Modi to prune Bureaucracy, “Deadwood” above 50 years on Way out

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

• 320 officers already dismissed
• Quarterly review of 36L Central Govt. employees
• All above 50 years of age under lens
• Retirement prematurely is no punishment
• 50 IRS officials among 320 dismissed so far by Modi
• Review includes all non-Gazette to Secretary level posts

Harish Gupta 

New Delhi, Sep 6

With the Prime Minister outlining his plans to provide a “responsible, responsive and efficient administration,” pnic has gripped 36 lakh employees.

The 10-page circular notified by the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT), directly under PM Modi, has kick-started review of every three months instead of earlier practice of every year. The plan is aimed at weeding out the inefficient and persons of doubtful integrity. 

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Modi has also brought down the age of review from 55 years to 50 years to start Quarterly review of all employees. Modi has already sent a record number of 320 officers packing of Class A & B and wants to fast-track this process now at all levels. The DoPT has directed all ministries and departments to undertake a first review by December 2020 and on a “Quarterly basis” regularly from next year. 

Modi may be ridiculing the Congress regimes for the country’s mess. But when it comes to cleansing the government he invoked laws and rules enacted by late Indira Gandhi in 1972 to weed out corruption in the bureaucracy. The Act was made by the Indira Gandhi government in 1972 and rules so framed give enough powers to any government to change them as needed.

The process of fresh hiring has also slowed down due to pandemic. According to official sources 6.80 lakh posts are vacant at the Centre including Railways. All recruitments in the PSUs are halted for the time being. Fresh hiring of consultants/advisers discouraged.

PMO warns IAS officers for not filing Property details

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Special report (Govt Letter annexed)

PMO warns IAS officers for not filing Property details

Department sends letters to Secretaries, states

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Dec. 19

Extremely upset over the failure of hundreds of IAS officers for not filing their property returns, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now warned them of launching “disciplinary proceedings, among other things”.

For the first time, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) directly under the Prime Minister, has warned the erring officials that action will be initiated against them if they fail to file their property returns. The stern warning came after a series of soft letters were sent to them.

Dr C Chandramouli, secretary, DoPT, wrote to all the secretaries to the government of India and Chief Secretaries of states on November 21, 2019 that a large number of IAS officers have not submitted their property return.

The circular letter stated that as per Rule 16(2) of AIS (Conduct) Rules, 1968 that every member of the Service shall submit an annual return in such form as may be prescribed by the Government in this reqard, giving full particulars regarding the Immovable Property Returns (IPRs) inherited by him or owned or acquired by him or held by him on lease or mortgage,either in his own name or in the name of any member of his family or in the name of any other person.

He said “Failure on the part of the service to comply with the requirements of the aforesaid provisions constitutes good and sufficient reason for institution of disciplinary proceedings, among other things. The government has set a deadline of January 31, 2020 as the final deadline of filing IPRs.

It is learnt that as many as 1500 IAS officers spread across the country have not filed their IPR details out of a total of 6500 IAS officers in the country until 2017 end. The number of IAS officers on Central Deputation Resrve is only 507 while the authorised strength is 1,381.

Now the Government has set a final deadline of January 31,2020 by which the data has to be submitted. If the same is not submitted on line, the Modi Government may proceed with legal and penal actions.

PM determined to reform ‘Babus’

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Exclusive report 

PM determined to reform ‘Babus’

Lateral entrants hiring begins

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Nov. 8

As the bureaucracy continues to function in its own stubborn style, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is introducing a “target-oriented and ground-to-earth” work culture in the system.

with the bureaucracy continuing to work in silos and creating one hurdle after the other, the PM has already introduced the Lateral entry route for recruitment of officers at the level of the Joint Secretary who is the backbone. The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC)  has already recruited nearly a dozen Lateral entrants in the rank of Joint Secretaries as Domain experts. Now the NITI Aayog and DoPT are set to hire 50 officers through this route. But these will be in the rank of Deputy Secretaries and Directors, a step below the JS. The last date of seeking application by NITI Aayog is November 17 and 50 Domain experts will be hired in the rank of Deputy Secretaries and Directors. “All these new recruits outside the regular IAS and other Central Services routes will herald a new era in the Indian bureaucracy and administration,” said a senior officer in the Department of Personnel under the Prime Minister.

