In these times of Right to Information (RTI) and increased public pressure for transparency in government, babus are finding it hard to adapt to these new demands. But ever since Union ministers and Supreme Court judges agreed to divulge their assets under the RTI Act, the pressure is now on the bureaucracy to follow suit.
Four months ago the government, acting on a call from the Chief Information Commission, sought the views of the “Big 3” — Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS) and Indian Foreign Service (IFS) — on disclosing information about babus’ assets to the public. Curiously, while the IPS and IFS associations have no objection to disclosure, it is my favourite tribesmen — the elite IAS — who seem to be wary of offering their opinion. Officially, of course, the IAS association claims that it has sought views of their state-level associations, but others see it as a typical delaying tactic. Of course, the government’s personnel department already has all the information, but sources say personnel secretary Shantanu Consul would rather wait for an official response from the IAS association before responding. Will the IAS babus oblige? Or will it be left to Central Information Commissioner A.N. Tewari, who sought the government’s opinion in the first place, to take the next step?
***
Faded khaki
For a nation battling terrorism and Naxalism, not to mention a million other mutinies, to face a shortage of police officers in the Indian Police Service (IPS) should be an alarming situation. Apparently the IPS currently has 630 vacancies across the country. While practically every state reports large number of vacancies, primarily due to police officers quitting in search of greener pastures (read corporate world), the situation is similarly bleak even in the capital. According to sources, while the IPS has a sanctioned strength of 4,013 officers, only 3,383 were on the rolls at the beginning of the year.
Home secretary G.K. Pillai reportedly has ordered a cadre review and increased the annual intake of IPS officers to 60, but babu-watchers say that this attempt is clearly not enough to bridge the yawning gap. Of particular concern to Mr Pillai and his political master P. Chidambaram is the shortage of officers in such organisations such as the Central Bureau of Investigation, Research and Analysis Wing and Intelligence Bureau. Besides shortage of IPS officers in sensitive states such as Jammu and Kashmir (shortage of 28 officers), Bihar (48), West Bengal (71), among others, has got the ministry babus wracking their brains to stop the exodus of the men in khaki. But so far we have yet to see the result of their exertions!
Links:
[1] http://archive.asianage.com/content/dilip-cherian
