Dilli Ka Babu
It’s khemka again
Haryana cadre IAS officer Ashok Khemka may not be front-page news any more but the whistleblower continues to make his presence felt in the state. Sources say last month Mr Khemka shot off a letter to chief secretary P.K. Chaudhery demanding that he be provided with a copy of the authorisation under which orders from chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda are communicated by babus in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) under their own signatures. Apparently, this is what Mr Khemka believes
the Haryana government is doing.
Mr Khemka, according to sources, believes that this practice is unacceptable since there is greater likelihood of the chief minister’s authority being misused. Meanwhile, so far Mr Kehmka’s query has not evoked any response from the chief secretary. But those in the know say that the whistleblower is unlikely to give up his efforts.
Testy shift
By the time you read this, the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) may have issued a notification announcing the beginning of civil service exam process for 2013. Starting this year there will be radical changes in the examination system, a much-delayed reform that has now been cleared by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. For one, those in the know say the optional paper will be replaced with two compulsory papers.
This and other changes in the selection process apparently were recommended by a panel headed by former UGC chairman Arun Nigvekar in 2011. The Prime Minister’s Office is believed to be very keen that the reforms be implemented this year itself, which perhaps explains why the UPSC failed to put out the notice on February 2, as expected.
Graft crackdown
Having witnessed several high-profile corruption scandals involving public servants, Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan is keen to set things right. Prosecuting tainted government officials is a long-drawn and often futile process due to delays in obtaining the necessary sanctions to prosecute. The state Anti-Corruption Bureau currently has 42 applications for prosecution of Class I and Class II officers pending, apart from more than 70 applications for lower-rung officials.
However, all this is going to change. Maharashtra has now become the second state after Delhi to implement revised guidelines for speeding up the prosecution of babus facing corruption charges. Unfortunately, the government has left out ministers from the ambit of the revised guidelines, making many wonder how effective the new rules will be. Still, the government has decided on a time-bound (maximum three months) for sanction to prosecute babus facing corruption charges. Will it work?
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