He said that the Prime Minister is tired to reforming the monolith bureaucratic culture ever since he came to Lutyen’s Delhi in May 2014. They opposed the bio-metric system for all. Then they all wanted to have two hour lunch break and evenings free for parties. At least 30 such administrative reforms were brought in. Yet, the culture hasn't changed. 

The PM himself gave a clue of his utter dislike  when he addressed ‘combined foundation course’ for 400 young officers that young IAS  officers should go to people, and change the legacy of colonialism. He was addressing the 'combined foundation course' comprising 400 young officers from various services including IAS officers in the in the  'tent city' of Kewadia in Gujarat, “We don’t expect status quo from you. The presence of silos and hierarchy does not help our system.”

The PM had directed that all senior officers must stay for at least one week in a backward district to understand their problem. But he also found that the officers didn’t have the heart in the job assigned. The PM has already shown the door to at least 30 secretary level officers for their poor showing until now. The PM’s sermon is that officers are service providers and its their duty to increase the ease of living of the people.

Lokpal sitting pretty as Govt. yet to frame rules

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Exclusive report 

Lokpal sitting pretty as Govt. yet to frame rules

Ombudsman was created six months ago, function from Hotel Ashok 

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Oct 15

Even six months after the 9-member Lokpal institution came into being in March, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) has not framed rules and procedures to govern country's anti-corruption watchdog.

It transpires that the Chairman of the Lokpal Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose, a retired judge of the Supreme Court, has been communicating with the DoPT for the past several months to expedite framing of rules. He is impressing upon the government to frame rules so that the body could start functioning effectively. The DoPT has to prepare a format under which complaints can be filed against the corrupt government servants including ministers by complainants. The government wants that the complainant has to to lodge a complaint against the persons occupying high office in a proper format rather than on a plain sheet of paper. But there is no format as yet.

The Lokpal was created in a historic decision by the Modi government to probe into the corruption charges against the Ministers including the Prime Minister.

Insiders say that in the absence of rules and procedures, the Lokpal is unable to handle complaints. It is also not clear whether the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) which is dealing with the corruption by the government servants minus political leaders will be brought under the ambit of the Lokpal or not.

At present, the office of Lokpal works from 'The Ashok' hotel in Chanakyapuri and search is on for an alternative building.

Justice Ghose is the Chairman while eight other members include four former chief justices of different high courts, justices Dilip B Bhosale, Pradip Kumar Mohanty, Abhilasha Kumari and Ajay Kumar Tripathi and four ex-government servants. They include former IPS officer Archana Ramasundaram, ex-Maharashtra chief secretary Dinesh Kumar Jain, former IRS officer Mahender Singh and Gujarat cadre ex-IAS officer Indrajeet Prasad Gautam.

So far, the Lokpal has received over 600 complaints and it has disposed most of them. But it is handicapped in the absence of rules & procedures how to proceed. Various complaints are reported to be pending, say sources.

When contacted, a senior officer in the DoPT said, “it is engaging our attention on a priority basis. There are procedural issues and being sorted out.”

ends

Midnight coup in CBI,

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Midnight coup in CBI,

PM sends Director, No. 2 packing finally,

Junior-most Nageshwar Rao made Director

Verma goes to court, Asthana sulks

New Delhi, Oct 24

It was a midnight coup at the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) headquarters never witnessed before when the newly appointed director, M Nageshwar Rao landed there  accompanied by a police convoy to take charge.

The 1986 Odisha cadre officer who hails from Telangana, headed the 11^th floor office of Alok Verma to take charge. There was no one to give him the charge as all top bosses had been sent on forced leave by the government on the recommendations of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC).

When Verma and his number two Rakesh Asthana went to the CBI headquarters in the morning, they were stopped from entering. While Verma went to the Supreme Court to challenge his ouster, Rakesh Asthana went home sulking. The SC will hear the case on Friday.

The Cabinet Committee of Appointment (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister had issued the order at 11.45 pm yesterday asking Rao to take over the “duties and functions of CBI director with immediate effect.” The decision was taken by the PM at 11.30 pm and the file was sent by hand to the residence of Home Minister Rajnath Singh who is also a member of the ACC. Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State in the PMO, had asked Rao earlier to be ready to leave for an important assignment at a short notice. He had no clue what that assignment will be. But all hell broke within the next 30 minutes when the official order was put out making him the new director during the period of “subsistence.” Interestingly, there is no order till now on the website of the DoPT divesting Alok Verma of the charge of the CBI and sending him on leave. However, Alok Verma and Rakesh Asthana were informed about their "compulsory leave" through official messengers.

