Whispers Forum

DEBATE (1)
Bureaucrats should not be given place in any Ministry.Politicians are genuine persons and not bureaucrats.
V K Sharma
Sanjay Srivastava appointed BBMB Chairman
I am Rehmat Ali, family member of BBMB and also representing the employees of BBMB under Chief Engineer, Bhakra Dam Administration, through Nangal Bhakra Mazdoor Sangh (Regd. and Recognized union) in the capacity of General Secretary. I on behalf of the members of the union and employees convey our heartiest and warmest congratulation on your elevation as Chairman, BBMB - an organisation which has international repute. I do hope that under your able guidance and vast experience of hydrol engineering. Kind regards.
Rehmat Ali, General Secretary, NBMS (INTUC)

DEBATE (1)
Politician ministers are much much better for Indian democracy.
Aarti Jain
Ban firecrackers well in advance
We come across with the problem of air pollution through firecrackers every year. It is also a fact that we, the government and the NGT become active just a few days before the festivals and demand ban on air polluting items. Why not declare the same as banned at least three months in advance so that shopkeepers don’t stock them. Now the stockholders have purchased firecrackers and they will find ways to sell them either with the connivance of officials enforcing ban or through backdoor methods citing religious sentiments. Taking action to ban firecrackers well in advance is the need of hour. Banning just a couple of days before festivals will not solve the problem.
Raj Kumar Thakur

DEBATE (1)
IAS Ministers behave like a commoner but the IFS Ministers are full of arrogance that suits the Modi Government.
Anjali
CGHS Wellness Centres working?
Govt. of India has taken good steps for the reimbursement of OPD medicines prescribed by the Specialist till December, 2020 taking into consideration of Covid-19 crisis. But surprisingly bills submitted even in August and September 2020 in Delhi wellness centres are still lying in some of the wellness centres. These wellness centres are taking it so casually and even are not bothering to forward for processing the bills. Even some wellness centres lack completely to maintain the records of bill submitted. In case the bills are lost, beneficiaries will loose the complete amount as originals are submitted to wellness centres. Chief Medical Officer incharge will give different excuses even to manage the reimbursement of bills. Best excuse they have lack of staff. It is earnestly requested that Minister of Health and family welfare may issue suitable instructions so that the reimbursement of bills during this Covid-19 pandemic is processed smoothly without much beneficiaries troubles. In Delhi already Covid cases are increasing and have crossed 7000+. The movement is also restricted. Beneficiaries are also not informed that bills have been forwarded for payment.
Naveen

An application was filed under the RTI Act seeking copies of documents related to the biometric attendance of all the staff members of Office of Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog during a particular period. The information was denied claiming that the bio-metric attendance of staff is an arrangement between the employees and the employer which fails under personal information category, the disclosure of which has no relationship to any public activity or public interest and disclosure of which would cause unwarranted invasion of privacy of the individuals. The CIC observed that the applicant has failed to establish that the information sought for is for any public interest, much less 'larger public interest'. The CIC ruled that the requested information cannot be supplied to the applicant under Rule 8(1) (j) of the RTI Act.
Comments
In the case of R.S. Gupta v. Govt of GNCTD and Ors., LPA 207/2020 dated 31.08.2020, the Delhi High Court held that the attendance record is part of service record which is a matter between the employee and the employer and ordinarily these aspects are governed by the service rules which fall under the expression "personal information".
Citation: Shri Amarendra Chaudhary v. UIDA in Second Appeal No. CIC/NITIA/A/2018/127581, Complaint No. CIC/NITIA/C/2018/648714, Date of Decision: 31.10.2020
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

