Whispers Forum

The Indian bureaucracy is growing increasingly gutless .Delivering public services to citizens in a time bound manner failed to take off despite the Right to public services Act, in place. The UPSC- recruited civil servants of mid-sixties and seventies, were known for high ethical standards. The situation started deteriorating during the emergency. When the civil servants were asked to bend, they started to crawl. The authorities need to take the following steps to stop the rot before the whole system gets corrupted.
The top-heavy pyramid of bureaucracy is a burden on tax-payers(8% of GDP).There is a need to down-size it by chopping off the deadwood. Rewarding the pliable bureaucracy (mollycoddled by the State) with post-retirement sinecures be stopped altogether. The common perception is that power is concentrated in a few hands, reflecting autocratic traditions. This calls for de-centralization and delegation of power. The top-down decision-making process should be replaced by a bottom-up consultative approach.
Effective reforms must be carried out at the stage of initial recruitment. By way of suggestions, the minimum and maximum age limit for civil services examinations conducted by the UPSC and States’ PSCs be restricted to 21 and 24 years respectively. More importantly, the total number of attempts available for appearing in the CS exams, should not exceed three for all categories. Under the existing dispensation, the eligibility criteria for age and total number of attempts are alarming, inexplicable. One can imagine what sorts of aspirants would get selected at an advanced age? An ageing bureaucracy cannot contribute to redressal of public grievances and effective decision making. Whispers in bureaucratic and corporate circles would have us believe that a majority of civil servants are dimwits and purchasable commodities.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

An application was filed seeking information about Distance Mode of education in Private Universities and particularly about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi Vedic University, Katni. The CIC held it is clear beyond reasonable doubt that the PIO had provided a template/cyclostyled response. Further, it is unnerving to note that even the FAA did not bother to pursue the RTI Application and the PIO’s reply. In response to a show cause notice for imposing penalty, a hearing was given to the PIO. Dr. Amit Kumar Verma, PIO argued about receiving 700-800 RTI Applications; being affected by all three waves of COVID on the personal front as well as having placed in public domain the FAQs in compliance with earlier orders of the Commission etc. The PIO persistently urged that the CIC should direct his competent authority to institute a system where RTI Applications are not left pending in the event of his unavailability or any incumbent’s unavailability. The CIC observed that throughout the course of the hearing, the tone and tenor of the PIO was exhibiting no regret and rather seeking to find flaws in the system even when his failure to peruse the RTI Application carefully or in having provided a cyclostyled response was pointed out with reference to similar cases. The CIC held that there was no reasoning tendered by the erring PIO, rather, the PIO’s inclination was to beat around the bush. For deemed refusal to provide the information without any reasonable cause and the callous conduct of PIO during the hearing despite the failure to plead his stand or justify the misconduct, the CIC imposed a penalty of Rs. 5,000/- under Section 20(1) of the RTI Act on Dr. Amit Kumar Verma, PIO of UGC for the gross violation of the provisions of the RTI Act, 2005.
Comments
In many public authorities, the number of PIO’s designated is not sufficient to deal with the quantum of RTI Applications received. There is no link officer to deal with the RTI applications in the case of the PIO proceeding on leave. This case law is a wake up call for all such organisations.
Citation: Mahendra Sahu v. University Grants Commission, CIC/UGCOM/A/2022/660420; Date of Adjunct Decision: 02.09.2024
Dr Anuradha Verma (dranuradhaverma@yahoo.co.in) is a RTI Consultant currently working with IIM Visakhapatnam. She has co-authored the books, RTI Right to Information - Law and Practice and PIO’s Guide to RTI. She offers consultancy on RTI matters and Third party audit. Her other articles can be read at the website of RTI Foundation of India at the link www.rtifoundationofindia.com

The American Establishment had done too much harm to the people of America from the start of the Cold War till Election of the POTUS on November 5, 2024. Only historians will give authentic account of purposely putting the American youth on drugs/marijuana under the garb of Hippy Culture to deflect them from pondering over the moral issues emanating from devastation caused by the atom bombs dropped in Japan. Thereafter the USSR was made the target for attacks till Gorbachev demolished even that façade in 1989, changing the world map. It didn’t take more than a decade when 9/11 happened (or engineered?). Since that fatal day, the war mongers have not allowed peace to prevail. Unfortunately, all horrible violence, loss of American young lives and millions in the rest of the world, and wastage of American tax payers’ money which affected the global economy has failed to help them win the election. It is for the first time since WW-II that the American voters have decided dispassionately the fate of America in the POTUS Election 2024. America will not be thrust into wars anymore for winning the POTUS election. There is an urgent need to make America Great once again, which has been dragged so low by a handful of terrorists in collusion with the American Establishment that its credibility as a great democratic nation stands compromised. America needs to assure the world democracies that all terrorists active in America shall be brought to justice swiftly. What they have done in Bangladesh has ruined American prestige and credibility as a democracy in the comity of nations for centuries. The American ambassador with his team must be recalled from India forthwith for misleading the POTUS and even planning a similar action in India. The White House gang of operatives under Lu (or whatever is him name) and the whole caucus of “regime change” specialists deserve to be locked up for crimes of genocide in the name of regime change without any authority portraying America as a medieval power indulging in killings at will.
M L Gupta
The era of hereditary "leaders" and "political dynasties
Many discredited "leaders" are trying to retrieve their "legacy" by trying to divide the people. They will never succeed. The era of hereditary "leaders" and "political dynasties" is over in India.
V K Reddy

Population can never be controlled in India because Jiski jitni bhagidari uski utni hissedari penalises population control. If that is followed, those castes who have managed to control population will be penalised, those states which have managed to control population will be penalised. The only way out is to enforce the two child norm by law and penalise those with more than two children and not allow anyone with more than two children to vote or contest any kind of election. Those who give such slogans for narrow electoral gains will be penalised by the public.
V K Reddy

The impending delimitation of constituencies for Lok Sabha and the States’ legislative assemblies, instead of population, should be based on a scientific formula like the one followed in case of Jammu & Kashmir. The population-based approach will increase the divide between the North and South Indian States.Why should the southern states be penalised for practising population control and suffer decline in the number of constituencies? On the contrary, some northern states will register disproportionate increase in the number. There is a need for introspection for evolving an even-handed approach.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)