Whispers Forum

First Politicisation of Bureaucracy, Then Bureaucratisation of Government Are the public servants expected to be completely loyal to the politician and compromise transaction of official business as per law mandated? Should they be rewarded as ministers for their loyalty to a political leader, party or ideology? Both the situations are threatening to a vast majority of public servants, examined, interviewed and subjected to background check by more than one state agency. The politician public servant manages everything from interview to background check and succeeds in acting too much of an arrogant for long years of a career of a public servant. Once in the political executive, s/he acts like a bureaucrat, forgetting all sense of public service. The issue is: should political interference be continued to be treated with contempt or accepted as the new norm of Indian democracy? One reason why an occasional emergence of a Narendra Modi receives such a warm welcome is the expectation of those public servants who doggedly refuse to compromise their loyalty to the Constitution of India or exchange it for the loyalty of the politician. Can permanence to a changed public service culture be assured by the present Narendra Modi or the future Narendra Modi ? The problem is very serious taking into consideration state governments. Sting operations telecast threats to public servants to fall in line or be ready to suffer consequences (very derogatory to say “boria-bistar baandh lo”). Such political interference with the law emboldens and bonds the politician and the public servants. That is responsible for ruining the image of a great India in just 70 years !
M L Gupta
Prediction went true
On my inputs a few weeks ago, you had predicted that NS Nigam, IAS posted as MD West Bengal Transport Corporation would become next Secretary, Transport Department succeeding the then Principal Secretary, BP Gopalika, IAS. The prediction went true this week. Please post the message in your site for information of all concerned.
Rabindra Nath Sarkar
Anger will not help Mamta Bannerji !
Doctors are on strike in many parts of the country in sympathy with the doctors in Calcutta. Who is responsible for this sorry state of affairs where common people are suffering ? Decidedly the Chief Minister of West Bengal who not only failed to handle the doctors' strike tactfully but added fuel to the fire. What after all the doctors are wanting ? Safety against violence from the patients ' relatives who sometime in their grief on losing a kin lose all sense of proportion. Doctors are not God .They can give care and treatment for cure but then they also cannot save if a patient is dying. What happened in the hospital in Calcutta was truly repugnant. Doctors were beaten up so mercilessly by the relatives of a person who died that one of them landed up in ICU. The anger of the doctor community on this episode is understandable. Instead of condemning and threatening the doctors Mamta Bannerji should have taken some action to ensure their safety so that such attacks do not happen again. It seems the electoral reverses in West Bengal in Lok Sabha elections have rattled her so much that she is not able to think properly or concentrate on governance. Calmness not anger can help her in showing her the way to reclaim her lost ground.
Aarti Khosla

DEBATE (1)
If Rahul not AICC Chief, no outsider either becomes one !
Rahul Gandhi doesn’t want to be Congress President but if an outsider is made party’s President , the inner coterie of Gandhi family will finish his political career.
Manish Srivastava
Forest fires and indifference of the powers that be
Forest fires are raging in Uttarakhand-not one but so many in quite a few regions. One in Pauri is along the route to Kedarnath. These fires are annual phenomenon which has resulted in thousands of hectares of forests destroyed severely affecting the ecology of the state. What surprises one is total indifference of the powers that be to this destruction .Our national media does not even report it. Having been a regular visitor to the state every summer one reads about it in the local newspapers or hears it from the people there. While travelling through the state also one observes the black bare hills with burnt trees. Only two weeks ago while staying at one tourist house one witnessed a blaze on a nearby hill spreading very fast but mercifully it rained in the evening and the fire was extinguished. One of the reason for this disaster is dry grass which falls from the pine trees in summer littering the entire ground beneath. This grass called 'Perul' in local language is highly inflammable. They say it contains resin. Throw a cigarette or a beedi it catches fire and spreads in no time engulfing the trees. Sometimes the village folks while cleaning the outside of their houses gather it and light a match stick to burn it like stubble burning. All this is being irresponsible and shows lack of awareness. It is high time authorities educate people about this as also explore the commercial exploitation of this grass so that the same can be collected and forests cleaned of it .We need to have advanced measures to douse these fires. It is high time some serious thought is given to this to save the forests in this beautiful state as this is also threatening the wild life pushing the endangered animals towards the populated area adding to the animals- people conflict. When will we wake up to save our forests ?
Aarti Khosla

