"Why can't IAS officers stand upto the politician ?" I forget how many times this question has been put to me, mostly by journalists, but also by businessmen/women, venerable judges, friends and scientists.
I for one have never spare a single opportunity to point out ills of our systems whenever I encounter one. In fact, i have recorded my views in my two books, if anyone cares to read them. Whenever I do so, if the issue is important enough, I request my journalist friends to carry my views in their newspapers ( I do not know anyone in the TV world - not that any sensible person watches tv news anymore. ). My request is never honoured. One senior journalist was frank enough to tell me the reason - the management/editor will not approve your views to be printed in the paper. Why they not stand upto their editors? I write only facts and the truth. As I have narrated earlier, during one election i found a very senior journalist covering election meetings in a car provided by the Chief Minister. Then you expect him to stand up to that Chief Minister? In the same magazine, a journalist had written about some hanky-panky by a controversial but influential officer. He got a message from the editor to not repeat that mistake. Shortly he was eased out. I have met only one Rambo journalist, namely Arun Shourie. We all know about how he stood upto Indira Gandhi during the emergency and what work he did in the Bofor's case, just to name a few. As my minister in disinvestment also i have seen him stand upto to his corrupt colleagues. I find no other example.
During my disinvestment days i saw the business world from very close quarters. Few cases will elaborate. One very young bright lawyer came with his boss ( Top 5 law firms ) for a discussion. I knew this boy to be of integrity. The boss tried to bullshit me with some wrong legal advise. I thought the junior would atleast point out that what i was saying was correct. He kept mum, though he appeared uneasy. Of course, i rejected his bosses suggestion. Meeting over, they left. Later, the boy comes to me and says " Sir, you were absolutely right but i cannot contradict my boss.". Why he could not stand upto his boss? When we were selling balance shares of a very big company, the CA firm was trying to hoodwink government by giving a low share price. I told him that this won't do. He says " Sir what to do? My partner says that the private partner has asked us not to cross a certain price. I told him " If the private partner is angry he would not give you future business but if i catch you acting smart government will give you a room in Tihar. Now you chose.". Worked. Always does. Why couldn't this mighty CA firm stand upto one businessman ?
Scientists. As Agriculture Secretary i have seen a DG, ICAR who used to succumb to every wrong request of some netas. Every other scientist kept silent. Those scientists who stood up, like Dr Swapan Dutta, a renowned geneticist, suffered. Even after he was recommended for a very important position by the highest authorities, he was denied the job.
About judges, whatever i say may be construed as contempt. Therefore, I'll only mention the 4-1 verdict in the ADM Jabalpur case and the reasons and fallout of it.
And then there is other thing about diluting the service by allowing entry at advanced ages. By the time they come into the IAS, they have served in one or more places and become "worldly wise". Their number would be around 10 %. So this sizeable chunk is available to the leader to fill up all the key positions. The balance 90 % are at the periphery of governance and hence no opportunity of conflict ever arises. Public does not see them ever.
So, we have one Arun Shourie, one Swapan Dutta. But we have Seshan, Lyngdoh, Sunder, EAS Sarma, Abhash Chatterjee, M N Buch, S V Bhave, V S Dubey, D Bandopadhya, S Ramasubramanium, R K Nair, V K Shunglu and hordes of others who stood upto politicians, and the younger generation of IAS officers, who are still doing so. It is impossible for 5000 IAS officers to carry the burden of all others. We are not descendents of Atlas. Unless everybody stands up to wrong doing this nation cannot be numero uno. And if even with an honest and patriotic Prime Minister we can't do it, then God help us all !
P K Basu IAS (R)
Former Secretary Agriculture, GoI
Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal
Share some information on grant of HAG NFU
Yes , would request 'Whispers in the corridors' to share some information/whispers regarding issue of orders for grant of HAG NFU to 1988 Group A services. It is has been inordinately delayed by DoPT ? Is it a deliberate action.
V K Jain

