Whispers Forum

DEBATE(1) BABU WORD
Of course the word ‘babu' used for the civil servants is derogatory. It is used contemptuously by those who hate the civil servants. The general public may be disliking bureaucrats for redtapism, corruption or lack of empathy to use such terms for them. But coming from the Prime Minister it is really insulting and humiliating. It only shows, he has no respect for the civil servants even though they are made to slog. It also reveals traits of arrogance and sway he holds on them because of his authority. His remarks that babus cannot be doing everything from civil aviation to environment to fertilizer to agriculture is also misplaced. They have done everything. IAS may be a generalist service but they become specialists in every field they handle. What to talk of IAS, even others who got into the specialized field like Accounts, the two Revenue services, Railway services like Traffic or Personnel when getting a chance on deputation to any department have shown exceptional performance. I think PM's remarks are more out of his Govt. decision to get more civil servants through lateral entry marring the chances of many for promotion. Moreover, if some work demands a background in that field then how come a politician without the knowledge of that field can handle that Department or even multiple departments as many of the ministers are holding several portfolios each. It would be in the interest of work that civil servants are given respect by politicians as our old leaders like Sardar Patel did rather than browbeaten by such contemptuous terms.
Aarti Khosla

An application was filed under the RTI Act by Shri Shankar Khalid, Director for Shivani Flexipack Ltd. seeking certified copies of E.R.1s electronically filed by them and related information. The CIC observed that there is nothing on record which shows that the RTI and second appeal has been filed by a ‘citizen’ as per Section 3 of the RTI Act and by the applicant. Information should have been sought by the same citizen in his individual capacity at the time of appeal. In the present case, the appellant has nowhere mentioned that he/she has sought information in his/her individual capacity but as legal entity. The appellant has also not proved his/her identity or given any of his identity proof to show that he/she was seeking information in second appeal in his/her individual capacity. The CIC held that the appellant is a company but not an individual and therefore, the RTI application/appeal of the appellant is not tenable as per Section 3 of the RTI Act.
Comments
As per the provisions of the RTI Act, only a citizen has the right to obtain information from a public authority and to file appeal. In many cases the CIC has held that if a verifiable name is there is an application, it is can be taken as an application filed by that individual who also happens to hold a position in a company.
Citation: Shivani Flexipack Ltd. v. CPIO, O/o. The Assistant Commissioner Central GST, Division-I, Satara in Second Appeal No. CIC/CCSTM/A/2019/104058, Date of Decision: 27.01.2021
Dr. Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is an expert on RTI matters and has co-authored the books RIGHT TO INFORMATION - LAW AND PRACTICE and PIO’s guide to RTI. Apart from her weekly article here, her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link: www.rtifoundationofindia.com

DEBATE(1) Babu
I don't agree with A K Saxena's view that Babu is a derogatory term. It is a generic term to describe the Civil Servants in India. While Political bosses take the final decision but the facts and suggestions are put up by the Babus !! They can twist/manipulate facts etc. which is difficult for Political bosses to understand . In many cases they do these to please their Political bosses. That is the reason why ordinary people despise Babus and they link it to redtapism/corruption in the system.
Subramanian Gopal

DEBATE (1) Babu
Babudom is a very unpleasant term. Traditionally it denotes sloth, inertia, apathy and lack of any progress. To a great extent, Indian bureaucracy signifies - where the vested interests of bureaucrats and Netas combine, there will be rare wellness all around society because efforts will be directed to fulfilment of those vested interests. There is no doubt that IAS consist of some of the best talent and intellect in the country but they cannot solve all the intricate problems of society. PM has rightly remarked that from aviation to agriculture, politics to morality, Education to other fields of activity, IAS just can not handle effectively all of this. Hence it requires ‘amool chool poribartan’.
S M Shukla
CGHS reimbursement
Reimbursement of bills in CGHS specially in Delhi is so bad, it is very difficult to find the at what stage bills are pending. It is harassment to the pensioners as serving officials get reimbursement from respective departments generally. The bills submitted in July 2020 of OPD medicines purchased during Covid-19 pandemic still pending. These OPD medicines were allowed to be purchased through special dispensation and order issued. The great part is no body is responsible or accountable for such delay. Wellness centres are taking their sweet time to forward the MRC form to respective zones. CGHS should take the lesson from recent SC judgement and observations made. CGHS to find immediately, why the bills are pending and issue directives to clear all the cases of OPD medicines purchased during Covid-19 pandemic and ask the respective zones to indicate the status of all pending cases with reasons. The status should also be intimated to respective wellness centres so beneficiaries can find the status of their own case. Even CMO In-charge is ignorant of the case. Some technical points are being raised to stop the reimbursement as MRC forms are received late, Specialist prescription not valid etc. This can easily be verified by the medicines issued before purchase and after purchase. In case same treatment is continuing then payments should immediately be released before another case goes in SC for their considerations. CGHS should help the beneficiaries in time of financial disaster.
Naveen

