India Does Not Need Honest Officers

IAS Officer Durga Shakti Nagpal Suspended for Tackling UP's Sand Mafia 

( My views given below)

by Sonal Bhadoria , IndiaTimes | July 29, 2013, 3:31 pm IST - 

Amidst the daily reports of corruption , comes this news of an honest and brave lady IAS officer who dared to expose a mafia racket. 

And before one could celebrate this story, the almighty netas , having had enough of the honesty circus, decided to suspend the lady in question. 

How will corruption be uprooted from our country, when an act of honesty is thusly rewarded and how will other officers be motivated to take action against the guilty when such a fate awaits them, we don't have answers to such questions. 

But let us take out a moment to atleast acknowledge and pay respect to the IAS officer who stood her ground, perhaps being aware of the fall out that would cost her her job.

A 2009-batch IAS officer posted as Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) of Gautam Budh Nagar in September last year, 28-year-old Durga Shakti Nagpal clamped down on illegal mining and resolutely taken headon the powerful sand mafia in Uttar Pradesh.

Nagpal had led a crackdown on unauthorised mining in the district and got over two dozen FIRs registered against those involved in illegally removing sand.Special flying squads were formed by her to stop the raging menace along the Yamuna and Hindon rivers in western UP.Only last week the officer had asserted that there will be no let-up in the fight against unauthorized dredgers.

"The entire district has been affected and illegal mining has become a huge problem. The stakes are too high and those involved get huge monetary returns. The act could lead to serious environmental issues and, therefore, needs to be stopped," she had warned.

She has been suspended barely 10 months after she got her first posting in the state and was penalised ostensibly for the demolition of a wall at a disputed place of worship."It is an administrative decision. She had ordered demolition of the wall at a place of worship," Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said in a post today on microblogging site twitter.

Officials close to the SDM, however, alleged that she was eased out owing to her sustained drive against illegal mining in the area.She is reported to have seized more than 25 trucks carrying sand in the last one month.

Slamming the SP government, Opposition parties alleged that the suspension order was made under pressure from the mining mafia.

Reacting sharply to the SDM's suspension, BJP leader Kalraj Mishra said that the action of the state government showed "it is not liking those officers who are leading drives against the mafia".

"What mistake has she made?... It is not understood. But it is felt that she (Durga Shakti) was suspended under the influence of the mafia," he said.Congress leader Rashid Masood reacted sharply to the official's suspension and accused the ruling Samajwadi Party of protecting criminals."The suspended official is on probation. If she is suspended for honesty, imagine how she will survive these scars all through her career" asked another officer.Vijay Bahadur Pathak of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) added: "What can you expect from this government where the honest officials are hounded and the corrupt protected?"

The government said the suspension of Nagpal was a routine administrative measure after she showed "lack of foresight in ordering the demolition of an under construction wall of a mosque in Kadalpur village."Her immature decision could have triggered communal tension," a senior government official said. "The government was forced to take a tough stand."The government has attached her to the revenue board.

A senior official said, "Durga Shakti Nagpal, the 2009-batch IAS officer posted as SDM (Sadar) of GB Nagar, (was) suspended late yesterday by Uttar Pradesh government after a dispute related to a religious place," a senior official said here.

The Uttar Pradesh IAS association Monday urged the government to reverse the suspension of IAS officer Durga Shakti Nagpal who had taken on the sand mafia.The suspended sub divisional magistrate (SDM) was posted in Noida, adjoining the national capital.Office bearers of the Indian Administrative Service association met Chief Secretary Jawed Usmani and petitioned him to intervene in the matter.

Nagpal also met association president Alok Ranjan, who is also the agriculture production commissioner.According to informed sources, the chief secretary sympathized with Nagpal and vowed to take up the matter with Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on his (Yadav's) return from Karnataka.

The lady was doing her job with utmost conviction. She could have just sat back and reaped in the heft salary that many IAS officers get, without much effort. Instead, she dared to take on the mafia. The UP government should have made an example out of her actions. But sadly, they chose to suspend her, in effect demoralizing many other honest officers in the process. For them, the cause and effect diagram looks like this. Tackle corrption, get transferred or suspended. Stay put and do what your neta tell you to do, keep your job and provide for your family. The saddest dilemma ever.

http://www.indiatimes.com/news/india/ias-officer-durga-shakti-nagpal-suspended-for-tackling-ups-sand-mafia-92033.html

My Opinion is given Below

India does not need good officers. India need flatterers who are always ready to say YES on all right or wrong orders of his boss.Officers has to extend red carpet welcome to his boss, he has to earn bribe and share with bosses honestly,offer precious gift on all his visit to this office, offer valuable gifts on all functions , arrange five star hotels for his boss as well as for kith and kin of his boss. Only such officer can survive and others have to keep their head low. None of court can ensure justice for honest officers and none of the courts can punish ill-motivated bosses or politicians.