It is heard lot of outstanding IAS officers of 1991 batch have not found their names in the list of empanelled officers. The officers would have excelled in their jobs and their honesty, integrity, ethical working would have been flawless and their CR also would have been excellent but under the currently followed 360 degree assessment, they are to be further evaluated also by randomly chosen IAS officers who might have worked under them some time and their reports play an equally important contribution in the consideration for empanelment. This introduces many a time a dubious element in that , an opportunity to these randomly chosen discontented officers to take revenge by giving adverse report on the upright and outstanding officer who did not allow anyone to indulge in corruption, making people work to their potential etc. Another quite commonly seen trait of Jealousy in human beings, seen in these officers whatever may be their education and upbringing, also come to their mind at the time of the opportunity given to them to assess an outstanding result oriented officer. An example that immediately strikes is can our PM will ever get good report from his adversaries despite doing his best for the country. If Modi was a bureaucrat, he would not have been empanelled as the randomly selected officers would have taken revenge on him. Many states outstanding officers have missed making it. May be , the individuals would be disappointed for some time but the loss to the nation is much more colossal and is permanent. We must have lost many outstanding officers in the past also. What would be the morale of these outstanding officers who must have given their every thing for their state, people and the country.? Let us ponder !
Ramjavs
Queueing
There has been a debate in Forum whether senior citizens should have a separate queue for accessing public services (specifically, CGHS for serving and retired government servants). Elsewhere there has been a debate whether women should have a separate queue.
In most civilized societies queues are very relaxed. Sometimes, it is not even visible as people keep distance from each other. In India, situation is improving; still people do not respect personal space and stand within an inch of the person in front for the fear of someone coming in between. Apart from privacy issues standing like this is bad for health.
Easy solution to this is Chit pull out system which is used in many places in India as well. When you reach the office, you take out a numbered chit from a machine. The number of the chit holder being served is displayed on the screen. You can sit in the waiting space and when your number comes up (or is about to come up) you approach the counter or the room of the service provider.
In case of CGHS, in some places the reception gives a number but there is no electronic display board to show the patient-number being served. If chit pull out system is made compulsory in all Government offices where visitors are permitted, it will avoid hassle to all.
M P Bauer

My father is 85 years old. He retired as an IRTS Officer and retired at the level of Special Secretary. He lives in Vasant Kunj. He travels to the Railway Hospital almost 18 km away on a regular basis either in a Bus or Metro. As he was honest and hardworking officer, he has been able to maintain his health and easily stand in queue in the Hospital. Till date he has not taken assistance of his five children to go to hospital. Lead an honest, moral and healthy life. You will be able lead a normal life and not get irritated for standing in queue. No body is denying that for emergency cases, the queue has to be broken.
A Srivastava
Only listening to our wise men will do good to this country.
While we are celebrating the award of noble Prize to Indian born Abhijit Bannerjee with his wife and one more economist we are ignoring his expert advice as given by him in a lecture at Brown University under O.P Jindal University lecture series. Listening to our wise men will only do good to this country.
Aarti Khosla