In a bizarre move, the police personnel of the Delhi Police cordoned off the CBI building at 12.30 am and around 1.45 am, M Nageswar Rao came escorted by a police convoy to take charge. The stories that Rao sealed Verma's office are baseless as all the files are being scanned in the room. A new team of officers has been deputed to probe all pending cases. Nageshwar Rao removed Verma's most trusted officer Additional Director A K Sharma from all the cases. Manish Sinha who is Sharma's junior was also sent packing.

It now transpires that K V Chowdary, Chief Vigilance Commissioner, held a marathon meeting on Tuesday with his two colleagues; Sharad Kumar and M K Bhasin and sent their recommendation to the PM that both the top officers be sent on compulsory leave immediately. 

Chowdary had been asked by the Prime Minister's Office last week to step after efforts to find a solution by NSA Ajit Doval and deputy Principal Secretary P K Mishra failed. It may be mentioned that Nageswar Rao had joined the CBI in 2016 as joint director before his stunning rise as its interim director.

Ends 

Verma sacked on What's App,

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Lokmat Exclusive

Verma sacked on What's App,

top IB officials searched his office,

Took away hard discs, files photo copies

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, Oct. 25

Murky details of midnight coup at the CBI headquarters revealed that its Director Alok Verma was sacked on What's App of his mobile as 1 am yesterday.

The sack order was sent through What's App as an officer of the Department of Personnel under the Prime Minister failed to deliver it physically at Verma's residence at 12.55 am. The security guards posted at Verma's Janpath residence refused to receive the letter saying that the “Saheb has gone to bed.”

Without delivering the sack order, everything would have come to a grinding halt. M Nageshwar Rao could not have taken over as acting chief of the CBI, there would have been no en-mass transfers and no search & seize operation of Verma and his officers premises.

Everybody in the government, right from the PM downwards to National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to deputy principal secretary P K Mishra to Lok Ranjan, additional secretary in the DoPT who signed the actual sack order were keeping their finger crossed in their offices.

Finally, Ajit Doval told Lok Ranjan in the DoPT to send the sack order on what's app. Lok Ranjan didn't have his mobile and that too was provided by the PMO. And fortunately for the government, Verma opened his mobile phone and saw the what's app message. The moment, Lok Ranjan saw the blue lines blinking, the sack order was considered as delivered.

The entire machinery swung into action and a team of eight officers of the Intelligence Bureau (IB) rushed to the CBI headquarters and took control of the two floors where top officers used to work. Even Nageshwar Rao who was made the acting Director was told politely to stay put in his room after a brief visit to Verma's chamber on 11^th floor. The importance of the raid could be gauged from the fact that an officer of the rank of the additional secretary was heading it. They took out hard disks of verma's computers, made photocopies of all the files in his room and sniffed every paper trail. Similarly, another group of officers scanned all the files and computers of A K Bassi, deputy SP who had raided and arrested his another DSP colleague Devender Kumar two days ago. The offices of A K Sharma, Joint Director (Policy) was also thoroughly searched. No one in the CBI was allowed to enter the two floors of the CBI building until the IB sleuths left the place.

It is still a mystery as to what the IB was searching for. Contrary to reports, the government was not unduly worried about the Rafale probe issue as Verma had sent the papers to A K Sharma. These papers were given to the CBI by Prashant Bhushan and routinely sent to Sharma.

But the fact that all hard disks of computers of all these transferred officers was taken away by the IB shows that it was sniffing at something else. It may also be mentioned that A K Sharma who is also a Gujrat cadre IPS officer and trusted lieutenant of PM Modi was only divested of the crucial policy division and not shunted out of Delhi. He has been retained in Delhi as head of the defunct MDMA which is probing Rajiv Gandhi assassination case for 27 years. Why he chose to side with Verma instead of Rakesh Asthana is still a mystery.

