Dilli Ka Babu
Succession issues
V.S. Sampath’s elevation as Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) after the retirement of S.Y. Quraishi wasn’t as smooth as one would have expected. According to sources, the Congress Party initially seemed keen to name former PMO aide M.N. Prasad as Mr Quraishi’s successor as it was not comfortable with H.S. Brahma, Mr Sampath’s colleague at Nirvachan Sadan. Apparently, both election commissioners are IAS officers from Andhra cadre and allegedly came to Delhi at Y.S.R. Reddy’s insistence. Given the trouble the Congress Party has had with the Reddy family since YSR’s death, the misgivings were real. Fortunately they were not acted on.
Now, quite naturally, great attention is being paid to who will be Mr Sampath’s successor. Among the names doing the rounds are P.K. Tripathi, present chief secretary of Delhi, and Shamsher Sharif, an IAS officer who has previously worked with vice-president Hamid Ansari.
Turbulence in air
Why is it not surprising to learn that the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) has no clue what its parent, the ministry of civil aviation, is up to? Sources point out the interesting instance of the DGCA appointing Y. Tongia, a former chief of a flying academy, as chief overseeing training regulations in some 40-odd flying schools. The only problem is that the ministry has recommended that Mr Tonga be examined by the Intelligence Bureau (IB) for alleged financial irregularities at his previous place of employment.
Apparently, Mr Tongia’s name was recommended in February 2011 by the UPSC. When the appointment was delayed, Mr Tongia approached the Central Administrative Tribunal and got it cleared. Now, DGCA chief E.K. Bharat Bhushan, to whom Mr Tongia will report, has written to civil aviation secretary, S. Nasim Zaidi, arguing that the IB security clearance for Mr Tongia can be obtained after appointment. Mr Zaidi does not agree and cites a home ministry’s report which denied security clearance to Mr Tongia. Who will prevail?
A costly delay
Why should a government, which is struggling to resuscitate a flagging economy, struggle to fill a crucial position of a minister (economics) in the Indian embassy in Washington, DC? The position has been vacant since November 2011 when Kerala cadre IAS officer V.S. Senthil retired. It took Delhi seven months to appoint Govind Mohan, a 1989 batch Sikkim cadre officer and joint secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, as Mr Senthil’s successor.
Sources say that although the vacancy was advertised in August 2011, the government has found a replacement only now. Some feel that intensive lobbying by babus for prestigious postings in Indian missions often leads to delayed decision-making. Viewed in the context of our flagging economy, it is strange that a vital position was kept pending for months.
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