Some news agencies have reported about certain observations on the socio-economic scenario in India by Dr Raghuram Rajan, Professor, Booth School, University of Chicago and erstwhile Governor of Reserve Bank of India. No doubt he is an outstanding academician. His H index is 77, which is very high. One of his papers has been cited about 10,000 times. I won't be surprised if he wins the Nobel prize in the near future. So, one must listen very carefully to what such people say.
According to the news report, Dr Rajan's hypothesis is that India is in the grip of 'Majoritarianism' and that Majoritarianism does not improve the economic situation but is taking the country into a dark and uncertain path. I believe what he means is that the majority in India is assertive. I agree. In every country round the world this is true. It is a truism. In a democracy this is what happens. And in non-democracies like China, Pakistan etc there is a small coterie which rules through the barrel of the gun ( now bombs, howitzers, SLRs and drones too ). Dr Rajan says majoritarianism is divisive. It is not clear how this follows. It is valid to the extent that the party which gets the majority in the elections, forms the government and the Parliament is 'divided' into two broad groups - the ruling party and the opposition. This is divisive but nothing wrong I guess. Dr Rajan further postulates that in India majoritarianism means Hindutva. Hindutva has not been defined by him so I guess he means it is the way of life a follower of the Hindu religion ( like Dr Rajan himself i guess ) adopts in India. But there is a catch here. First, only 40% voters cast their vote in favour of BJP in 2019. Therefore, majoritarianism can only be of those 60%, who rejected BJP. Again, lot of Sikhs, Christians, Jains, Muslims, Tribals voted for BJP. So, logically it can't be Hindutva.
Dr Rajan also apparently states that some citizens are treated as 'others' and impossible conditions are set for their being citizens. This is a real twister. Who are these 'others' ? And based on what study/data is the venerable professor concluding so? If a country identifies foreigners living in the country without valid visa and papers, what is it supposed to do? Let Dr Rajan try to live like that in the US and see what Homeland Security has to say about it ?
Dr Rajans logic seems to be as follows. India is in the grip of majoritarianism (whatever he means by the term ). Majoritarianism = Hindutva. 'Others' are facing harassment to prove their citizenship. And all this has the cumulative effect of driving India away from economic recovery and into some dark and obscure corner.
The worst projection of GDP growth rate for India is 6%, one of highest in the world, despite doomsters saying Demonetisation and GST and transfer of RBI reserves to government would ruin the economy. Immense work has been done in the last five years in the social sector. Dr Rajan knows that there is bound to be a lag before these social sector benefits impact the economy. Same is the case with the tremendous growth in road infrastructure. As a result of GST and good roads the economics of long distance road haulage of goods has significantly improved. But again there is a lag before this is felt in the economy. Real estate slowed down because black money transactions were made difficult. All economists have always advised for structural changes in the economy. Now when the government is doing this, Dr Rajan is presenting this very confounded hypothesis which prima facie appears untenable. I wonder why.
Dr Rajan should remember, different people get opportunities to work for this beautiful nation of ours at different points of time. As an IAS officer I got the opportunity to be the Agriculture Secretary of India. I tried my best to improve the sector. Then my successors came, then their successors, each trying to do his bit. And so it goes on. If I take the position that it is me alone who understands the subject and none of my successors do and if the government does not go by my advice always then they are 'a bunch of fools', then it is time I consult my shrink. Nation building is much more complex than economic model building. I have 8 top academicians in my family. One was a professor in University of Chicago itself (Late Partha Niyogy, Louis Block Professor of Computer Science). The best part I like about them is their humility. They accept that ' they are just gathering pebbles on the shore of the vast ocean of knowledge'.
Jai Hind!
Vande Mataram!
P K Basu IAS (R)
Former Secretary Agriculture, GoI
Former Member, Central Administrative Tribunal
Make Dr. Subramanian Swamy Finance Minister
Dr. Subramanian Swamy should be brought in as Finance Minister immediately to develop Indian economy.
Rajendra Pralhad Patil

The feudalistic mentality laden Bureaucrats also need to change their attitude. They should stop thinking themselves as lord almighty. They should interact more with the downtrodden and suffers. If they, within the limits of their power, sort out matters automatically cases in the courts will reduce. Application of reservation is not applicable to temporary upgradation of scale of the post in the Government of India. There are an umpteen number of judgments of the Supreme Court on this subject. By this time DOPT should have come out with rule/guidelines/instructions in this regard. We may won a case in the CAT and High Court on the subject. Instead of accepting their folly, the DOPT has gone up to SC with the Attorney General. This is a simple case of ego. The Civil Servants in this country should live by example. They should once for all end the practice of misuse of office at the cost of exchequer specially misuse of vehicles for personal purposes at the exchequers cost.
A Srivastava
Delay in issue of orders by DoPT
Delay in issue of orders by DoPT for grant of NFU to 1988 batch of all Organised Group A services is quite perplexing. It is due from April 9, 2019 (the day when 1990 IAS batch got orders for posting as Additional Secretary). Even though more than Six months have passed, DoPT is not issuing orders ? Would 'Whispers in the Corridors" throw any light on this.
Yogesh N

Shaastra Poojaa Empowerment of an individual is possible only by Shaastra Poojaa and personal security is guaranteed only by Shaastra Poojaa. Why are people raising facile controversy on the issue? Nations too need the power of the Shaastra (books of knowledge) and Shastra (weapons). No person can achieve his goal in life without seriously pursuing his interests in Shaastra and Shastra in a knowledge society. It is the “worship’. It is no religious ritual. Culturally challenged persons may refuse to see things in right perspective. Isn’t Mahabalipuram a glorious legacy? It was executed with high knowledge and tools and protected by a mighty armed kingdom much before some of the world’s religions were even born. The significance of the word “poojaa” lies in exercising caution in the use of Shastra & Shaastra, since they enhance the power of the individual and the nation. Use of arms for any purpose other than public good is prohibited. What the terrorists are doing is showing disrespect for the Shastra. It may be noted that Shaastra Bal (knowledge power) and Shastra Bal (weapon power) has to be used cautiously like Dhan Bal (money power).
M L Gupta
Avoid nasty comments, especially on senior citizens
I disagree with Srivastava's comments as if they are Lord Almighty comments on 80 plus senior citizens who are seeing the doctors without any queue. I agree that as service personnel we may face some problems but that doesn’t mean they have to wait in the normal queue. We have to respect their age and we also one day attain that age. Will be happy if nasty comments, especially on senior citizens may be avoided.
Seth
In bad taste
The post on "Why Separate Line for Senior Citizens in Wellness Centres ?" is in bad taste.
Surinder Pal

