The tradition so far has been that Cabinet Ministers have
been instrumental in recommending and transferring officers within their
ministry. But in the NDA regime, the scenario has changed. Sources in different
ministries confided to gfiles that the Prime Minister’s Office has told
Secretaries that they can do away with undesired officers in their ministries
without the concurrent consent of the concerned minister. The Secretaries and
Joint Secretaries actually run the ministries but Secretaries used to work with
Joint Secretaries who join the ministry mostly through political
recommendations. In the last 16 months, whenever Joint Secretaries have been
transferred, they have mostly been transferred on the recommendation of the
Secretaries. On several occasions, the minister of the concerned department has
only gotten to know of the transfer when the AS or JS has met them to say their
formal goodbyes. This newly acquired clout has made Secretaries very powerful
and the AS and JS level officers are seen changing colours to keep their
immediate boss happy. g
September 27, 2015
June 15, 2015
Shivraj’s retinue
Every
Chief Minister today has a set of favourite bureaucrats who deliver according
to his or her wishes without batting an eyelid. This coterie of bureaucrats not
only becomes the eyes and ears of the Chief Minister, but also creates a wall
around him or her.
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1211&Name=COVER%20STORY
Down memory lane
The plaintive voice
of Geeta Dutt wafts through the mind like petals in the wind. At first blush, I
don’t recognise some people. And vice versa! The receding hairline; the greying
here, the whitening there; the formidable girth, the slouch...the assured
poise, the unwavering eye, the confident tone exacerbate the situation.
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1212&Name=REUNION
The Modi milestone
the BJP-led NDA Government’s completion of its first milestone
has been termed ‘Modiversary’ by a leading national daily! Not
without reason, perhaps. Maybe it is time we called the Government of India the
Modi administration, like in the US where a government is referred to by the
name of the directly elected President, like Obama administration, Bush
administration, Clinton administration. Such is the awesome centralisation of
power and visibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the national and
international arenas; as if a parliamentary system of government has
transitioned into a presidential form, and within a year!
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1213&Name=GOVERNANCE
Modi’s endgame
One word is often
enough to sum up the entire life and career of a man, whatever his sphere of
activity. Just one word, God, is enough to tell us what sort of man Gandhi was,
how he must have lived, what beliefs he must have held. His “truth, love,
peace, compassion, non-violence” and all such and similar values issued forth
from just that one word. The same way Nehru’s entire life and career can be
abridged by just uttering the word “science”. His entire political and economic
vocabulary—socialism, humanism, reason, research, industry, scientific temper,
modernity—flowed from that one core term.
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1214&Name=GOVERNANCE
Nagaland CM stumps BJP
For the
Bharatiya Janata Party’s young, dynamic, successful and powerful President,
Amit Shah, it was a big jolt. Despite his refusal of Nagaland Chief Minister TR
Zeliang’s proposal to induct Congress MLAs in his Democratic Nagaland Alliance
government, in which the BJP is an ally, the CM unilaterally completed his
gameplan to finish the opposition in the state assembly to permanently save his
chair.
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1215&Name=STATE%20SCAN
‘Noida better than Gurgaon’
In February this year
when the Akhilesh Yadav Government appointed Nagendra
Prashad Singh, a 2005-batch IAS officer, as District Magistrate of
Gautam Buddh Nagar, its primary objective was to pacify the agitating farmers
and fast-track the development projects which have been pending in the district
adjoining Delhi. Singh (55) was instrumental in settling farmers’ disputes when
he was Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) of the Noida Authority during
Mayawati’s rule. This time around, too, he is close to success, having acquired
most of the land for the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and Indian
Railways’ regional station.
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1216&Name=TALKTIME
The Insider
It
was
at an early stage of his career that Shantonu Sen, a Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI)-cadre officer recruited in the investigating agency as part
of the first batch of directly recruited gazetted officers in 1963, got to know
how the premier central investigative agency is used by politicians to fix
political opponents and unfriendly corporates.
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1217&Name=FIRST%20STIRRINGS
The return of Rahul
Rahul: Come on, chaps. Don’t keep on discussing ad nauseam
and wasting time. Tell me what to do.
Jyotir: We told you bluntly. Our advice is very clear. The first
stage of introspection is to identify the key questions. And the consensus so
far is that the foremost key question is: What is the problem?
