Crossed lines
The telecom tangle gets trickier by the day. Most recently, telecom babus have been dragging their feet on the suggestions made by the high-powered Sam Pitroda committee appointed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on reviving the ailing state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited.
The Telecom Commission headed by telecom secretary P.J. Thomas has now decided to constitute an internal committee to study the Pitroda committee’s recommendations! Curiously, Mr Thomas was also a member of the Pitroda panel and is now in the unique position of sitting in judgment over his own recommendations!
Mr Pitroda has recommended recruiting top management for the two state-owned telecom companies from the private sector. But since the telecom department has already started the process to replace the current BSNL chief Kuldeep Goyal who is retiring, the babus are now suggesting that the current procedure be allowed in this instance. What will happen next? Your guess is as good as mine.
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Erring babus
It could be plain buoyancy after hosting a successful global investors’ meet, but the Karnataka government is clearly still on a high. State chief secretary S.V. Ranganath apparently feels that the babus need to clean up their act and has, accordingly, cracked the whip on erring babus who delay departmental inquiries.
The decision is based on the recommendations of a committee appointed by Mr Ranganath and headed by secretary, Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms, K.R. Srinivas. The panel’s report highlighted the lack of skill in speedy completion of inquiry processes by mid-level babus. In the past there have been many instances of babus avoiding investigations and getting charges against them dropped by “friendly” inquiry officers. An irate Mr Ranganath has now ordered all pending inquiries to be complete within nine months of beginning the investigation. What impact this directive will have on the erring babus remains to be seen.
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Righting a wrong
It has long been felt that the overwhelming presence of retired babus in information commissions is actually a hindrance rather than a help in implanting the Right to Information law. RTI activists like Krishnaraj Rao from Mumbai are quoting a study which states that in 20 state information commissions, nearly 52 per cent of the members are from administration and governance backgrounds, mostly retired Indian Administrative Service officers. Naturally, information commissions cannot enforce fairness and transparency if the selection procedure of its members itself is skewered in favour of babus, Mr Rao says.
Now, a concerted effort is underway to ensure that outgoing ex-babus in the information commissions, including the Central Information Commission, are replaced by non-bureaucrats. It remains to be seen whether the campaign is able to influence Chief Information Commissioner Wajahat Habibullah’s mind.
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