IAS Ministers know the public pulse well. IFS Ministers even do not recognize Common men.
S Sisodia
Govt cares for the state language ?
Don't think the govt does not care for the state language. After India became an independent country, its constituent states were reorganized on the basis of a language formula. However Punjab was the last state to be reconstituted on this formula on Nov 1, 1966, based on the census of 1961.Since then every year 'Punjabi language week' is celebrated from Nov 1 to Nov 7. The importance of such weeks like the celebration of International days has been dwindling over the period. Punjabi language was spoken in a very vast tract before the partition of the country, though 'urdu' was the official language of the state. When the agitation for the Punjabi suba was going on, many communal people made vigorous campaigns across the state to motivate the like-minded people not to mention Punjabi as their language during the census and they succeeded. Since Punjab was politically truncated, the language Punjabi was ignored in the newly constituted states, but it got lesser importance in Punjab itself. The Revenue record was originally prepared in Urdu. Although it was changed to Punjabi language later on, yet the original Urdu words still dominate the revenue record.
The govt has been showing to the public that it was serious about the Punjabi language by legislating, ‘The Punjab Official Languages Act 1967’. By this Act 'Punjabi' became the official language of the state on Dec 29,1967. I remember, during those days the govt officials started learning as to how to sign in Punjabi in Gurmukhi script, instead of learning the language. In the year 2008,''The Punjab Official Languages Amendment Act was passed, which made Punjabi compulsory in the govt offices, subordinate courts, and in all schools till class 10.This Act initially jerked the govt offices to use Punjabi, but gradually this legislation has lost sheen and impact. Now English is predominantly being used in govt offices. In the years 2004 ,2009, I performed election duty in Rajasthan and Bihar respectively and in these states entire work is being done in their state languages. I remember, in the year 1977, in Sangrur, its deputy commissioner always used Punjabi in his office. Once, he got his right hand fractured and used left hand for writing notes on files. One senior officer once remarked, ''sir, since you are writing with left hand, the writing is not coming good. ''The deputy commissioner immediately said, ''Sajje hatth naal mein iss tton v bhairha likhda haan.'' This officer later on became administrative secretary, but till retirement he always wrote on files in Punjabi. In my 38 years of service, I have found only him, who always used Punjabi. There was another deputy commissioner in the 1980s,who in his first meeting with his staff said, ''Please use English only while writing notes on the files.'' He became chief secretary and whenever he found any note in Punjabi, he would remark,'' This man is torturing me by writing notes in Punjabi.''
It is a truth that Punjabi is existing largely in exile. The writers' organisations, many film industry people, and good singers are still carrying on the torch of Punjabi. Anyone ,who has heard Nurjehan and Dilip kumar conversing in Punjabi in 1983,would say that the angels were speaking in the heavenly language. In 1988, Raj Kapoor in his last interview to Simi Grewal had said, ''Maa janendi satt, bhag na dendi wand.'' These people relished the Punjabi language. The lackluster celebration of one week and ignoring the mother tongue throughout the year is like many of bad tracks on which the state has been treading.
Surinderjit Singh Sandhu, Amritsar

DEBATE (1)
IFS ministers are well dressed and well mannered.
R D Singh
Excellent write up based on ground realities
May sense prevail quickly amongst the top leadership in China otherwise we may see second round of Tiananmen Square protest which will result in loss of huge human lives. True the Chinese masses have truly respected the Indians for their culture in the past and continue to do so even after feeding them with disinformation etc against India. The Modi magic have only added to their spirit in promoting democracy in pursuing holistic goals of any country. In the past expansionist policy has only resulted in break up of a nation, this will happen to China as well for which India cannot be blamed but be a silent spectator. They already have enough land and population to manage which if done properly they need not aspire for lands of other nation. Once again, let us hope and pray better sense prevails in China mainland.
S Meenakshi Sundaram
Totally wrong !
Persons who spend most of the time in training institutions fail miserably when they are told to do desk job. A retired government officials who has been involved and slogged with the framing of the Central Secretariat of Manual of Office Procedure in DAR&PF or recruitment rules, reservations, promotions etc and Budget & Accounts in central Ministries/Departments are in a better position to explain the practicality of situation of working, first hand knowledge and minute details of the concepts. You are totally wrong.
Anurag Srivastava