DEBATE(1)
Infact word of committed bureaucracy started from the days of Indira Gandhi and now the same tradition is there. Officers may not like to be called “Babu”.
T C Sharma
Yes it's correct to use Word Babu
As most of the policies and instructions passed is on papers and after certain number of service they became file pushers.
Avi Liesha
GM posts in Railways not deputation posts
GM posts in Indian Railways are not deputation posts ! However there is no bar on Railway officers to apply for deputations advertised by other organisations!
Neeraj Dinkar

DEBATE(1)
The word “Babu” is a derogatory, colonial slang with pejorative connotation. Its abuse by present day politicians and the media, is disdainful. Ironically, Sardar Patel called civil servants, the steel frame of India.
In his Parliament speech on Feb 10,2021, PM Modi came down heavily on India’s ‘babu culture’. His “Sab kuch babu hi karenge” jibe is insulting, smacking of arrogance and authoritarianism.
Neither the serving, nor the re-appointed civil servants could question Head of Government. Spineless, compromised “ babus”
But, who made the civil servants ‘babus’ in the first place ? Guess, who benefits the most from the so-called ‘babudom’ ? It is the political class. And, PM knows it well.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)
Injustice meted out to Promotee ACs of 2014 Batch
I have been regularly following the issue of Promotee ACs of 2014 Batch, belonging to CBIC. Grave injustice is being done to them as their Direct Recruited counterparts Batch till 2016 have already been promoted. CBIC needs their valuable services, yet disown them. Is it their fault that they were promoted against temporary vacancies? Even Supreme Court in many of its judgments has stated that any temporary vacancy being continued for more than an year can't be treated as temporary and any AC who has completed 4 years of residency period in JTS, should be upgraded to STS, irrespective of temporary, ad hoc or regular. CBIC has already issued an order no. 07/2021 dt: 14/01/2021, in which even Commissioners promoted in 2012 have been shown as ad hoc promotees. CBIC has deliberately not included these vacancies in Recruitment Rules of Gr. A Services due to its partisan attitude towards Promotee ACs, who have been rightly termed as beast of burden by Gopal Reddy. The Directorate of HRD is defunct in CBIC and needs to be re-organised. The Chairman is well aware of this issue, but not at all interested in sorting out this issue. Will Revenue Secretary, FM and PMO intervene in the matter to grant NFU in the grade of STS as DCs ? The Promotee ACs of 2014 assure the PM that they will walk extra mile to increase revenue realisation for nation building.
Neeraj Kumar Dutt

DEBATE (1)
Babus will be Babus, the remnant of Colonial era, till the time they become public servants in the true sense instead of working as servants of the ruling dispensation.
Paarth Garg
DEBATE (2)
PM's statement on Babudom has a loud message : The motion of thanks to the President's address in the Rajya Sabha has a clear message to Babus. Power galleries are also interpreting the PM's speech in their own way. But one thing is for sure that the govt is not going to tolerate those babus who are non- performers.
A Chaturvedi
CBDT has many challenges
Chairman, CBDT has made significant contribution in the budget 2021-22 proposal now it is the time for its implementation. Pre-filled ITR forms with addition of dividend income and LTCG will also be available. It is forward step towards success and making tax compliance tax payers friendly. Apart from this most important is to make ITR filing truly online from e-filing website i.e. making filing without generating XML and uploading. It will be really ease the problem of ITR filing without any compatibility issue of software. It will lead to easy, seamless and painless ITR filing. Tax compliance will be higher and increase tax revenue. We have best software experts and no problem making ITR filing truly on line from e-filing website. CBDT has to reorient the officers and making them available for this innovative work instead of doing non-productive work. CBDT should close all old cases older than 3 years where no tax liability has been fixed and are not in any dispute. Such message or directives should go to field units. Such cases where only letters have been issued for trifle matters. This can be started with Sr. Citizens specially house-wives. It will save man power and time. This will avoid VIVAD. Another important thing how to reduces excess cash transactions in any agreement and make truly digital. Let us hope for moving towards easy, seamless and painless tax compliance system in addition to faceless.
Naveen

