Whispers Forum

Survey (1)
Nusrat Jahan and Krishna Gaur are most glamorous and Smriti Irani and Priyanka Gandhi according to me are very talented.
Ashok Rastogi
Survey (2)
Being glamorous is one thing and talent is something else. But one woman politician who fits in both the categories is, no doubt, Nusrat Jahan. Next in line is none other than Priyanka Gandhi.
Syed Nasir Ali
Why blame your defenders ?
I have been involved in interviewing candidates for the civil services. I find there is still a huge interest amongst youngsters to join the civil service and there preference is the IAS and IPS. The candidates are bright students, innumerable engineers, doctors, PhDs. Why are they flocking to these two services ? This seems a bit contradictory to me as whomsoever I meet, she or he is immensely critical of these two services. Politicians say that they would have taken the country on a 10% growth path but for these IAS officers. Similarly, they claim that the IPS is not dedicated. Journalists also think likewise. Business people say Indian bureaucracy is the worst in the world. Judges routinely admonish the IAS and IPS. Scientists say that India would have had at least two dozen Nobel prize winners, if only the IAS did not interfere. The army man thinks that the IAS and IPS should be scrapped.
So out of about 25 crore families in this country, it seems that about 99% do not have a kind word for the IAS and IPS.
The contradiction arises because these IAS/IPS aspirants come from these very families. We have family members of politicians. Jagannath Mishra's son was in the civil service. Bhagvad Jha Azad's child joined the IPS. Most of the journalists have appeared in the Civil Services exams. I had many batch-mates who came from business families. Judges families have produced many IAS/IPS officers. How can this be ?
When people criticise the IAS and IPS, I feel they forget to analyse the matter after examining the facts. Let us see how. Take businessmen. They find it much more easier to deal with the neta. Matters can be settled with little bit of give and take. In comes a bureaucrat and spoils the fun. He has the dirty job of pointing out the constitution, law, rules. He has taken an oath to do that.
An Honourable judge was once very surprised when I told him that I had not attended the marriage ceremony of my Chief Minister's son as " I do not socialise with such people." . The surprise was more as some members of the judiciary had attended. People think that IAS/IPS officers are sycophants of netas and 'brothers in arms' with them. They just presume things. Once a scientist friend wanted me to book the Constitution Club for his daughters marriage. I said only an MP can do that. He said " That's why I am asking you. You must have many MPs.". I explained to him that I did not know a single MP. He clearly did not believe me and thought I was just giving a lame excuse to avoid helping him. See the misconception? On another occasion, an Honourable judge visited my house and was surprised to see the simple furniture and me serving him tea. He asked " Don't you get an allowance of Rs 1,50,000 to furnish your house and some bungalow peons?". Another misinformation. The general belief is that IAS/IPS officers 'enjoy' at the tax payers expense.
With lot of expectation we had put a retired army brigadier in charge of an agriculture institution in agriculture. He could not run it and left. In fact, there were serious problems during his tenure. Thereafter, we appointed another man. Not only did he turn in profits but successfully merged it with a larger CPSU and earned huge profits. So, there are black sheep everywhere.
I can go on and tell you stories from members of other walks of life. But the crux is that the IPS and IAS are the only two services facing the line of fire of corrupt netas. The rest, who do not have to deal with them, can lecture them and hide in their boroughs. An immensely hyped professional from the private sector once tried his hand at running Air India. Proved a disaster and ran.
So anyone next time criticises the IAS, make him a Secretary/Joint Secretary to a stalwart 'standard' minister like Lalu Prasad or Maran and see the results of the chemical reaction. If a guy critises an IPS, ask him to be SP of a district for 24 hrs or ask him to face stone throwing mobs in Srinagar or drive through Naxal infested jungles. Insure him against myocardial infraction before that.
So, the point I think is that they all know that the job is tough and requires lot of IQ, EQ, raw courage, ingenuity, diplomacy, cunning and above all, love for and dedication to the country, to be an IAS and IPS officer. But they do not have the courage to call a spade a spade and demand electoral and judicial reforms. They chose the easy option of blaming the IAS and IPS because these guys do not have the power to put you behind bars.
The truth is that while the army protects us from external enemies, the IAS and IPS protects us from the internal ones.
P K Basu IAS (Retd)
Unanimous decision on Ayodhya
SC has made a fine unanimous decision on Ayodhya. After centuries, the ghost of Babar is removed from India. Full marks to our forefathers for not losing their faith in Hindustan - the homeland of secular Hindus for over 5000 years plus. Time to rebuild a modern India economically and militarily strong. The Honourable SC has laid out a clear path today by its fine unanimous judgement. Jai Hind.
Devindra Sethi

