Whispers Forum

Crime is increasing all over the country. It is high time that the administration is toned up.
Vijay Kumar
Rahul no match with corruption crusader JP
A K Saxena, I agree with your views that Rahul Gandhi is no match to the corruption crusader JP. But you will also have to accept the fact that the two important corruption crusaders of the country namely JP and Anna Hazare left behind legacies to two people namely Lalu Yadav (chara ghotala) and Arvind Kejriwal (liquor policy ghotala) respectively.
Anurag Srivastava
No problem with African cheetahs as long as they thrive
I have no problem with African cheetahs as long as they thrive. Crores must have been spent to give our leader the opportunity to get cheetahs out of his hat and into the wild. Tax payers' money should be generously spent on education, particularly, girls' education. The figures of available teachers v/s sanctioned posts (not including those recruited by the WB School Service Board) is appalling.
B K Saha

While government of India, under the tutelage of our honorable Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is making all efforts to put the image of the country at zenith position globally and many new initiatives are taken however this sounds ridiculous and unassimilated that in the past, in this dispensation, many times good positions including the present secretary Defence production is jointly held by the Defence Secretary as this has also happened with many other departments. Post of Secretary ex servicemen is just filled after many months void. This gives two conclusions, whether the department, jointly held by one person does not have much importance and is in fructuous or having a very menial job which can be handled jointly by one person only. in that case should be withdrawn secondly ,it really makes one to ponder as to whether Govt Of India is deficient of good officers, as otherwise many IAS from 88 batch to 1991 who are empanelled as Secretary Govt Of India are eagerly and rightfully waiting to be posted as secretary Govt Of India (dream of every IAS to become Secretary GOI when he enters the IAS) besides the fact, govt does not find suitable candidates who until recently being empanelled and must have gone rigmarole of 360 degree and many clearances including CVC, IB These episodes have become quite frequent even in PSU ,like GOI could not find suitable candidate for Chairman ONGC and many names cleared by PESB are not notified by ACC . These lackadaisical approaches on the part of Govt of India compels common public to think otherwise. We have full faith in Govt.
Mahendra Goel

I don’t understand that why a Senior Bureaucrat like Sri R K Srivastava (retd IAS) made a survey between a roaring lion and a sick horse. He should have made a survey between the lion and a strong & healthy horse. As a fan of WIC, I would like to see a Survey between the roaring Lion and a Horse either from outside or within.
Akula
Mastery of Hindi essential
For a successful career in Indian politics, mastery of Hindi language is very useful. Numbers aside, it captures the real ethos of India. Hindi largely touches the Indian ethos, culture, values, ideals, vision and sense of unity. Even aspirants for the highest office in India from other language backgrounds acquire proficiency in Hindi for success. It can be deduced from failures of many non-Hindi speaking background politicians that proficiency in spoken Hindi alone did not help them become party president or Prime Minister. One needs to live India. India means one has to live what one professes. Hindi helps achieve that much for any sincere person. It is no wonder that the ruling dispensation possessing very high proficiency in English has all along been transacting business in English (official and personal too) but never used it for electioneering. It has been Hindi in more than 70% territory and other Indian languages in the rest of India (largely areas so far underserved). It is sinking into the ideology of political parties to resort to more and more use of Hindi for party work and elections. Party leaders of national political parties from non-Hindi speaking areas going for election work and public rallies in Hindi areas use Hindi to garner votes for their candidates. When they use Hindi, their appeal increases due to a new flavour to the language their pronunciation adds naturally. Sometimes a word or a metaphor uttered by them may impress the audiences. Hindi is such a big market that no manufacturer, distributor or seller can afford to ignore. It was 20 years ago that I had predicted the entry of big MNCs in the market using Hindi for reaching out to the consumers and market research. I am happy to see foreign sellers using Hindi, surveys specially conducted for market research to serve consumer taste. Foreign films are now available in Hindi. The point is Hindi has the potential for enormous economic growth, profitable business and vast employment. This potential of Hindi has so far gone unnoticed. It ought not have been. The entire focus has remained on the language aspect, especially around the question whether it can replace English in transaction of official work, education in professional branches like engineering, technology, medicine and law. Had this diffidence been shed with the determination to make it possible to use Hindi with the same felicity we use English for transaction of official work and business, we would not be asking/answering this question. The politics around language apart, no Indian language has been able to develop to that level in the last 75 years. What purpose does such language politics serve? It harms the people generally. It divides the people as the ruling class and the ruled class. English serves that objective. The ruling class corners all the benefits through a single instrument of absolute power of the English language in their hands. It makes the difference between poverty and affluence in our society. It concentrates the national wealth and other assets in the hands of a few who own all political power and control of the economy. Now that harm has been done by such language politics, let us decide to turn the tables on them by making every Indian proficient in English. Those who discourage people from acquiring proficiency in English do so for unlawful gains for self or siblings. English is easier to learn in comparison to Hindi: it has 26 letters in its alphabet in comparison to Hindi which has 52. Our teachers and examinations have made it difficult. Just like mathematics, English has been made difficult and frightening to promote the private coaching industry. High proficiency in English will only strengthen Hindi. Afterwards it will not take more than two years to demolish the myth that Hindi can’t replace English. The process of enrichment of Hindi will only empower it to assimilate knowledge in this information revolution era and digital world. Luckily, Hindi can draw on such a valuable treasure of ideas, expressions and content from Sanskrit and all other Indian languages. It is not because of Article 343 or Part XVII of the Constitution of India or any emotional reason or historic role of Hindi in the Freedom Movement but because it is the right time to give the language its due for economic and developmental vision for the improvement of the conditions of people of India that the need for accelerated development of Hindi is being re-emphasised this Hindi Day 14th September 2022.
M L Gupta