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1218&Name=SILLY%20POINT
Activist Bureaucrats
The
Uttar
Pradesh bureaucracy is witnessing a rather new phenomenon. Though I can claim
to be the harbinger of this new movement, it gained true momentum and caught
eyeballs when senior IAS officer Surya Pratap Singh, currently, Principal
Secretary (Public Enterprises) came out in the open to participate in people’s
movements and started expressing his solidarity with various social causes.
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1219&Name=MY%20CORNER
Muted scenario
THE
completion
of one year of the Modi Government has left the market confused since the
analysts I talked to had diametrically opposite views, ranging from extreme
disappointment to happiness and optimism about the future. I would like to be
in the latter camp and feel that under the given circumstances, the government
has already achieved a lot regarding most of the low hanging reforms such as
privatising coal and other mines, higher FDI in defence and insurance, quicker
project clearances, deregulating diesel prices, raising natural gas prices,
enhancing financial inclusion, more flexible labour markets, up to 100 per cent
FDI in key areas besides achieving much in fiscal consolidation.
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1220&Name=STOCK%20DOCTOR
The inward shift
The UN declaration of June 21 as International Yoga
Day comes at a crucial moment in human history. The science of yoga is more
significant today than ever before. For the first time in the history of
humanity, we have the necessary capability to address every issue on the
planet—of nourishment, health, education, you name it.
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1221&Name=PERSPECTIVE
Presidential chaos
trouble brews with
assocham funds’ diversion
Rana Kapoor is not an
unknown name in Mumbai circles. His phenomenal rise in the banking sector took
him to the post of Chairman of Yes Bank. Kapoor is the de jure boss of
the bank but it is reported that the de facto boss is a powerful
politician of Maharashtra. Kapoor has been the President of Assocham for the
last two-and-a-half years. Assocham is a very prestigious industry body which
interacts with the government on behalf of its members. Sunil Kanoria is the
Senior Vice President of Assocham while the Vice President is Sandeep Jajodia.
The immediate past President is Rajkumar Dhoot and a well-established name, DS
Rawat, is the Secretary General of the body. According to sources, the reports
of Kapoor’s dominance are not very encouraging. The time has come for a new
President of Assocham but Kapoor is reportedly reluctant to announce an
election and relinquish charge. Moreover, members are aghast to learn that
Kapoor reportedly transferred fixed deposits worth Rs. 200 crore to Yes
Bank. This money had been kept by Rawat for contingency purposes. According to
sources, Rawat and members of the body are disenchanted with the working style
of Kapoor who is allegedly on a spending spree with the hard-earned money of
Assocham members. It is difficult to stop Kapoor as he has the support of bhau
(big brother), the Maharashtrian leader. g
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1207&Name=Presidential%20chaos
An incorruptible PM
manmohan was left unmoved by lucre
My family and I did not
benefit from the corruption in my government,” former PM Manmohan
Singh stated the other day while commenting on the explosive book by
Pradip Baijal, former TRAI Chairman. “That does seem to be true,”
says veteran journalist BN Uniyal, who
has, incidentally, contributed an article in this issue. Speaking to
gfiles over the phone, the journalist said, “I trust my friend, Rashpal
Malhotra, for that, who once during a conversation at the IIC,
New Delhi, had said, ‘Uniyal, the Sardar is absolutely
incorruptible. All his must-do orders come from No. 10
(Janpath) and whatever comes in return goes there directly. My Sardar
hasn’t the vaguest idea of any quid pro quo. He doesn’t sign on the dotted
line; he only reads out the dotted text to his officers’. Rashpal
should know, for he has been a close friend of the former PM for nearly
five decades and it was because of his relationship of great trust with Rashpal that
Singh appointed his son-in-law as his OSD. Although detractors
at IIC wove many stories about how Rashpal had benefitted from his
proximity to Singh, I can stand witness for him. He certainly drew no
favours from the then Prime Minister other than a temporary directorship
on the board of the State Bank of India. Tell me, what is a director’s
post on the SBI Board worth for such a close friend of a PM?” g
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1208&Name=An%20incorruptible%20PM
PM Hour
meetings with modi have strict time limits
Narendra
Modi works and meets people by the clock. One fine day, Modi met a very senior
leader and Member of Parliament of the BJP. It was a long meeting with the
prominent leader of the party—the first since Modi took over as the Prime
Minister. In the meeting, many issues were discussed—China, US, internal and
other important economic issues—and the learned senior BJP leader kept on
discussing these pertinent and important problems with the Prime Minister.