SURVEY (1)
In my my view only Priyanka Gandhi.
P Raghvan
"Profligate ruling dispensation, Misplaced priorities, Wasteful expenditure"
Apropos news item on ' Shifting PM's house closer to South Block ' in TOI , dated Nov 3,2019.
The selected Gujarat-based architect wants PM's house to be shifted near South block. This means razing of several bungalows and offices in Lutyens Delhi.
What happens to present PM's house on which crores of rupees have been wasted including building an underground tunnel upto IG international airport and helipad.
PM Modi rarely uses his present bungalows, anyway, being mostly abroad or out of Delhi
I suggest both PM's office and residence involving cluster of bungalows, may be built near airport.
One facet of PM's overall personality startles every one.
How could one with a humble background is so self-indulgent with passion for living a luxurious life style.
Scant or zero concern for poor tax-payers' money. No austerity, no simplicity.
On same considerations, PM's obsession for revamping Central vista complex at an estimated cost of Rs 10,000 crores (Completion cost will be many times over) raises suspicions about pressures of builders' mafia.
Was the RBI compelled to transfer Rs 1.76 lakh crore of its surplus reserve to the government to undertake such activities of tertiary importance, bypassing priorities like roads, national highways, hospitals and other socio- economic schemes/projects. Investment is also needed for development of UTs of J&K, Laddhak and finally PoK after its annexation
Nation wants to know, how funds are going to be utilized ?
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

SURVEY (1)
“Finding Beauty and Talent in same Woman, is rarest of the rare combination”
No single woman politician in India is fortunate enough to be endowed with twin qualities of talent and glamour. Brain and beauty are antithetical. I have still made an honest attempt. Nusrat Jahan, the newly elected MP from TMC, could be rated as the most glamorous, progressive, open-minded leader-cum-actress.
No intention to hurt any one out of 30 women shortlisted by WIC.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)
Who will be Member of ITAT ?
In addition to IRS officers, few members from the Chartered Accountant fraternity possessing high degree expertise in Direct Taxes and who are in active practice for more than 15 years would also appear in the list of appointment this time.
The shortlisting as well as the interview was too tough and was conducted in highly professional manner exhibiting the high standards and transparency too. I wish one and all my fraternity members who applied, might appeared for interview.
Ajay Agrawal
Are the Delhi police really innocent ?
Originally Answered: What is the actual reason behind the cop-lawyers clash in Delhi ? Are the Delhi police really innocent ?
I have already summarized the facts elsewhere on quora so I'll take it as read.
The parking in front of the lock up by the erring lawyer was not only illegal but was also a security hazard . So the constable on duty was rightly miffed. The lawyer with his own sense of entitlement must have been upset by his rudeness. His manhandling by the policeman is a misconduct but not an offence.
What the lawyers did then was :
Mob lynching
Assault on a public servant, an offence u/ s 353 ipc.
Assault on the State by storming the lock up.
Being lawyers, they were fully aware of this. They did it because they felt that they could get away with this because of tacit support of the court and the politicians of AAP and Congress.
Getting the information of the mob attack on the lock up, the DCP (?) came with force. There was firing resulting in three injuries. Infuriated by this, the lawyers went berserk across the city. They beat up any stray policeman they found. They burnt vehicles of civilians and beat them up for no reason.
They petitioned the High Court who, without hearing the other party issued orders of transfer of two officers and suspension of two policemen without any enquiry. The CP complied. Cases were registered against both side after the police force staged an 11 hour dharna before the PHQ.
Now coming to your question. ‘Are the Delhi police really innocent ?’ . Delhi police is a collective body. They are neither innocent nor guilty. Is any one innocent? Since Adam tasted the forbidden apple, none of us is innocent. However, on the basis of information available to me, some police men are definitely guilty of misconduct. Whether firing was justified? I am convince that it was. A judicial enquiry has-been ordered and the final position will only be clear then.
Are lawyers guilty ? IAM sure they are, of several offences. Offences have been registered and they will be decided by court.
However all this pales into insignificance before the macro issues. A man in uniform, OG or khaki, represents the authority of the state. An organised assault on this massive scale tends to destabilize the social structure and should be taken very seriously. In a ripple effect, it emboldens the other anarchist elements. Unfortunately some of them are sitting in the power center.
The second aspect of this is that the acts of the High Court and that of the CP have brought the ranks of Delhi Police to the verge of rebellion. This is indeed a very serious matter. The prestige and confidence in the the higher judiciary had been steadily waning. This will bring it lower still.
Finally, the CP has lost face and the ranks have shown a lack of confidence in him. This cannot be permitted. He will never be able to lead the force. It deepens the belief that chiefs of Police are mere pawns in the power game. And that the selection process is such that none can be expected to stand up with an erect spine. Has he erred? In my books, yes he has. Whether he is moved out or not, he is a lame duck.
Nand Kumar Singh, former DGP (1963-1997)