DEBATE (1)
I think IAS ministers are doing good job as compared to the IFS officers. IAS is always number one in the services.
P K Rao
Don’t underestimate the pandemic, Wear Masks properly
In view of the rising number of Coronavirus cases in Delhi, it is very necessary that masks be worn properly over nose and mouth at all times outside home. Face to face meetings must be avoided as per government guidelines. Social distancing must be practised very carefully, as per government guidelines, by all. Regular hand washing is also necessary. No one should underestimate the pandemic. Maybe government can also consider restricting the attendance in private offices to 50% in order to reduce the mixing of people.
Vijay Kumar Ganguly

Debate (1)
Jaishankar is doing well because he knows the subject well. Hardeep Puri has no experience in Civil Aviation and Urban Development. IAS Ministers can work in any department
H K Jain
Why is Jinping Paranoid ?
The Chinese President for Life Xi Jinping is so paranoid these days that he wants to throw the Chinese masses in to an uncalled-for war with so many countries at the same time. He is not able to choose the theatre of war at the moment. He is not able to convince his people about the reason for going to a war at this juncture when the Chinese masses do not have minimum food or shelter or employment. In war, he seems to imagine an opportunity to stoke patriotism and win popular support which he is losing fast. He is afraid of his enemies within ! Why is Xi Jinping afraid of his enemies ? It is because the Chinese propaganda to fool its masses does not hold anymore. The mouthpiece of Xi Jinping and government, the Global Times, evokes ridicule ! The Chinese masses are disillusioned with the communist model of governance and demand democratic form of government from Xi Jinping. So far, the China Communist Party and Xi Jinping have been able to suppress it but won’t be able to retain their hold on the people for long; certainly not if a war breaks out now. The enemies of Xi Jinping are friends of the Chinese masses, whom they treat as their leaders instead of Mao. Democracy is a word that sends Xi Jinping into paroxysm of war with its neighbours. He gets relief from his anxiety in the delusion of scoring easy victory knowing well that nothing more than destruction awaits him. The leaders of other countries represent open societies practicing democracy. The myth of Maoism stands blasted. It is no more a panacea for poverty and other ills of a country like China. No other country admires Mao. In contrast, most of the 202 countries of the world are either practicing democracy or are agitating for it, some even in civil war for democracy. The Chinese people have access to all this information, which was withheld from them by the Chinese Communist Party and its government for more than 70 years. Instead the masses were fed disinformation, misinformation and fake news, epitomised by the Global Times and other electronic media controlled by the government. Xi Jinping could not stop this valuable exposure of the Chinese masses, especially the educated youth, to the world scenario. They are more intelligent than Xi Jinping and the CCP consider them. As China wanted to beat capitalist countries by registering higher economic growth, it had to interact with people from other countries and that brought the Chinese in contact with different societies globally. The Chinese industrial products reached world markets and the world of electronics brought world leaders to their homes. Products, ideas and a variety of thoughts from foreign countries also arrived in China. India and Prime Minister Narendra Modi won a sizable following of the Chinese people on Twitter etc. There are millions of young Chinese admirers of Narendra Modi who love and dream to have democracy in China. By creating war hysteria against India Xi Jinping wants to win back the youth by arousing patriotism though he is clearly on a path of self-destruction. He miscalculated his chances of winning a war against India. He was repeatedly cautioned not to even think of any misadventure. He was reminded that it was not 1962 but 2020, but Xi allowed himself the delusion of the communism of the 1962. In 1962, India was in a friendly mindset towards China, USSR, Vietnam, Korea and other countries struggling to free themselves from the yoke of colonial power and gain freedom. Such noble sentiments were abused by the Chinese leadership in 1962 which became an enemy country instantly. The charm of communism was gone in a moment. The Indian Communist party had to take the severest hit: it was split first and decimated later. Xi Jinping is getting misguided