Whenever a senior leader of the party visits a Prime Minister, time is never a
constraint. It is generally a heart-to-heart talk. Even Atal Bihari Vajpayee
followed the rule when he was Prime Minister; whenever the seniormost members
of the party would meet him, they would feel at home as Vajpayee displayed the
patience and time. But this is not the case with Modi. He is stricter about
time. As per reports from the PMO, Modi does not like it if somebody crosses
the time limit. So, after the meeting with the senior political leader, Modi
said, “Sir, I welcome all your suggestions and will try to follow them through
and I will be grateful if you keep meeting and enlightening me but there is a
request, please keep the time limit in mind.” The senior leader was aghast as
nobody had spoken to him in such a manner in such a long career. Clearly, times
have changed! g
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1210&Name=PM%20Hour
Kejriwal’s BJP allies
delhi cm bolstered by rajnath support
Everybody
is
wondering about the reason behind the new-found confidence of Arvind Kejriwal,
the Chief Minister of Delhi. He is alone. His party is new and all his
political colleagues are novices in understanding the nuances of politics and
governance. Kejriwal roars against the Centre on one pretext or the other every
day. It is very clear, given the recent developments, that Kejriwal cannot move
without support from some force within the central government. Even in the
Delhi Assembly elections, the top BJP and Congress leadership supported him
wholeheartedly. Every day he is on a war path with the Lt. Governor of Delhi,
Najeeb Jung. The manner in which the confrontation is building, it appears that
Kejriwal has a tacit understanding with the Home Ministry. It is an open secret
in the media as well as in the Delhi Secretariat that Home Minister Rajnath
Singh has a soft corner for the Delhi Chief Minister. Even in the BJP, one of
the prominent sections which is not cordial with the present dispensation is
supporting Kejriwal. Insiders report that Kejriwal is also amused by the tacit
support from within the BJP. Home Minister Rajnath Singh has many reasons to
stir up Delhi politics and observe the circus of the Aam Aadmi Party.
Indications are clear as to what Kejriwal and Rajnath Singh desire. g
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1209&Name=Kejriwal%E2%80%99s%20BJP%20allies
Rule of the Brahmins
Who says that
Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav does not take care of Brahmin
officers in Uttar Pradesh? In Akhilesh Yadav’s government, from the top to
district level, Brahmins are ruling everywhere. Retired Brahmins have also been
roped in to run the government smoothly. Navin Chandra Bajpai, Chief Secretary
in the Mulayam Singh Yadav government, is now the Vice Chairman of the State
Planning Commission. Anand Mishra, who created obstacles in Akhilesh’s
government, has been appointed Commissioner (Agriculture). Debashish Panda is
posted as Principal Secretary (Home), Parthsarthi Sen Sharma, who is Akhilesh’s
right-hand man, is working as Secretary to the Chief Minister. Renuka Mishra,
who is Principal Secretary (Women’s Welfare), has also been assigned other
departments. She is known to be the choice of Dimple Yadav, Akhilesh’s
wife. Sadakant Shukla is the Principal Secretary (Housing), Chanchal Tiwari is
Principal Secretary (Panchayati Raj) and Kalpana Awasthi is Principal Secretary
(Higher Education).
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1222&Name=...by%20the%20way
DAW’s the way
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1223&Name=...by%20the%20way
PK Sinha is the top boss
http://gfilesindia.com/frmArticleDetails.aspx?id=1224&Name=...by%20the%20way
May 9, 2015
FROM THE EDITOR
There is popular discontent on the issues
of farmers and their lot, land acquisition and proper utilisation of available
land. All political parties are anxious to appear as champions of the cause of
farmers. The paradox is that none has suggested a concrete solution. The
contribution of agriculture to the GDP is approximately 13 per cent, according
to data available for 2013, but more than 50 per cent of India’s population is
dependent on agriculture.
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