Starting afresh
Kamal Nath says the Planning Commission is tripping him. But he clearly has problems closer home. The search for a new chief of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has got extended after the embarrassing discovery that a member of the search committee was also an applicant. Now the government has revised the eligibility criteria for the chairman and launched the process all over again.
Sources say that the move leaves a string of babus, including ex-member NHAI K.S. Money (now secretary-general National Human Rights Commission), Railway Board chairman S.S. Khurana, director-general foreign trade R.S. Gujral, member, engineering, Railway Board Rakesh Chopra, current NHAI chairman Brijeshwar Singh and roads secretary Brahm Dutt, all groping in the dark.
Meanwhile, the government has added a few more clauses in order to attract the best talent. The applicant now would be required to have at least 15 years of experience in the field of finance and financial management and should have held or been empanelled to the post of secretary or its equivalent. The candidate must possess “professional knowledge and experience in any of the areas pertaining to management, administration, law, finance and highway engineering”.
Hopefully, the selection process this time would be uncontroversial and, perhaps, quicker as well? And Mr Nath will get the heavy rollers bumping along.
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Bargaining power
A high-powered committee headed by former Union Public Service Commission chairman P.C. Hota is considering several proposals including quickening inquiry proceedings against tainted bureaucrats to avoid time-consuming proceedings at the cost of the public exchequer. After all, it is no secret that babus are adept at deliberately delaying proceedings by seeking time extensions or adjournment of hearings due to medical reasons.
Under the new proposal, the inquiry officer will allow adjournment of hearings in extraordinary circumstances and it will be limited to three during the entire inquiry period. However, the proposal does envisage a “plea bargain”, wherein babus facing disciplinary or vigilance proceedings can now plead guilty and be punished immediately, albeit with a lesser punishment than otherwise warranted.
According to sources, the Hota Committee is also considering other proposals to provide incentives for quick disposal of proceedings through fiscal incentives to babus and linking the proposal to the babus’ annual confidential reports. But, provided the proposal finds acceptance, will babus accept the plea bargain system? And who will bargain?
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