I eagerly look forward to the posts on the whispers in the corridors as you are amongst the first to give a breaking news on bureaucracy. Specifically, Monday is important for the RTI article. The RTI Act had come with a lot of expectations which remain unfulfilled. It is sad to see the gradual decline in the implementation of the RTI Act. The Information Commissioners hardly seem to be fulfilling the role they are expected to play. Even when there is a lapse on the part of the public information officer, they prefer to let him go with just a warning. The RTI Act must be implemented effectively if a significant change is expected. The fear of penalty is necessary if the timelines are to be followed.
Pramod Agrawal
Dignity of retired bureaucrats
This is how retired bureaucrats' dignity is recognized by Modi Govt. What a sad commentary! Seems like India is hurtling towards an unabashedly autocratic regime.
Deepak Gupta

The need to revamp the Civil Services from a single exam entry to a system of periodic merit based organisation is long overdue for India. The Agniveer System currently in progress for the Indian Armed Forces needs to be emulated. A NITIVEER recruitment program is necessary for all AIS services of India. Successful candidates on joining the Civil Services need to be reviewed for performance after 5 years, 10 years and 20 years intervals. As in the Agniveer program a process of merit based performance needs to be tested for each person recruited in the NITIVEER program. A 25 % retention basis of the best candidates should be implemented. The candidates who are not successful should be given a chance to enter States Civil Services. The State Civil Services today are languishing from lack of people properly trained at top institutions like LBS. The New India revival launched in the country needs candidates from Young Indians in each state of our country. NITIVEER trained youngsters will be the backbone of this new thinking. A time to revamp the Civil Services of India has arrived.
Devindra

I am in complete agreement with AK Saxena about his views on ‘Narcissistic civil servants’ bragging in social media about their achievements etc in social media on various platforms. I fail to understand why GOI is silent on this issue. The officer can't brag or take full credit of his achievements as it is the collective effort of the team he leads. Also it is in violation of the CCS conduct rules too, entering social media for official achievements is exactly like meeting the press, print media, TV media etc, as per provisions contained in the CCS conduct rules you need specific permission from head of department, sometimes even Minister in charge. It seems either the dispensation has closed the eyes or it is being promoted by the dispensation itself, if so, then CCS conduct rules provisions in this regard need be amended, failing which today senior officers, tomorrow juniors too will start posting or bragging their contributions on social media, a never ending process. In the long run it would damage the provisions of the Official Secrets Act too. The Government of India must act fast before it is too late. We need clearly defined guidelines and laws for government servants about their contributions to social media, before it is too late
Harish Kumar

The civil servants mostly retired or re-employed after superannuation, belonging to 1950's, 60's and 70's batches of the last millennium share the perception that there has been a downslide in the quality of civil services over the last several decades. The much hyped “steel frame of civil services", Patel's favourite expression, is losing its sheen. The steel frame is totally rusted and tin-twisted. Public remains the worst sufferer. What has gone wrong? Is the pattern of recruitment flawed? Selection, a number game. Cut off is vacancy-based. Weightage of interviews (PTs in UPSC parlance) is low. No minimum qualifying cut-off for PTs. It was prevalent when I wrote the IAS etc exam in 1971. In other words, an aspirant under existing dispensation, could still top the UPSC merit list despite low marks in PT. The general impression has been that intra- and inter- services animosity among organised services increased due to multi-layered hierarchy, based on inter se seniority. The issue became more pronounced in the elite services especially, the IAS and IPS. Are they public servants or masters? The veterans ( belonging to 1950's, 60's and 70's batches) share the perception of increasing deterioration in the quality of civil services. Corruption, it is believed by veterans, started increasing during the 1980s,of course in collusion with the corrupt, notorious politicians with little or no respect for bureaucracy and endowed with massive, vague discretionary powers. No transparency, no accountability. The present bureaucrats instead of imbibing the rare qualities of ICS, their distant cousins, discovered it more fruitful to be politically pliable for getting plush postings, protection from punishment for indulging in unethical practices. So, instead of squarely blaming the politicians,70% bureaucrats must also own the responsibility for poor governance. This is the view expressed by a senior IAS officer of 1960 vintage in his memoirs. I wrote the IAS etc examination in 1971. Things were quite different, then. Having served in UPSC at a critical position, I had tendered evidence to a high -powered committee in UPSC for reforms. I am not aware of what happened thereafter. But, corruption continues to grow with vengeance. The spineless, pliant bureaucrats and their political masters have vested interests in maintaining the status quo. Another shocker. While interacting with some veteran IAS officers( retired as States' Chief Secretaries and Addl Chief Secretaries), I found their main grievance was that they have no powers and that all powers vest with the IPS officers ,of course, with political support. Mutual admiration club! Addl chief secretaries enjoy more powers than their chief secretaries. Worse, SHO, SP, SSP enjoy huge powers due to close proximity with politicians. I say it with malice towards none. So,in ultimate analysis, the spineless, politically pliant, corrupt, ambitious bureaucrats and their political masters are responsible for poor performance of the State they are encadred with. DOP&T and UPSC are helpless in reforming the system. Decisions are taken without a consultative mechanism. Media is self-seeking. No option. We have to stoically learn to live with the system.
A K Saxena (A former civil servant)