Ends 

Fly on the wall :BJP-JD (U) tussle for Araria LS seat

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

BJP-JD (U) tussle for Araria LS seat

The new alliance partners, BJP and Janata Dal (U) are engaged in a bitter battle as to who will contest the Araria Lok Sabha seat which fell vacant after the demise of Shahabuddin (RJD). Since the BJP candidate Pradeep Kumar Singh had secured 40,000 more votes than JD (U)'s Vijay Kumar Mandal during 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP wants the seat. But Nitish Kumar wants the BJP to decide the seat-sharing formula between the two parties for 2019 polls. The BJP is in no mood to open this kind of a dialogue as it had won 32 Lok Sabha seats on its own in 2014 polls out of 40. It thinks a joint candidate of BJP-JD (U) will defeat the RJD in Araria and Nitish Kumar should make a sacrifice. Nitish Kumar is in no mood to do so without a price.

Baffling Defiance by BJP Mps in Lok Sabha

The failure of the Triple Talaq Bill to clear the Rajya Sabha muster hogged the limelight. But what was lost in the din was disaster in the Lok Sabha at the fag end of the Winter session where the BJP Mps defied the party whip. They failed to be present in the House to pass the Backward Classes bill. The NDA has 340 Mps in the Lok Sabha and the presence of only 270 Mps with two third voting in its favour was required. To the shock and disbelief of the ruling BJP, the Mps failed to turn up to complete the quorum when the bill was about to be put to vote. It had to be deferred twice. The Prime Minister was furious and BJP chief Amit Shah was losing his cool in the chamber. But nothing worked. Even the BJP's allies, TDP, Shiv Sena, etc had signaled that they won't be in a position to support the bill. Any lessons learnt ? Not really ! A top BJP manager said that the party had decided to defer its passage due to its own political reasons.

Rahul, Amit Shah face-to-face again

Congress president Rahul Gandhi and BJP president Amit Shah will be face-to-face again. If they entered into bitter power struggle in Gujrat, they will be face-to-face again in Karnataka. BJP chief Shah believes that Karnataka will be the real test of Rahul Gandhi as his challenge will be to retain the most crucial and only major state with the party. “I faced the same challenge in Gujrat,” Amit Shah quipped in an informal chat and added, “Gujrat was not Rahul Gandhi's test, it was our test to retain the state.” Obviously, Karnataka will be the first battle ground between the two party chiefs where both parties are strong. The battle becomes interesting as Rahul Gandhi has transformed into a "Janaudhari" Brahmin. Shah is extremely happy with it as Rahul Gandhi has come to play into BJP's Hindu turf. The battle in Tripura, Meghalaya and Nagaland is essentially not between the Congress and the BJP as north eastern states go with the wind at the centre.

Team Rahul to decide AICC session date, venue

The Team Rahul is unable to make up it mind whether to hold the AICC session before the Karnataka Assembly polls in February or in May. The new dispensation is also unable to make it mind whether to hold the AICC session in Delhi, Bengaluru or somewhere else. Since Parliament will go into recess for a month from February 10, there was a suggestion that one-day AICC session be held to ratify the election of Rahul Gandhi during this period. Another view is that Rahul Gandhi has already been elected unanimously by the Congress Working Committee and there is no hurry to hold AICC. The session can be held whenever possible. The party has to work hard to retain Karnataka which will go to polls before May 5. The Election Commission will most likely declare poll dates in mid-March. The Assembly polls are already underway in three states. Then the biennial elections for 60-odd Rajya Sabha seats will come up in states in March. The venue of the AICC is also a matter of serious consideration. The Gujrat unit is insisting that the AICC be held there to send the right signal to the Modi-Shah team. The BJP is vulnerable in the state and its time to give more attention.

BJP National Executive in February

Even as the Congress continues to in a dilemma over holding of the AICC session, the BJP is likely to hold its National Executive meeting in early February. The reason is that BJP's new 5-storied headquarter will be ready by February and party president Amit Shah is wants to show-case it to the world. The building will be inaugurated by PM Narendra Modi. Amit Shah is also setting up party's top secret War Room on the 5th floor which be a restricted area. If all goes as per plans, the National Executive may be held around the same time.

