Dilli Ka Babu
A morality tale
Even as the rest of the nation is wracked over corruption in the Centre, Jammu & Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah hopes to cure this malaise, at least in his state, through moral lessons. The ethics committee of the state legislative council has apparently recommended to the Abdullah-led state government to impart moral education to the bureaucracy. A four-member committee led by Mohammad Rafiq Shah, member, legislative council, has come up with this idea.
Sources say Mr Abdullah is amenable to this suggestion. Certainly, his administration has been going after corrupt officials in the state. Early this year, the Abdullah sarkar forcibly retired 13 senior babus for accepting bribes. That the issue is very much alive was seen last month when a senior state administrative officer, Adil Rashid Naqash, was dismissed for misappropriation of funds. Hope the moral lessons work.
Race hots up
CBI director Amar Pratap Singh is still two months away from the end of his tenure, but the battle for succession is already under way, quietly, away from prying eyes. Mr Singh, an IPS officer of the 1974 batch, became the chief in November 2010 replacing Ashwini Kumar. According to sources, this time the government seems to be keen on finding a replacement from “within the agency” instead of just picking any IPS officer. In fact, it has been a source of resentment within the agency.
If indeed so, the news should bring cheer to CBI sleuths. Punters are betting on special director V.K. Gupta who hopes to take advantage of this though the chances of Ranjit Sinha, director general of the National Investigation Agency, seem quite high. But there could even be a dark horse.
A trendsetter?
Usually state governments accept the recommendation of the ministry of home affairs while appointing babus. But Goa’s chief minister Manohar Parrikar knows his rules. He feels a state government is not bound to accept officers that the Central government may recommend without consultations. In fact, he has just bypassed three names recommended by the home ministry for appointment as the state chief secretary and named his own. So Goa’s principal secretary (finance) B. Vijayan is the chief secretary, and he will continue to handle his previous duties.
Observers say that Mr Parrikar was piqued at not being consulted by the Centre. He has already indicated that he will not wait for consultations with the Centre to fill three senior police posts, which have been vacant for over two years. Who knows, Mr Parrikar may even become a trendsetter.
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