SURVEY (1)
Our pick for the subject line is: Smriti Irani - Both Glam & Talent ; Mimi Chakraborty – Glam ; Nusrat Jehan – Glam
Annand Dokania
SURVEY (2)
In my view only Priyanka Gandhi.
Hari Singh
ITO`S last hurrah
It appears the learned Prof. seems no knowledge about the Direct Tax functioning. The Tax Men don`t have powers to revisit cases more than 6 years. Revisiting the 10 year old cases their system will not accept. As a practicing CA, I will confirm it. Let the Prof. sleep peacefully. Even if his case of more than 6 years is reopened, they can`t do any thing.
AKR
“We want Kiran Bedi”
The demand for police reforms comes within the police force the slogan 'we want Kiran Bedi' comes within the police it shows the need of police reforms on urgent basis society doesn't need demoralized Police Force insecure Police Force it is not about one incident which happened at tees hazari Court somewhere the bomb which was waiting to explode since very long. The system in which our police force works we only get corrupt, insecure, incompetent policing.
Way back in 1902-03, the Fraser Commission recorded that “the police force is far from efficient, it is defective in training and organisation, it is inadequately supervised, it is generally regarded as corrupt and oppressive, and it has utterly failed to secure the confidence and cordial cooperation of the people.”
Bhupender Kumar

SURVEY (1)
Most glamorous Women Politicians
Krishna Gaur, Dimple Yadav, Mimi Chakarborty and Priyanka Gandhi in that order.
Partha Garg
SURVEY (2)
Nusrat Jahan is talented and glamorous actress who became Member of Parliament. She has mind of her own and speaks her thought without being guilty about it which is the need of the hour of the present day political class who does not study the subject but just say for the sake of saying. She is new but has spark which speaks volume about her talent. She is truly patriotic too.
Nidhi Jain
PM’s promisse of smaller government and larger governance nowhere
As per Whispers’ news item dated Oct 11, 2019, DOP&T has issued a calendar to cadre-controlling authorities of all central services, to complete their cadre reviews and send proposals to Cadre review division of that department. PM had promised smaller government and larger governance. He has totally ignored his promise of providing good governance and is creating more and more posts in the PMO without adequate workload, leading to centralization of authority. Ministries, divested of initiatives, await directions from the top office. All cadre review exercises are resulting in creation of extra jobs in all cadres, accelerated promotions without matching workload. Two union ministries like the Finance (Economic Affairs)responsible for Indian Economic Service (IES) and the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation that controls the Indian Statistical Service (ISS) got undue benefit. Every Tom Dick & Harry got quick promotions through UPSC by relaxing Recruitment Rules for not having requisite number of years of services. There were more vacant posts available at higher levels but limited number of takers. Can the government of India not take the opportunity of drastically reducing the number of posts at higher levels, as promised by Modi government and improve the promotions prospects of job holders at lower levels. The format designed by the cadre review wing of DOP&T ,is absolutely flawed ,biased in favour of senior functionaries. In Min of Statistics, all jobs have been grabbed by the ISS Officers including Administrative. They are controlling their own cadres. PM, as in-charge of DOP&T ,is requested to review the defective model formulated by its cadre review wing and make it unbiased and non-discriminatory. The job of Secretary MOSPI, should be handled by an IAS officer and the Chief Statistician of India must report to him. This is absolutely necessary to remove the total chaos in that ministry, at present.
Narender Singh

If indeed the Government is deciding to lower the retirement age of Government employees, it is a retrograde step. This again proves this Government is anti employees and does not care for the bodies like Pay Commission under whose recommendations the retirement age was increased from 58 to 60.With longevity having gone up and people remaining quite young even at the age of 60 there is actually a case for raising the retirement age and why not. If politicians can go up to 75 or even beyond it why the Govt. employees can not work up to 60 or even 62.
Aarti Khosla
Sandhu comes up with elegant anecdotes
Sandhu comes up with elegant anecdotes, that strikes a chord in many field officers. This putting 'topi' on the lower level field officers for splurging on the senior officers' visits and of ministers is widely prevalent in many states. One expects the PM, with his honesty worn on his sleeve, would put and end to this. This is happening in different ways even now, by the ruling party in the districts be it BJP or other parties. Kerala is somewhat of an exception, not so much. There, the lower level officers are blunt and direct. Even in Tamil Nadu it is that way. When I was in the field, I used to insist that whatever food expenses was met for me, I would pay. The officer demurred and said that it is a small amount and don’t worry. But I insisted. Then he said that sir, apart from you, your driver, your camp peon, other officers who come to meet you, all are being taken care of by us. I then said, that I will pay for me and my driver. He said sir you will not be able to afford it and came up with a high value. The break up included fire wood, chicken (I am vegetarian), booze, and said all this is expected. It is difficult to stem this. Sandhu should bring out more anecdotes like this.
Ravi Srinivasan