This is an interesting case which should be keenly watched by all those with a commercial interest. It is not disputed that the applicant was a legal heir. He may not be the sole heir but that does not deprive him of the right to seek information about the complete property of which he has inherited a part. For instance, can it be said that since he inherited on third of the property, he is entitled to know only one third part of the Income tax return? One should be allowed access to complete information and denial of information is unjustified in such a case. The information commission has time and again showed lack of comprehension of legal concepts and this is a case which exemplifies the bureaucratic mindset from where the Information Commissioners come from.
Hemant Kukunoor

At the behest of GoI, UPSC has announced the second round of lateral recruitment of officers at the levels of Joint Secretary and Director on contract basis, in several central ministries.
There is a condition imposed by the government : Only, the "talented and motivated Indian nationals willing to contribute towards nation-building", need apply.
An affront to the corrupt, laidback Indian bureaucracy. Is it not talented and motivated enough?
The ministries / departments are :-- Commerce & Industry, Department of Financial Services, Department of Economic Affairs, Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Law & Justice, Department of School Education & Literacy, Department of Higher Education, Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution, Health & Family Welfare, Road Transport & Highways, Jal Shakti, Civil Aviation, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship.
Privatisation of bureaucracy. We are stealthily moving towards the american system of Committed bureaucracy. The selection will naturally be based on the doctrine of “ pick and choose” emanating from discretionary powers.
Stamp of approval by UPSC, is a mere formality to give the selection a sense of legitimacy.
It may be recalled that a couple of laterally-inducted bureaucrats in the first round, had to resign.
Did they fail to adjust to new environment, its ethical approach and fear of anti-corruption agencies, one wonders?
Is the new system flawed ? Has any impact assessment study carried out by the GoI on the performance of recruits of first round? If not, why?
Against this backdrop ,the government’s talk of " Minimum Government ,Maximum Governance”, is farce. Reverse is happening, instead.
Massive pressure from private sector especially friendly business magnates, is suspected .
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

Those who say farmers do not understand the benefits of Farm Laws show their own ignorance. They think farmers are illiterate and 'ganwar'. The fact of the matter is they not only understand the impact of these laws too well on their future but also follow the policies and intentions of the establishment in large scale disinvestment being planned which is going to result in further unemployment. The children of farmers are educated and know the implications of these laws which were pushed through the parliament without debate because of brutal majority in Lok Sabha and louder voice in Rajya Sabha. The Farmers have been maligned, humiliated and tortured enough what with barbed wires, ditches and spikes. It is happening in the country we proudly claim to be democracy. If this is democracy where voice of people is not heard and journalists are put in jail for reporting facts or FIRs are slapped on them for tweeting what is denied by police we have to find another definition for this.
Aarti Khosla

It is interesting to read A. K. Saxena's article on farmers/budget under Forum. It appears to present one side of the story. The fact remains that the farmer leaders have failed to convince the nation about the problem with the present laws under dispute. Instead of ignoring the farmers, the present government's has fully ignored the middle class including the government servants, working as well as retired. Moreover, managing the expenditure through the sale of assets is not a sign of good financial management. However, the basic issue in the governance remains the simplification of procedures and fixing of the responsibility. The present government has failed on both the counts. The patch-work done by the present government in this direction has not achieved the desired goals. It has just ensured successful completion of certain projects. In fact, shifting of the focus from the overall responsibility to the completion of certain projects has been counter productive for good governance. The problem of common man remains getting rough treatment from the various establishments.
A. K. Verma, ISS (Retd.)