NFU for HAG for all Group A services (of 1988 batch) is due from 09.04.2019 as IAS of 1990 batch have been promoted as Additional secretary wef 09.04.2019. DOPT is not issuing orders for reasons best known to them. Are they contemplating withdrawal ? Even if it is withdrawn will it be from back date ? Totally unclear.
Ramesh Kumar
Strange concept of seniority !
It is rather strange concept of seniority. One is on post retirement assignment, where seniority should not be a criterion, while the other is a serving Civil Servant. Therefore, the present parity should continue.
Sanjay

Some person has, the other day, written about bureaucratic reforms in Indian Express. When will these arm chair reformists have courage to speak the truth ?
1. Can you have a bureaucrat deliver when the Minister is corrupt/a criminal/a mafia don/a real estate dealer ? Will that minister ever like to have ANY good bureaucrat in his department?
2. Once, after the CM was impressed with my performance as Secretary, i told the CM that the DM of his district (his favourite ) was very corrupt and he should remove him immediately, he kept quiet. The DM continued for years. There are hundred such stories.
3. The ministers are chosen from amongst MPs/MLAs by the PM/CM as ministers. For the first time this PM has chosen domain experts like R K Singh and S Jaishankar. Unless electoral reforms are done ensuring that ONLY honest citizens who are dedicated to the nation (like Sri Modi himself) can win elections, bureaucracy will function at sub-optimal level.
4. If you don't have good ministers, frequent transfers will ensure that the officer would not get enough time to deliver to the people. I myself have had tenures of 7 days, 3, 4, 6( as District Magistrate ), 9, 10( as District Magistrate ) months. My charge as JS in one ministry was changed twice in a 9 month tenure in GoI. Isn't it height of misgovernance ?
5. Then there are false criminal cases filed against a bureaucrat, he faces false defamation cases, assaults, murder etc etc etc all because he/she tries to follow the Rule of Law.
6. You would have often heard " there is so much corruption in DDA/CPWD/ Registration offices etc , wonder why the IAS officers heading them don't take action?". Let me explain. The moment you think of taking action, the politicos create all kinds of hurdles. If you are stubborn, you proceed and issue the charge sheet. The employee immediately goes to CAT/HC/SC. And once lawyers get on with their job it could be years before any action can be taken. You would have left that post (or transferred out by minister for taking action against this crony ) or retired by then. Every government servant knows that ultimately no harm will come to him. He would get back his post, promotions, arrears of pay ( with luck also interest on delayed payments ). In fact, in my personal experience, I even got slapped with ridiculously false criminal/civil cases right from the days as SDM and upto the day i retired as Secretary in GoI. The money spent, the harassment and time wasted by me anyone can guess. So unless delivery of court orders are quick, you cannot discipline a rogue employee. Judicial reforms is thus the other urgent need of the hour.
8. Unless you have good ministers and quick disposal of DE proceedings in court, there is very little you can do to improve governance. Time and again it has been seen that once political leadership is good there is no issue with the bureaucracy. Look at the present PM and his bureaucracy. He never complains about his bureaucrats and gets numerous of his policy decisions very effectively implemented by this very bureaucracy. The steed is high breed. What the poor fellow needs is a good rider.
Jai Hind !
Vande Mataram
P K Basu IAS (Retd)
Former Secretary GoI
Former Member, CAT
Report judgements of common interests
It would be worthwhile to report C A T judgements and S C judgements of common interests to a large no. of officers.
S K Sharma