This year the Board of Direct taxes supported by senior IRS officers has taken two important steps to eradicate corruption in their department. First is the amendment to the law to the effect that cases more than four years old cannot be opened. More important is that dealing in these cases will be faceless. This means a permanent loss of power of harassment as also 'extra' income for the junior officers. But junior officers are smarter than the Board imagined them to be. To compensate for the forthcoming loss, the junior officers opened a large number of 5 to 10 year old cases before the four year rule came into force. Now they have time up to 31st December 2019 to harass the assessees either for extra income or for ego massage. Most of the victims are salaried persons. The loss of reputation to the Income tax department is immense but there is little the Board or the Minister can do about it.
Prof. N. C. Saxena

The Appellant sought the copies of all the official circulars, orders etc for ensuring “Adequate Safe Drinking Water to Public of Rajasthan in least minimum time” sent from time to time by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation to State of Rajasthan from 2002 till 29 March 2017. The PIO submitted that the desired information from the year 2011 onwards is available on the website of the concerned Ministry. However, before that the subject matter was handled by the Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation and hence, all the physical records available with them which were transferred from MDWS, are not in a consolidated and a ready-made form. The CIC directed to provide an additional reply to the appellant giving him proper hyper-links and sub-links where the desired information from the year 2011 can be located. Further, the inspection of the records related to the period before 2011 was ordered.
Comments
Information of such nature should be suo-moto disclosed by the Public Authority on their website for the ease and convenience of the public at large as a part of their obligation under section 4 (2) of the RTI Act. The PIO should provide the proper hyper-links and sub-links where the information sought by an applicant is available instead of plainly referring to on the website.
Citation: Sunil Pareek v. Ministry of Jal Shakti Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation in Decision no.: CIC/MODWS/A/2017/606108/MODWS/02019, Date of Decision: 31/10/2019
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. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link: - Right to Information Act 2005- RTI Foundation of India

India invites 27 members of European Union Parliamentarians to show normalcy in Kashmir. One wonders why so much hue and cry is being raised by the Opposition ?
It is India's sovereign right to invite anyone for mobilising international opinion. This will bolster up our stand on Kashmir especially as the EU had recently expressed concern about the situation in Kashmir. More importantly, India must gather support of as many countries as possible before embarking on legitimate annexation of POK including Gilgit and Baltistan.
The Congressmen and pseudo intellectuals were blocked from visiting Kashmir due to their unholy nexus with Kashmiri separatists and the ISI. It was , a clear threat to national Security at that point of time.
There could possibly be no issue with MEA's invite to the EU lawmakers to visit the valley, though selection of delegates could have been arbitrary, based on pick and choose. They allegedly belong to the right wing parties of Europe. The entire west is turning to right-wing ideology, anyway.
So far ,so good. But, I am somewhat perplexed by the private nature of the visit (not officially sponsored by the EU). Will the MPs influence their countries, back home ?
One hopes, the foreign jaunt does not end up as a 5-Star holiday, enjoying MEA’s hospitality. Surely, the decision on invite must have been taken by the MEA on holistic considerations after taking into account all secret aspects to which the critics are not privy.
PM will surely be able to convince the Indian Parliament, starting from Nov 18,2019.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

Day in and day out IAS officers are promoted on fastest track and boss over other Central Service officers even upto officers of 5 years senior batches. No one sees anything wrong here specially IAS who consider themselves God’s own creation. How demoralising it is for other Services, no one realises. Just to please one Service i.e. IAS, entire government machinery is relentlessly working. Why be then concerned with one IAS officer of a batch becoming boss of another IAS officer? When will anyone realise and end completely unjustified hegemony of IAS ? Their 87 batch got posted as a Secretary and 91 batch as Additional Secretary ? Will any one see situation in other Central Services ? Are those not doing important work ?
Devendra Sridhar

All terror alerts sounded are fake, fabricated. Mere tactics to create false scare in the public mind , divert attention amid political rhetorics by leaders with scant or no regard for security threats from across the border.
The leaders, after Assemblies’ poll results, are now obsessed with governments formations through horse-trading.
Scramble for power, quota-sharing of ministerial portfolios, sweet promises to public (Not necessarily honest) are prominent activities taking away their times. No time for offices and redressing public grievances.
Leaders are part-time ministers and full-time politicians.
At micro-levels, 90% time spent on politics and 10% on public welfare.
The gullible public refuses to react, protest. The paid media is callous, unfazed. Politicians' sole objective is to earn cheap publicity and brownie points for others' hard labour and achievements. How brazen?
Democracy, surely, is bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)