DEBATE (1)
Under the present circumstances next five years are very bad for the Congress.
Neeraj Mehra
DEBATE (2)
Difficult to name any Congress leader. Family did not promote any leader .
N D Telani
Great, WIC’ prediction came true
Your prediction about NS Nigam, IAS (WB 1998) made few weeks ago proved correct. He is appointed as Secretary, Transport Department, Government of West Bengal and took charge yesterday (10/6/19) from BP Gopalika, IAS (WB 1989), in terms of order no 1190-P&AR (IAS) 7P-149/2011 dated 06/6/2019 of P&AR Department, Govt of West Bengal. Great.
Rabindra Nath Sarkar, IAS
" Disturbing Trends, Mr Prime minister, Sir "
You are surely not enthused by the infighting going on between your two cabinet ministers for heading or getting memberships of various Cabinet sub-committees ? Hostility between them has come out in the open.
Artificial bitter-Sweet relationship. Mutual aversion. Speculations are rife that original orders of Cab Sectt had to be amended in order to accommodate a minister after his reported threat of resignation.
Public is appalled, amazed with the elected representatives ,they voted for,in last general elections. Public is disillusioned with ministers’ lust for power. Electoral fraud.
Ibtedaa-e- ishq hai rota hai kya, Aage aage dekhiye hota hai kya.
Ministers proudly call themselves Desh-bhakt. All are power-seekers.
Bahut na-insaafi hui hai ,public ke saath.
Even, the NSA was elevated to cabinet rank to maintain balance of power in the government after induction of the new Foreign minister with cabinet rank. Administrative compulsions are inevitable.
But, why wash the dirty linen in public .Open rivalry among serving ministers reveals a disturbing trend that sends misleading message to the public. This is no time for experimentation in governance.
Rolling-back of initial orders reveals non-application of mind and surrender to blackmailing.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

DEBATE (1)
DEBATE (2)
If the Congress has to revive and get ready for 2024 as strong opponent, should appoint one President in each state/union territory who should be a local candidate only. That local candidate start working right from now on and connect with every voter in his territory i.e. reach the last citizen in the queue. There should be one strong old hand who should coordinate their performance on daily basis. That old hand should be the President of the Congress Party.
Harish Kumar
Unfortunate electorate
Very unfortunate that a most competent and honest leader who did so much for his constituency has been let down by the electorate. By showing their apathy to a political leader, they have committed a biggest blunder and they themselves will be responsible if the district does not develop and they should not cast aspersions on any one else for their bad judgment.
Srinivas

DEBATE (1)
Rahul Gandhi wants to resign and still serve the Congress Party as a loyal soldier!
Does he realise that the Congress Party has been overhauled from a political party into a strange animal defined by "Gandhi family loyalty" read "zero democracy, subservience, intolerance and insolence" resulting from the myriad fears of those who understand their own unsuitability?
Does he realise that this regime was implemented in the name of keeping the family legacy safe for him?
Does he realise that he was "the future" who justified the compromises inherent in the advent of his mother's Congress Presidency?
Does he realise that his culturally alien to Congressism mother has staffed (never allowed to be elected) Congress functionaries from the top to the very bottom with so-called party men and women who know nothing about Congress history, ideals, and spirit? These opportunist power junkies who have bought into the Congress system, corrupted it and laid all waste during this makeover, are surely not the ones to whom Rahul should bequeath the party.
If Rahul is convinced about his being inappropriate to be Congress President then it is his duty to rid the party of the parasites who have been planted to condition the party-environment in his favour. Only after that will his resignation make any sense for the Congress Party. Else, he will be doing bigger disservice to the party by handing it over to these unprincipled family loyalists. In these circumstances, the party will die, or even worse fate shall await it.
Rahul must stay at least a little longer to help the party re-educate and renew itself. God knows, in the process he may discover a new himself: his father's son, Motilal and Jawahar's descendent; instead of the disallowed-to-learn misfit that his mother has fashioned him into.
The first step is to suspend all arbitrary procedures. The second is to identify non-Congress sentiments and commitments of foreign-driven (cultural baggage as well as ordered subservience) entities and oust these from Congress decision making.
We must all take responsibility for what has happened, either because we were ignorant and unsuitable, or we were plain weak, or worse because we justified these departures citing our attachment to the family, thereby defiling the very concept of attachment.
We must understand how we got derailed in the name of love, manipulated and misused through our attachment (which we have always known to be the cause of misery) and it's politically motivated western misnomer "love," about which we have been recently enlightened through the last episodes of the Game of Thrones: that love is the death of duty!
To get back the love and respect of the Indian people in the true sense of the words, all Congressmen need to introspect and sort out our psyche, awareness, knowledge, proclivities, beliefs and commitments -- a return to core Congressism as conceived by the founding fathers of the grand old party.
If Rahul Gandhi really wishes to serve the party, let him bring in fairness in organisation, procedure and decision making in the party as a first step.
If not, Rahul must step down, not alone but with the entire gang of philosophically illiterate family lathaiiths and retainers clogging the party set-up.
With regards and best wishes to Rahul Gandhi as well as to all genuine Congress men and women.
Namit Verma

