gfiles magazine

July 15, 2016

From the Editor



The post of Chief Secretary is not only enshrined in the Constitution as the sole authority of the administration, but the person holding the post is also the custodian of civil services of a State. In Haryana, the Chief Secretary used to have an aura of strength. I have seen many Chief Secretaries in the State in the last 34 years and most of them worked with dignity and authority.

Vadra land deal Dhesi under a cloud



When Manohar Lal Khattar took over as the Chief Minister of Haryana on October 26, 2014, he did not have a slightest idea how to run the administration. Khattar joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1977. He worked as a full-time pracharak for 14 years before moving to the BJP in 1994. During 2000-2014, Khattar was Organisational General Secretary of the BJP in Haryana.

School for scams



In case you are wondering why mega public sector undertakings continue to make losses and bleed, here’s why: Mismanagement and total lack of accountability from top to bottom in the leadership chain.

One of the classic examples of such mismanagement and sorry state of affairs is Metals and Minerals Trading Corporation of India Ltd (MMTC), one of India’ top exporters, highest foreign exchange earner and largest public sector trading giant, which has been accorded the status of a Five Star Export House by the Government of India.

The war within


The war for parity between IAS and non-IAS officers of the Union Government is far from being over. In the last couple of weeks, it came very close for the non-IAS services to win parity with IAS. I am sure the bitter war of words on the social media and elsewhere will continue unabated despite, or as a consequence of, the Government’s decision to defer it for further examination.

Female power at NHAI’s Mathura toll plaza



To provide better commuting experience to road users using the stretch and for generating employment for female population residing in close vicinity of the Mathura toll plaza, the NHAI concessionaire has employed only local girls as collectors of toll fees. The Delhi-Agra toll project is 180 km in length and connects Delhi, the National capital with the historical town of Agra and has prominent religious places/ towns like Mathura, Virindavan and Govardhan located en route.

Indian democracy’s underbelly



prime Minister Narendra Modi prostrates before Delhi’s Parliament House, venerating it as ‘Temple of Democracy’. At Capitol Hill in Washington DC, he uses the same superlative for the US Congress: “This temple of democracy has encouraged and empowered other democracies the world over… It manifests the spirit of this great nation…