Major bureaucratic reshuffle in offing

PM Modi will have to undertake another reshuffle in top bureaucracy as two senior secretaries are retiring this month end and another four in a couple of months. Panchayati Raj Secretary Jitendra Shankar Mathur, and Parliament Affairs Secretary Rajiv Yadav will retire in the next 15 days while Kewal Kumar Sharma, Secretary, Dept of Higher Education, Ajay Mittal, Secretary, DOPT, Dr. P Parameshwaran Iyer, Secretary Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation. Iyer and Mines Secretary Arun Kumar will demit office as well. Interestingly, Modi had brought Dr P Parameshwaran Aiyer from retirement and made him secretary again for two years raising eyebrows in the bureaucracy. He has already served his tenure of two years in the ministry and there is resentment in the bureaucracy as new trend has been set by Modi. Normally, serving secretaries are given extensions. But this first time that a retired secretary who had gone home was brought back into the post while serving additional secretaries waiting in the wings for promotion. It is learnt that Modi continues to be upset with the bureaucracy for not taking forward his development agenda. Therefore, he has decided to send senior bureaucrats to district headquarters to be part of his development model.

Modi clips CVC wings

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

Exculsive

Modi clips CVC wings

DOPT says it’s a recommendatory body only

Makes it a toothless

Harish Gupta

New Delhi, April 3: 

The Modi government is all set to make the Central Vigilance Commission a toothless body as it plans to bring a new vigilance law. A prelude to government’s thinking was reflected when the Department of Personnel & Training (DOPT) under the Prime Minister relaxed rules pertaining to Vigilance clearance for senior government officers under the  central government.

The significant change was made through an innocuous order buried under the mêlée of notifications issued by the DOPT in the service rules. The new order says adverse observations made by the CVC against officers pertaining to their conduct will not be binding on the department concerned. Until  now, the recommendations made by the CVC against the officers for their alleged misconduct are binding and can be over-turned only by the CVC or the tribunals or courts.

But the government has decided to clip the wings of the CVC in one go and that too quietly. The government is of the view that creation of one body after the other to punish the erring officials has only delayed justice and put road blocks into good governance. In any case, the Prevention of Corruption Act is of 1988 vintage and changes are needed in this regard. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has strongly advocated a new law in this regard.

The DOPT’s new rule stipulates that the department will have the prerogative whether to accept the recommendation of the CVC or not. However, the department will have to keep the Union Public Service Commission posted with the decision in the event of over-turning the recommendations of the CVC. It is clear from the new situation that the it will be for the department alone to ahead with lower level of punishment or penalty than recommended by the CVC.

The department concerned have been empowered to drop the charges altogether and it will only have to inform the CVC that it has decided to drop the charges. In the event of the CVC again deciding to insist on penalizing the concerned erring officer, the case will go to the DOPT  for the final decision.  

An office memorandum issued this month by the DoPT makes it clear: “All cases, where the Disciplinary Authority (of a department) decides to impose a penalty after conclusion of the proceedings and where UPSC consultation is required as per existing rules/instructions, shall not be referred to the CVC for second stage consultation.” The relaxation, however, will not be applicable to officers of banks and state-run organisations.

The DoPT order is significant because earlier, the case of a corrupt officer would be referred to the CVC for inquiry. Once the CVC had given its recommendation either way, the department concerned was supposed to accept it in toto. But not under the new rules issued where the cobcerned department can reject the finding.

Centre dusting files on OBC reservation data

by Harish Gupta, National Editor, Lokmat Group

DoPT swings into action

Harish Gupta
New Delhi, Oct 26 : The Modi government has fast-tracked collating data with regard to representation of SCs, STs, OBCs and persons with disabilities in government jobs.

Sensing that the issue of reservations of these sections of the society has become controversial recently and may have a bearing on the outcome of Bihar elections, the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) directly under the Prime Minister has asked all ministries and department to furnish information in this regard by October 30.

A circular has been issued by the DoPT on October 20 asking the ministries and departments that they must furnish information with regard to representation of these sections within the next ten days. The information, however, was originally sought by the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC). The commission told the Parliamentary Committee on Welfare of Backward Classes that it had sought the information in connection with formulation of a report on creamy layer. 

The NCBC had requested all departments/ministries through Department of Personnel & Training to provide information in a format prescribed by them. However, no information was forthcoming.

But the DoPT swung into action and directed the ministries and departments to furnish information. The parliamentary committee expressed its dissatisfaction over low representation of OBCs in Central government services and directed DoP&T to collect data sought by NCBC and submit it to the committee urgently.

However, sources in the government say that representation of these sections may not have touched the required 50 percent-mark. But it was moving in the right direction and the figure is going up.