DEBATE (1)
Do not know much about the political persons associated with congress.
For revival of party besides working president four zonal presidents who are very good speakers and are able to communicate with people in Hindi and the regional language should be appointed. The very good speakers from outside party can also be given chance.
V K gupta
225 sector 2 Kurukshetra
DEBATE (2)
Rahul Gandhi tried the best in the era of hate politics. He should continue and he or Sharad Pawar or Sindhiya may only revive the party after Rahul.
Man
Govt. of India should gather some intelligence and do research as to why our aircraft are getting disappeared time and again near Arunachal Pradesh or China's border to find out whether China has deployed any software near the border so that the control system of our aircraft is hacked and controlled by that country.
Paul
It is really unfortunate that Shri. Pon. Radhakrishnan, BJP candidate who served as a Minister of State in Vajpayee's and Modi's cabinet, could not win this time from prestigious Kanniyakumari Constitutency in Tamil Nadu. The worst part of the fact is that during his tenure as Minister of State from May 2014 to February, 2019 he has brought projects worth Rs.40,000 crore which includes flyovers, National Highways and Doubling of Madurai-Kanniyakumari Railway line and he is known for his honesty, integrity and easy accessibility. The whole of Tamil Nadu is said about his defeat as he is regarded as Junior Kamarajar (Late CM of Tamil Nadu) best known for his simplicity. The main reason for this poll debacle is that some groups did actively involved in mis-propaganda. It is unanimously felt that a thorough probe should be ordered whether any one using religious or communal sentiments to polarize votes.
Sivakumar

DEBATE (1)
Minus Rahul Gandhi only Digvijay Singh can revive the Congress Party because he is down to earth.In politics he is senior to Narendra Modi and in Administration he has no less experience than the PM.
G S Mathur
DEBATE (2)
There is no Congress Party minus Gandhi family. Before Independence Congre3ss Headquarters was in Anand Bhawan Allahabad and after Independence it was shifted to Delhi.Minus this family no one could run the Congress Party.
Vijay Tiwari
For revival of Congress, I feel Shiela Dixit or Pranab Mukerjee (if he accepts) will be most suitable. Part way with the heavy baggages like Kapil Sibbal, Abhishek Singhvi, Manish Tiwari or Salman Khurshid who can't win a seat for themselves, let alone for others. They are good practicing lawyers, can't devote much time for the party and want Rajya Sabha seats only. Part ways with all parasites who flourish on sycophancy of Gandhi family only. It will take time because unlike 'walkover' kind of situation prevailing at Indira Gandhi's time, this time they have to face Modi who is at his pinnacle and can do no wrong.
V K Pandey
Rajnath Singh is a man of no words. He even doesn't know the rank structure of CPFs. He knows only one thing of praising everything. This is his last tenure as Minister and next tenure like Advani and Joshi.
Mahesh Nath

DEBATE (1)
The Congress, the grand old party born 135 years ago, is about to reach its expiry date. Terminally ill. No chance of revival. It has always functioned like a Private limited company with umbilical cord connected with the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. The INC never looked beyond the first family to re-invent itself . The dynasty always worked to make itself immortal.
Rahul Gandhi, owning party’s defeat, initially insisted on resigning as Congress President. Family drama . The Congress Chairperson with her ‘ Putra moh ‘ has been persistently rejecting son’s fake resignation. Public support is being garnered to create an impression of Rahul’s infallibility. No replacement. Rallies, dharnas organised to support Rahul’s continuance as party’s President. He finally agreed after dilly-dallying, provided he is not held accountable for similar setbacks ,in future. Sab Nautanki hai. The Congress is bereft of leadership. Only Chaatukaars abound.
Implosions of accusations, counter-accusations are taking place within the party. Rahul Gandhi, projected as challenger to premiership in the last general elections, was expected to be humble. No one thought, he would be so uncouth and aggressive. Always denigrated the defending champion PM Modi.
The rift within the Congress party is getting wider by the day. Split seems imminent. National Herald case merits to be fast-tracked to logical culmination. Judiciary is liberally granting adjournments , bails and permission to the accused for foreign travels on flimsy grounds.
Conclusion
Let me be upfront. There are signs of simmering discontentment in the party. Rahul Gandhi deserves the sympathy and support that an underdog usually gets . The gutless party veterans are victims of dependency culture, lacking initiative to stand up and be counted. All are being gradually sidelined following party’s doctrine of “Use and Throw”. The party is on ventilator. Administering life-saving drugs is futile.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)
DEBATE (2)
Only Kamal Nath can revive the Congress because of his long experience in party organisation and the Government.
Bhupendra Gupta