As soon as Chief Minister of Haryan prevailed upon IAS officers of districts to submit report in favour of Vadra, concerned officers of districts where land was purchased by Mr. Vadra  blindly  prepared a favourable report as per whims of CM and gave clean chit to Mr. Vadra, the great Damad of Sonia Gandhi. 

After all , it is CM who will promote IAS officers and other state government babus out of turn , who will give them cream posting and who will save them from punitive action  whenever their ill-earned money is caught and whenever their  corrupt practices are exposed.

None of officers barring a few exceptional like Khemka has courage to move against their bosses.This is Indian culture and prevalent in almost all offices directly or indirectly under government control.

Person like Khemka has to face the music. He had to face 43 transfers in 20 years. There are hundreds of such IAS and IPS officers who have faced frequent transfers and critical posting only because he or she tried to perform work in legal framework and not as per whims and fancies of his bosses or as per sweet will of powerful politicians. 

There are hundreds of such instances in banks also when officers are transferred to remote branches when he fails to bey illegal orders of their bosses. Such non-flatterers are denied their right of promotion , they are frequently transferred and tortured in all possible manners.

India wants only YESMEN , Perfect Flatterer and not real Performers. 

Voters elect their representative for Parliament and State Assemblies but after the election is over , the task of formation of the government does not depend on voters and the performance of the government is not in control of the voters. 

This is why Indian government for all practical purposes is made of flatterers, for flatterers and by flatterers.As soon as government is formed , the minister use to transfer officers and promote officers as per their whims and fancies and in most of the cases after getting huge monetary benefits.It is the top minister, politicians and corporate houses who jointly decide to remove all honest officers from their path of corruption.

It is ironical that all illegal activities undertaken by these corrupt officials,politicians and corporate houses are only in the name of reformation and in the name of poor people but in fact they all serve only their vested interest and for all practical purposes they completely ignore common men and poor people of India.

Another Khemka? IPS officer abducted after chargesheeting ministers

Dailybhaskar.com | Oct 17, 2012, 09:16AM IST

Guwahati: Days after Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka's transferred triggered political storm, an IPS officer who charge-sheeted Arunachal ministers in Rs 1000 crore PDS scam is reportedly missing since last night. 

"Arunachal IPS officer Mayank Chauhan, who charge sheeted 5 Congress MLAs, ministers, IAS officers of Arunachal in Rs1000cr PDS scam kidnapped," a correspondent of an English daily tweeted on Wednesday morning. 

The abduction of the IPS officer comes at a time when there has been outrage over the harassment faced by Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka for standing up against corruption.

Notably, a report dated October 13 in Deccan Chronicle said that the special investigation cell (SIC) headed by IPS Mayank Chauhan - appointed by the Gauhati High Court - had chargesheeted 56 people in the multi-crore scam including brother of Congress MP Sanjay Takam, former BJP MLA from Assam Kartik Sen Sinha and senior officers of the Food Corporation of India, who are alleged to have colluded in raising false bills and siphoning off over `1,000 crores with PDS contractors in Arunachal Pradesh.

The report also quoted government sources as saying that state government had moved a proposal to remove Chauhan. 

The SIC had chargesheeted former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Gegong Apang into the scam following which he was arrested by the SIC in 2010 for not cooperating in the investigation.

This is not the first instance of those in power arm-twisting the honest officers to give in to corrupt activities. 

Recently, Haryana's IAS officer Ashok Khemka was transferred out as director general of land consolidation and land records-cum-inspector general of registration October 11, within days of ordering a probe into the land deal. 

Earlier this year, a young IPS officer Narendra Kumar, who was posted as a Sub-Divisional Police Officer at Banmore in Morena on probation, was crushed to death by the mining mafia in Madhya Pradesh's Morena district in March.

 http://daily.bhaskar.com/article/NAT-TOP-pds-scam-arunachal-ips-officer-who-chargesheeted-ministers-abducted-3935480-NOR.html

Khemka refutes Haryana government claims, says transfer mala fide

I was doing my duty,’ insists IAS officer

In a reaction to The Hindu’s story about the transfer of a senior official probing the land deals between Robert Vadra and realtor giant DLF, the Haryana government on Tuesday issued a four-page press statement insisting that Ashok Khemka — the IAS officer sent packing from the post of Inspector-General of Registration and Director General Land Consolidation — had been posted out on the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and not for instituting any inquiries.

Among other issues, the State government also took exception to the officer’s orders cancelling the mutation of Mr. Vadra’s Manesar land deal with DLF on the ground that since he had been transferred on October 11, it was not proper for him to issue orders for an enquiry and the cancellation of the deal on October 12 and 15 respectively.

