Dilli Ka Babu
Food for thought
There are no free lunches, literally, in Union minister for rural development Jairam Ramesh’s domain. The minister, who strives to strike a different note, has launched a vigorous austerity drive in his ministry. In the minister’s crosshair now is the Council for Advancement of People’s Action and Rural Technology (Capart), which operates out of the India Habitat Centre (IHC) with regional offices across the country. Sources say that Capart is at the top of Mr Ramesh’s restructuring efforts.
Officials working in Capart were routinely issued lunch coupons that they used in the IHC’s upscale restaurants. Mr Ramesh has stopped this practice, claiming it a frivolous waste of money. No one would disagree, except, perhaps, the officials who are experiencing hunger pangs. But perhaps they ought to worry about Mr Ramesh’s proposed plan to shut down nine regional centres of Capart. That’s a sure way to lose one’s appetite and a lot of rather somnolent officials.
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Endless wait
The UPA government’s strange inability to fill crucial senior positions in the bureaucracy has created a critical vacuum in some key departments. Take the directorate general of civil aviation (DGCA), for instance. The civil aviation regulator has been headless since November last year when the present incumbent E.K. Bharat Bhushan’s term expired (he’s serving on extension till a replacement is found). Now the government is planning to relax the recruitment rules. Apparently civil aviation bureaucrats are mulling reducing the required aviation-related experience criterion from 12 to 5 years. Interestingly, former civil aviation minister Vayalar Ravi wanted to reduce this further to three years. The final call now rests with his successor Ajit Singh. On it also hangs the fate of Mr Bhushan, who would like his temporary posting made permanent, and that of A.K. Sharan, at present the senior-most joint director-general.
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Action unfolds?
With the Punjab elections over, the information & broadcasting ministers can expect action, once mantri Ambika Soni gets moving. Infighting at the top at Prasar Bharati has begun to resemble those deathless soap operas we see on television, and Ms Soni expects a clearing up now. Those who expected the dust to settle after the B.S. Lalli episode were clearly mistaken. Now it is A.K. Jain, a 1974-batch IAS officer of the Nagaland cadre and member (finance), who finds himself in trouble and may get repatriated to his parent cadre for “major slip-ups” and “messily handled” accounts under his administration.
Curiously, it was Mr Jain who was responsible for bringing to light certain corruption charges against Mr Lalli. But since Mr Lalli’s retirement last month, Mr Jain has found the spotlight turned on him. Watch this space for updates — and hopefully some real action.
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