DEBATE (1)
An outright rejection of Rahul Gandhi served as a timely reminder of how political future of Congress can be. Congress is eliminating Congress itself. It should come out from Nehru-Gandhi dynasty and open the door for all Congress leaders to lead the country. The country has rejected the leadership of Rahul Gandhi. Party should consider over this rejection.
Sunil Kumar
Hearty congrats
Hearty congrats Guptaji for a very well analysed book about the 2019 LS elections. Your thoughtful analysis is so true. We wish you all the very best in your future endeavours. God Bless.
Srinivas. Bangalore.

DEBATE (1)
Randeep Surjewala as he has been the man behind Rahul Gandhi whenever he is in on the camera or any press conference of theirs. Congress can build-up on his face as he was the one coming forward while retaining Karnataka put him in charge of his own state's election as the President. And Congress should fight all the State elections as a do or die mission starting from Haryana then Delhi and so on.
Manish Tewari as he has been the old loyalist who has bear the grunt on every channel for the sins of others and for his image as a politician who can take on people when it comes to debating.
Basically, they have to build a counter brand as against the new BJP president and hire a PR agency and or a Marketing agency to advertise their views without them being backfired.
This is new to politics in India but this is the need of the hour. Political Marketing is the way forward.
Anmol Agrawal
DEBATE (2)
Ten wrong moves of Rahul Gandhi
1. Excess Negative publicity against the PM as undercurrent was missing
2. Have avoided dual constituency whatever may be the circumstances ; should have faced
3. Inability to attract new & young voters as they have turned the tide against your party
4. Party president has to do the maximum hard work ; talk from your place instead travel
5. Undeveloped International presence which makes most of the Impact on youth; its required
6. Missing subconscious power which you have given to yourself has to be implanted inside team
7. Should have fought election on development rather than anti-business scenario
8. Core team invisible as politician has to be Strict, Disciplined ,Courageous & Patient; make one
9. Undeveloped techno savvy image as party should Maximize use of technology
10. Improper feedback ; your intelligence information has to be double/Triple checked
Above all you are lucky to have a solid opponent like NAMO who can make you a tough politician for ruling new India
Once again I say (as whispered in 2016)
Rahul Gandhi – can be the trendsetter ?
RG you are having a pretty good experience of Politics as well a very balanced approach you follow , using your charismatic power one wonder you have to do is motivate your Congress man always & forever until you are placed in the power . No matter how bad the party man has done in previous (Dishonesty, Losers, anti-approach etc), He still has the charisma to convert the public in your favor (100%). You listen now & act later, Motivate now & react later, things will start changing all over the country & the Team will be much stronger. Don’t take opinion before meeting your members instead give them a new approach as how we will be heading in the new India. You are in the center, talk to every elected member, previous strongman’s on phone and assign them their duties. Your sweetness, patience and trust can make a huge difference. Your state wise spokesman’s should be louder & more active than you.
Vivek Dhawan
Only one person can do !
New Govt. has taken the charge and things have started rolling fast. There are many challenges ahead. GDP growth rate in last Q4 is 5.8% and fiscal deficit more than 6 lakh crores, Unemployment at 6.1% in FY 18 and many other challenges to face. Govt. has to take many policy measures to spur economic growth and contained fiscal deficit. First and most important point is to increase tax revenue. There are various ways to increase tax and non-tax revenue and at the same time to reduce the expenditure. It needs thorough deliberations. Tax revenue can be increased by 1. Scrap the tax exempt list of NGOs, trusts, political parties etc. and bring them under tax net through an amendment in Income Tax Act. Let every organisation contribute in Nation Building by paying the required tax. As these institutes do lot of social service for public and now involve them to do the service for Nation by paying tax. 2. Review and stop the budgetary support to loss making PSUs, recapitalisation to the Banks and reduce unnecessary subsidiaries, cut the expenditure etc. Such measures will reduce the Govt. out flow. 3. Methodology for assessing the income of Professionals like doctors, film actors, sports man, TV artists, etc. and traders as no tools are available to assess the real income of this group. 4. Strict measures to recover the loan from defaulters to reduce the NPA. Banks NPA is increasing but expenditure of banks are increasing due to salary rise and perks. There should be some co-relation between expenditure and NPA. Now this is time to work on such measures to reduce the fiscal deficit and work towards the revenue generation and economic growth. All the best for new Govt.
Naveen