Speaking to The Hindu on Tuesday night, Mr. Khemka — an IAS officer with a reputation for integrity who has been transferred 43 times in a career spanning two decades — rejected the Haryana government’s claims.

He noted that though he had requested the Chief Secretary to transfer him, as the Haryana government release said, this was only from the post of special collector — another charge held by him which was below his rank and the appellate for which lay with officers who were junior to him in service. “But I had never asked them to relieve me as Director-General Land Consolidation. The government is trying to mix two things,” he said. This is also what he told the High Court on October 1, following which the court issued an order directing the Haryana government to post someone else as Special Collector and to relieve Mr. Khemka of the charge.

Mr. Khemka reiterated the fact that he was issued his transfer orders at 10 pm on October 11, after he had issued written instructions to the National Informatics Centre (NIC) to procure land registration data from the districts that had not submitted this to him when he had asked them to do so. He had an argument with the deputy commissioner of one of the key districts under the scanner that morning over the latter’s failure to send the data. “I told this officer that if he did not do so, I would issue him a DO letter, and I followed this up, by issuing a written authorisation to the NIC to procure the data.”

Since he had already begun making enquiries into a host of other land deals in the NCR — which also included the Vadra-DLF deals following allegations of irregularities in the media — by summoning the relevant land records, word of his actions had begun to filter out to the higher echelons of the State Secretariat. After being served transfer orders late that evening, Mr. Khemka sent a stinging letter of protest to the Chief Secretary the next day, on October 12, alleging mala fide. He followed this up by ordering a formal enquiry on alleged ‘undervaluation of some properties registered by Robert Vadra or his companies.’ After scrutinizing the sale deed and other documents connected with one of the deals in Manesar, Mr. Khemka cancelled the mutation on October 15.

Both of his actions — the inquiry and the cancellation — have invited censure from the Haryana government, which has questioned how he could do this when he had been transferred on the 11th of October. Says Mr. Khemka: “I had sent my letter to the Chief Secretary on October 12 and was waiting for a reply from him. I held on to the charge in protest till the 15th, but when I did not hear from him, I issued the order on the Shikohpur–Manesar deal and then relinquished charge of the department. As the head of the department I was only doing my duty to clear the department of any allegation of wrongdoing.”

The Haryana government also points out that contrary to Mr. Khemka’s order cancelling the mutation, the Assistant Consolidation Officer is authorized to sanction all pending mutations as a matter of practice, after due verification of the records and that there was no irregularity in his doing so.

Mr. Khemka’s response is that the entire sale of the land to DLF was questionable since the land was under consolidation and ordinarily the sale deed ought to have been set aside. But since he was not the revenue authority to do so, he could not cancel the sale. But he did have the authority to cancel the mutation which, according to the Punjab Land Revenue Act, should have been done by a revenue officer.

The Haryana government’s rebuttal is silent on some key issues raised by Mr. Khemka’s order, especially how the Town and Country Planning Department gave permission to M/s Skylight Ltd to sell the land which was under consolidation, or how the department issued the company a licence to develop a housing colony and renewed the same later when he had entered into an agreement to sell the land to DLF, 15 months earlier and even collected 86.2 per cent of the money.

Curiously, the Chief Secretary of Haryana, when asked by The Indian Express on October 12 about Mr. Khemka’s allegations of a punitive transfer made no reference to the High Court order which figured so prominently in the October 16 Haryana government press release. “Transfers and postings are the prerogative of the State government. There is nothing wrong in it,” he was quoted in the October 13 edition of the newspaper as saying.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/khemka-refutes-haryana-government-claims-says-transfer-mala-fide/article4003356.ece

India Doesn't Need Honest Officers

Created on Monday, 09 April 2012 02:23    Written by Neeraj Singh 

If not all, most of the officers who join the Indian Administrative Services, come with a thought to change. A Change that they feel is being alluded for generations in the Indian society. Only after joining the bureaucracy do they understand that it was else meant to be. Instead of them changing the society, in turn, they end up being changed, alas, for bad. Ones who still keep their hearts on their mind, suffer the agony of getting frustrated, transferred, shunted and have to go through all agonies, that they never would have imagined to go through.

I came to know of shunting when I was around 23 or 24. Bihar is a hot bed of politics. Even if you don't want to get into politics or political news, your ears can never play foul to you and would let you hear such things that would, probably, seem relevant in future. That's how I learnt of it. A conversation that was going on among a few of my friends and a few elders but of the same generation as I. Location, though, was not Bihar but Delhi. Person in question was Late Madan Mohan Jha, one of the most daring District Magistrates and a noted educationist, as I heard, of times when I would have been, say, around five-ish.

People say he dared the mafia like hell. Some governments shunted him but wherever he went, he created panic for corrupt people and the lobbysts. I had the opportunity to talk to him once when I was around 25. I was looking for an apartment in Dwarka. I guess, he had an apartment in National apartments at Dwarka, New Delhi. Can't forget that an IAS officer could be that humble. Long story short, he was one of those who kept his heart over his mind.