by the Communists of India pursuing their own self-interests in cahoots with the Indian National Congress Party (controlled from outside by the Communists, Evangelists and Jehadis). Driven to craziness, the Chinese President has been seeking friendship with dictators and military regimes like Pakistan as the entire Chinese Communist Party is mortally afraid of democracy. It will be proved in the very first free and fair democratic election in China if it is ever held. Xi Jinping likes Pakistan particularly because both practice dictatorship and treat their masses most inhumanely. People in Pakistan are poor and hungry but the military rulership feeds only illusions of winning the war against India fooling them about Kashmir. It is so funny that Pakistan military had successfully manipulated Xi Jinping to fight their war against India (like a bully in primary school instigating others to pick up a fight and then complain to the class teacher). China was humiliated in Galvan so much that it never revealed the exact number of casualties suffered by it, never publishing their details in the electronic media or Global Times. Xi Jinping’s government humiliated their dead soldiers by cremating them in the dead of the night far away from their homes where no family member was allowed to participate in the last rites of the soldiers. Such inhuman conduct of the Jinping government exhibits the flawed Maoism which is for the prosperity of the Communist Party Leaders and not for the masses. Watching the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the official visit of Xi Jinping to India in October 2019 the Chinese people have adopted the Indian PM’s slogan of SABKA VIKAS, SABKA SAATH, SABKA VISWAS (Development for all, support to everyone, trust of all). That has created so much stress in Xi Jinping that he seeks to destress it by starting a war against India, but Galvan has compelled him to think twice before taking the risk of a sure defeat and economic disaster. China should forget about BRI- it is as good as dead. Xi Jinping had committed the blunder of taking India for granted. He made the same mistake which his predecessors had made in 1962- abusing the warm hospitality of India and its Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who hosted a very successful official visit to India by Jinping, his wife and a delegation. He perhaps thought that the Indians were the same 1962 kind (foolish) sentimental people and started acting funny after returning to China. In 2017 Xi Jinping had tested the resolve of Indian people to put some sense in his mind in Doklam. He succumbed to the charming instigations of Pakistan Military Generals to score a winning victory against India and fulfil his dream of BRI by engaging India in Galvan in East Ladakh. Xi Jinping alone is personally responsible for the consequences in the region if it leads to an all-out war. It is costing China millions of Dollars every day for maintaining a huge force of 60,000 soldiers and equipment in the region. India has maintained alertness at its borders and was ready for any situation. China’s instigator Pakistan loses nothing but gains lots of free funds and military equipment from China. It is in illegal occupation of Indian territory in Kashmir and knows that it will lose it soon- it makes business sense to sell it to China instead of India capturing it. Pakistan retains the option of blackmailing Xi (or next President of China) when the kidnapping of prominent workers engaged on BRI projects in Pakistan is engineered by them in collusion with the terrorist forces whom they would like China to use to fill the vacuum created by the withdrawing American forces in the region. The case of Osama Bin Laden who was provided a safe sanctuary in the Army Cantonment in Pakistan should be remembered. The Pakistan Army blackmailed America and received billions of Dollars in aid from them to search and catch Osama Bin Laden. Will they act different with China? China is not ideologically closer to the Pakistan military but is merely a rich customer to be fleeced by seductive rhetoric. It will shift loyalty to America when it gets paid better. China stands severely punished economically after Xi Jinping tried to bully a bold Narendra Modi and a brave India. It has lost more than 40% export trade due to Xi Jinping’s crusades in all fronts against democracies and the affliction of COVID-19 cultured in Wuhan! Xi Jinping fears Indian democracy and by forcing a war dreams of deterring the Chinese masses from starting the second Tiananmen Protests against Xi Jinping and win the civil war over the communist party dictatorship to establish democracy in China.
M L Gupta

