Dilli Ka Babu
Court gets tough with babus
Defiance of court orders by babus, for obvious reasons, has not gone down well with the Supreme Court. It has become rather commonplace for bureaucrats at the Centre or in the states to ignore directives from the judiciary — from those that require their presence in the courts or those that require providing information and documents necessary to adjudicate in an ongoing proceeding. But now the Supreme Court has decided to get tough with those who wilfully choose to ignore judicial summons.
Perhaps to set an example, the Supreme Court issued a “stern warning” and slapped a fine on a former chief secretary of Bihar for defying a high court order. According to sources, the court was unwilling to accept an apology from the babu, G.S. Kang, and decided to act against him. It is now hoped that babus who wish to avoid suffering Mr Kang’s fate will respond with greater alacrity towards matters judicial.
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Chidambaram’s B-Team
Widespread changes were of course expected in the finance ministry when P. Chidambaram resumed charge about five months ago. And now when ministry officials get down to the big task of working on the Union Budget for 2013, observers say that the minister has put together a whole new team. In the revamp of personnel, Arvind Mayaram was made secretary in a pretty drastic economic affairs department while Sumit Bose is handling the crucial revenue department. Meanwhile, finance secretary R.S. Gujral was shifted from big revenue to innocuous expenditure. Mr Chidambaram has also brought in Parthasarthi Shome as an adviser to the ministry.
According to babu-watchers, Mr Chidambaram’s Budget team is now in place and preparations for the Union Budget work have begun in earnest. How different this team’s end product will be from its predecessor is to be seen, but expectations are high.
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Nitish’s delhi circle grows
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has reason to feel satisfied as babus from Bihar have been silently making inroads into Delhi’s power corridors. Clearly, the days of the Mallu clique, followed by the UP clique are over. With many top slots at the Centre now manned by Bihar cadre officers, it is the day of the Bihari babu, just like it was for the Mallu lobby before them.
From Union home secretary R.K. Singh, a 1975 batch Bihar cadre officer, also known for the meticulousness with which he handled Ajmal Kasab’s execution, to the new CBI chief Ranjit Sinha, they have a Bihar connection.
Mr Singh is known for changing the face of Bihar by laying down new roads as the road construction commissioner then. Another Bihar cadre IPS officer, Arun Choudhary, is the director-general of the Sashastra Seema Bal. The current defence secretary, S.K. Sharma, also hails from Bihar. Maybe after all, it’s Bihar’s time in the sun.
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