Operation INX Media scam is subjudice ? Former FM P Chidambaram is cooling his heels in Delhi’s Tihar jail. All tactics to delay the proceedings have failed.
Prosecution sanctions has been granted by the Govt to CBI to proceed against four ex-officials of Finance ministry who are allegedly involved in the scam. The controversy suddenly took a curious turn creating ripples in bureaucratic circles. Reason ? A cabal of 71 ex-bureaucrats recently wrote to PM Modi expressing annoyance, displeasure against the ruling dispensation for granting prosecution sanctions. The protestors include, among others, former cabinet secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar, former foreign secretary and NSA Shivshankar Menon, former Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh and former DGP of Punjab Julio Riberio.
While expressing concern over prosecution of four former officials, the group of 71 ex-bureaucrats has sought to defend the accused by raising fallacious arguments. Briefly stated, some prominent arguments are : (a) Serving officials will be demotivated if diligent and honest officers are selectively targeted for punishment for no fault of theirs other than that they were implementing the policy decisions of the government of the day ; (b) It will not be surprising if civil servants procrastinate before processing and examining every proposal of importance, as they have no guarantee that they would not be implicated in criminal proceedings many years later; ( c) "selective targeting" of retired and serving officers, apparently for "gaining narrow political advantages”.
One is entitled to know the rationale behind raising simplistic issues. Did the ex-bureaucrats have access to actual records? If not, how could it pre-judge the case and give clean chits to the four accused, portraying them with same dirty brush ? How could the protestors attribute motives to the Government, accusing it of political vendetta? There is surely something more than meets the eye. Unholy nexus in a high profile scam involving a former union Finance minister of UPA vintage seems a certainty. The matter cannot be allowed to rest. Why not await court’s verdict on the charge-sheet framed by the CBI ? On what basis, is the court being brazenly influenced by extraneous considerations ? Some invisible political power is at work to protect the principle accused.
Recall the background of introducing prosecution sanction by competent authority. Taking prior sanction for prosecution of officers of the level of Joint Secretaries and above, was included to safeguard the honest civil servants and senior PSUs executives, who are engaged in rendering policy advice and taking commercial decisions. The requirement is mandatory under Prevention of Corruption Act 1988 and Art 197 of IPC. Further, CVC has also to recommend sanction for prosecution. The cabal of 71 ex-bureaucrats, has no business to interfere and vitiate the process of law. Only a special judge is competent to take cognizance of an act of corruption.
While , honest public servants do require protection, it is equally necessary to assure the public that provision was not meant to be misused as tools by the Government to protect its favourite public servants, who are otherwise corrupt. The sanctioning authority must have taken into account all facts and circumstances of the case before granting prosecutions sanctions.
The CVC has been regularly urging successive governments in its annual reports to expedite prosecution sanctions in several cases to facilitate investigation by the CBI. The CVC is furnishing statistics of cases pending prosecution sanctions cases by the Government. On the contrary, in present case, 71 ex-bureaucrats are questioning the issue of prosecution sanctions. Worse still, they are trying to obfuscate the government and the court rather than enlighten them by bringing in extraneous factors like ‘political vendetta’. Does this not attract the Contempt of Court ?
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)

NDA Manifesto promised ' less government more governance' Time has arrived for implementation of that policy. Defence civilians is a bloated cadre and at 7th Pay Commission scales is hollowing out the Defence Budget. Time to phase out this cadre has arrived as Armed Forces need far better ' teeth to tail ratio' facing two hostile nuclear adversaries . - VRS of this cadre is recommended soon. - age of retirement needs to be 60 in all Central and State Governments. - No extensions policy to be implemented. - Young India to be given a fair chance to rise through their service cadres. - To make a lean government , officers and junior staff must accept multi-tasking in their employment profiles . - Better salaries , perks, and conditions of service comes with lean governance and digital format of working on a daily basis.
Devindra Sethi
Yes , it is true..
No DA being announced. Also, NFU for HAG is due for all Group A Services from 09.04.2019, but DOPT has not issued orders even after 6 months for reasons best known to them.
Ramesh Kumar

The Senior Citizens have a separate line in CGHS Wellness centre. The Senior Citizens are retired, they have no other work and hence they can wait for some time. The Central Government hospitals also have separate line for the Senior Citizens. In case of emergencies, the Senior Citizens can go to private empanelled hospitals. The Government is spending more amount as pensions in comparison to the salaries being paid to those in service. The Pensioners should not think that they are lord almighty and that they are entitled to fleece the Government unabated.
A Srivastava
Sharma and Bajaj may look after the job of Secretary in PMO
It shows that Government has intention to be dynamic. It acts as per demand of situation.
B Basak