI KUMAR

The 1985-batch IoFS officer has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs.

The 1988-batch IRS-IT officer has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Defence (Finance).

KUMAR RAKESH SINHA

ABHAY DAMLE

The 1996-batch IoFS officer has been appointed Assistant Director General at Director level in the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Delhi.

The 1989-batch IRS-IT officer has been appointed Joint Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.

RAMESH CHANDRA MISHRA The 1979-batch IRS-IT officer has been appointed new Member of the CBDT.

The IRS-IT officer has been appointed Director (TPL-II) in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

RAVI AGRAWAL

PITAMBER DAS

The 1988-batch IRS-IT officer has been appointed Joint Secretary, Department of Disinvestment.

The IRS-IT officer has been appointed Director (TPL-III) in the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT).

The 1995-batch IPS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre has been appointed Director, Ministry of Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation.

SINDHU PILLAI The 2001-batch IPS officer of the Union Territory cadre has been appointed Deputy Secretary, Department of Financial Services.

P MALLIKARJUNA RAO The 1985-batch IFS officer of the Andhra Pradesh cadre, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Training) has been appointed Commissioner, Marketing in Andhra Pradesh.

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PRAVIN RAWAL

www.gfilesindia.com

...by the way You’re incompetent, Chhota Rajan sneers at CBI

T

hey say that hat crime is usually a ad of the law. step ahead Rajendra Sadashiv dashiv Nikalje aka Chhota Rajan was certainly ahead ad of the Central Bureau of Investigation ion (CBI) when he was in their custody, ody, stationed in the investigation n chamber in the he organisation’s ’s headquarters. s. Now, Chhota Rajan is a dream catch (it is said that Ajit Doval, the 70-year-old old National Security u ity ur Adviser, was the brains behind his arrest, having told some people he was in touch with the Indonesian authorities a few days before the news broke) for an investigation agency. When an international gangster is nabbed, a complete dossier is immediately readied for the interrogation. But the CBI was not equipped to interrogate him (who ordered that the agency should carry out the interrogation has not been disclosed). Sources say that Chhota Rajan realised in no time that his interrogators were novices regarding the international underworld. So, one day, during his interrogation, he bluntly told the CBI men that they were not competent enough to interrogate him and he would only speak to senior Intelligence Bureau (IB) officials with domain knowledge of global crime. The CBI officials did not want to call the Mumbai cops as they were very harsh with the gangster when they interacted with him in the first phase. The second problem was that he could not be sent to Mumbai. Now Chhota Rajan is housed in Tihar Jail Barrack No 2. g

www.indianbuzz.com

Kejriwal driving his babus away

R

arely do street protest leaders turn into good administrators on taking hold of the reins of government. There are umpteen examples to cite from the recent past…Karpoori Thakur, Devi Lal, Mamata Banerjee…and now there’s Arvind Kejriwal. That the government of Delhi is functioning at all is a wonder. There’s mayhem and discontent in the corridors of power. Kejriwal does less work than he creates news. He has reportedly created a coterie of a few senior administrative officers who are managing to run the government with the help of junior officers. IAS officers in Delhi are aghast and unhappy. AAP MLAs have become openly demanding and, like any other political outfit, want their supporters to be accommodated within the government and sarkari social benefits to be doled out to them. Second, the tone and tenor of the ministers and MLAs have become aggressive. Naturally, most senior officers of the AGMUT cadre are to be seen in the corridors of North Block. Insiders reveal that the Delhi bureaucracy is not left with much that is constructive or career promoting. Generally, AGMUT-cadre officers are known to stay more in Delhi than any other place, but now they are all looking to go anywhere else. There should be harmonious relations between the bureaucracy and the Chief Minister. Kejriwal should mend his ways y fast. g

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...by the way Making amends for amending an Act

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Snafu in PSUs

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ublic Sector Undertakings (PSUs) are crucial for any government but it’s very difficult to understand their complete network and they are dealt with by related domain ministries. The Modi government has a massive restructuring and disinvestment plan for PSUs. Approximately 50 of them can sustain themselves, the rest are like the burden on Atlas’ shoulders. But the government is cautious regarding those PSUs that need a Chairman and Managing Director (CMD). It appears there is a crisis of competent and worthy people to appoint. The National Mineral Development Corporation, the Steel Authority of India and NTPC are examples of important PSUs which are headless. These are massive PSUs with budgets equalling the national budgets of some of the tiny European countries. Functioning without a head or led by an officer with additional charge affects the performance of the organisation. Major policy decisions are not being taken. And this impact travels down the line in the organisation. Though CMDs for NMDC and SAIL have been selected by the PESB, their files are awaiting approval for months. Nothing can be done to speed it up. The PM cannot be directly approached for this. Sorry status quo. g

arendra Modi’s efforts to bring in Foreign Direct Investment are bearing fruit but the big-ticket companies are waiting and watching regarding Vodafone’s alleged tax evasion. Vodafone is embroiled in a tax dispute over its purchase of Hutchison Essar Telecom services in April 2007. The transaction involved purchase of assets of an Indian company so the transaction, or part thereof, was liable to be taxed in India, according to the tax department. A fierce corporate battle ensued in the courts. The then Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, was so determined to recover the tax that the government changed the Income Tax Act retrospectively and made sure that any company, in similar circumstances, was unable to avoid paying g tax byy operating p g out of tax havens like the Cayman Islands or Liechtenstein. In May 2012, Indian authorities confirmed they were going to charge Vodafone about `20,000 crore ($4.5 billion) in tax and fines. The Congress party wanted to amend the amended Income Tax Act immediately after Pranab Mukherjee became President of India but the problem was that the President would have had to amend his own Act as Finance Minister and this was awkward. Multinationals inclined to invest in India are waiting for the amended Act to be amended. This can be done by a simple majority in Parliament. Sources disclose that former Finance Minister P Chidambaram has pointed out the issue to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley in a special meeting. Now the ball is in the Modi government’s court. g ILLUSTRATIONS: ARUNA

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Regn.No.DL(C)-14/1161/2013-15 Licence No. U(C)-03/2013-15, Licence to post without prepayment Posted on 7th & 8th of every month at SPM SRT Nagar, Post Office, New Delhi 110055 R.N.I. No: DELENG/2007/19719. `200, vol. 9, issue 9 | Date of Publication: 5/12/2015 | Pages 60

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