DEBATE(1)
In my opinion IFS is good. IAS becomes more influential person and arrogant and egoist due to direct dealing with the public sentiments under the influence of corrupt politicians and becomes habitual to ignore the gentleness of society.
VV Vergese
ISTM : retired employee as consultant for faculty should be avoided
ISTM to engage retired Government employees as Consultants A retired employee as consultant for Administration is perhaps OK. but a retired employee as consultant for faculty should be avoided. Instead an organisation like ISTM should invite visiting faculty from other training institutions. It would be best if some new IIM graduates are brought in, if possible, so that they give the latest knowledge/ information.
Pradeep Kumar
An apt choice
Saroj Punhani: An extremely competent and upright officer. An apt choice.
Surinder Pal

The appellant sought the proceedings and action taken report on his letter dated 12/08/2018 addressed to Sh. Prakash Keshav Javadekar, the then MHRD Minister. The representative of the CPIO submitted that it was only after the receipt of the CIC’s hearing notice that they came to know about the present RTI application. They thoroughly searched all their records but were not able to trace the RTI application, first appeal and even the representations mentioned by the appellant in his RTI application. The appellant submitted that it has been 02 years since he has filed his representation and the RTI Application and after such a long delay, merely stating that the RTI application and the representation are not traceable is making a mockery of the grievance redressal mechanism and also of the RTI Act.
The CIC held that the justification of the representative of the CPIO is not acceptable in toto as it was the fault of the RTI Cell who have failed to attach the relevant documents with the given FTS and it was left blank. The CIC expressed its extreme displeasure at the conduct of the respondent organisation as a whole for such poor handling of the RTI applications and negligence towards the implementation of the RTI Act. The appellant was directed to e-mail the copies of all the relevant documents as referred to in his RTI application to the representative of the CPIO. The CIC also instructed the Secretary, Ministry of Education to relook at the delivery mechanism in vogue in respect of the implementation of the RTI Act and take necessary steps to streamline the system of receiving RTI Applications and First Appeals.
Comments
All public authorities must ensure that the records relating to the RTI Applications and their replies are maintained properly.
Citation: Naresh Mokate v. Ministry of Education in File no.: CIC/MOHRD/A/2019/108482, Date of Decision : 26/10/2020
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)
IFS Ministers look graceful but IAS will always remain supreme in this country.
R P Verma
Entrance Examinations
The results of entrance examinations like IIT-JEE main and advanced, NEET2020 for admissions to medical and dental courses have been announced. The results have no doubt made a minority of students and their parents very happy but would have left a large majority shattered and perhaps poorer by a few lacs of rupees. Many coaching centers all over the country are releasing front page ads with photos of their students who have secured top ranks. Certainly felicitations are due to these children.
However, time has come to review the efficacy of these entrance tests. They seem to test only the memory and not the aptitude of the students to pursue such courses. Also very large number of children who cannot afford the high fees charged by the coaching centers or live far away from them are totally denied the opportunity to try their chances. Due to policy of reservation many high scoring children will not be able to gain entry to courses and institutions of their choice, especially Government institutes, And they will not be able to afford the very high fees charged by private institutes, especially in the medical field. Here is a suggestion to cut through all this. Scrap all the entrance tests. Admit all eligible students to courses and institutes of their choice by a computer-run lottery system, keeping of course reservation policy etc. This will at least give an equal and fair chance to every student. No need to attend coaching classes.
Once admitted, treat the first year as a foundation programme and the Institutes should conduct basic courses to bring all the students on par. Children should be regularly assessed through tests, exams etc. and fairly high qualifying levels should be set including for regular attendance. Children not having the aptitude or application should be asked to leave which they may willingly do once they realise that their interests could be elsewhere. Parents also will reconcile to the reality and won’t pressure their children unnecessarily. The remaining ones can pursue the programme. This arrangement will be fair to all aspirants, rich and poor, from urban or rural areas.
S.Raghavan