Dilli ka babu
War on corrupt
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has won kudos for his ongoing drive against a corrupt bureaucracy, but seasoned observers point out that the drive cannot be sustained for long due to a “practical problem” which the state government has been ignoring. Apparently, key positions in the state vigilance bureau, the special vigilance unit and the vigilance department of Bihar State Electricity Board, responsible for checking corruption, are lying vacant.
The most significant of these vacancies is that of the additional director general (ADG) of the Bihar Vigilance Bureau, which was held by Anil Sinha, who has since taken up a Central posting. Currently, the position is under the dual charge of two ADG-rank officers, Abhayanand and Sunit Kumar. Meanwhile, the special vigilance unit, which made headlines for conducting raids on former Director General of Police Narayan Mishra and senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer S.S. Verma, is also short-staffed. All eyes are now on the long-awaited reshuffle of Indian Police Service officers. But there is also a view that the IAS lobby would rather have things the way they are.
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Wary babus
The arrest of former telecom secretary Sidharth Behura along with tainted A. Raja in the 2G spectrum scam has got telecom babus increasingly worried. The buzz is that Mr Behura, who had signed the files allowing allocation of 122 licences, may now be willing to spill the beans on his former political master. Telecom babus are concerned that his revelations to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) sleuths may lead to further arrests, including more officials from the department of telecommunications. For now, they are waiting to see how Mr Behura handles his defence.
The obvious fallout of the arrest of Mr Behura and R.K. Chandola in the 2G scam is that rattled babus are now wary of handling sensitive files. As scams continue to tumble out and with the CBI stepping up raids and arrests of babus, the tribesmen obviously are feeling the heat.
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PMO’s question
The appointment of Punjab & Sind Bank’s new chief is hanging fire because the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has questioned the finance ministry’s choice for the position. The bank has traditionally been headed by a Sikh. Apparently when G.S. Vedi, who retired in June last year, had been named chairman of the bank, the PMO had stated that selection of a bank chief should be on merit and not any other consideration.
In this context, the present frontrunner D.S. Bains has not found support in the PMO. Mr Bains is currently the financial commissioner in Punjab. The finance ministry has suggested his name, but this move is currently stalled as the PMO has refused to clear his appointment and has sought an explanation from the ministry.
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