1. It's been around few years that I have been active in understanding the relationship between Indian politics and the bureaucracy. While reading I encounter a lot of information and one such was Manoje Nath, Sr. IPS officer of Bihar Cadre. He took head on some senior IAS officials for corruption. He was shunted to Home Guards division, an officer whose services would have helped better for the cause of common people. Link

2. Lately I heard of Damyanti Sen, IPS officer in Kolkata who was recently transferred. She is widely acknowledged as the one who cracked a rape case within a short period of time. Instead of being patted on the back, she has been shown the way to head training department. Link

3. Recently you all must have heard of Srinivas Reddy, an IPS officer who took on the liquor mafia in Andhra Pradesh with some incriminating evidence against some senior politicians, IAS, IPS officers and ministers too. There is a similar story in Gujarat where some of the honest IAS officers who stood against the crime against minority community were also shunted and cases slapped against them. Link

4. Same was the case of IPS officer Shivdeep Lande who, when started laying his wrath on the criminals, was in sudden and pre-matured way, transferred to Araria from Patna. SP Lande was shifted within hours of raiding a fake medicine factory. I would presume this factory, minting fake medicines, would have done more harm to us than to anyone else. Wondering why ministers or politicians don't eat such medicines so that they understand the plight? May be because they get treatment in the posh hospitals or the AIIMS where things are a little different, isn't it? Link

5. IAS officer Raju NarayanSwamy's case is no different. He is known as the "Clean up Officer". He took on his own father-in-law, a big time contractor, and served CrPC notice on him because he wanted to block a public road to a poor neighbourhood of scheduled castes. Could one be more upright than him? One can think of historical age for such stories but they are true even today with a man like Raju Narayanswamy, an IIT passout. Link

In all of these cases, the typical reasoning of the governments has been about a routine transfer. Wondering what this routine is which is so irrational and pre-mature? If it is routine, it should be done after a due tenure and not really when the political bosses get freaked out as they feel threatned. The government would have taken steps, in all above cases, on the insistence of some people supporting these parties. Where do these people come from? Alas, from amongst us!

If you start looking at the list, it won't end. It will go on and on. They did their job but somehow we failed them or at least the people we elected. Instead of supporting the acts of such officers, we elect such politicians who rule us like hell but we still vote for them. Who is to be blamed? Who is spineless? The politicians or the people who vote for such politicians?

http://www.patnadaily.com/index.php/opinions/readers-write/7151-india-doesnt-need-honest-bureaucrats.html

SP Sandeep Patil transferred

Posted on December 7, 2011 by Editor

Superintendent of Police Sandeep Patil has been transferred from Belgaum to Mandya.

Sandeep Patil has assumed office on September 2, 2010 and he came in place of Sonia Narang.
Koushalendra Kumar will be the new SP of Belgaum earlier he was SP of Mandya and he is a IPS officer of 2005 batch.
The 13 odd months he worked in Belgaum he had his own aura of working and had launched many new initiatives to get the Police closer to the public at large.

His meeting for taking up grievances from the public was a great hit, where he met the public sought their complaints and ordered the same to be solved immediately.

He also started the Facebook page for Traffic and his way of managing the law and order situation during his time was really admirable. Any major incident of communal violence was not reported during his time.

There was talk in the town that a MLA was putting pressure for the transfer of Sandeep Patil and same have been successful this time, an earlier attempt for his transfer had been failed.

We wish Sandeep Patil all the best and may his work speak rather than anything.

http://allaboutbelgaum.com/news/sp-sandeep-patil-transferred/

Govts Should Not Interfere in Transfer of IAS Officials: Santosh Hegde

Govts Should Not Interfere in Transfer of IAS Officials: Santosh Hegde Bangalore, Oct 18 (PTI): In the backdrop of transfer of Haryana IAS officer Ashok Khemka for his decision to probe into land deals, including that of Robert Vadra and realty major DLF, former Karnataka Lokayukta Santosh Hegde today asked state and Central governments to leave issue of transfers to bureaucracy without there being any interference. "Issues of transfers should be left to bureaucracy itself without there being any interference whatsoever by central or state governments to curb corruption," Hegde told PTI. Hegde said there was lot of "discontentment" amongst state and central officers in regard to the transfer policies of their respective government. "The common complaint seems to be that there is no proper policy and transfers are effected at the whims and fancies of the decision-making authority which is mostly influenced by the pressure from the politicians' various hues," he said. Such transfers are likely to have serious adverse effect on the efficiency of the government itself, Hegde said, adding, "To have an independent attitude and peace of mind, a government servant must have some assured tenure on any post to which he is posted before he is transferred." Transfers based on the recommendations of persons who were not connected with the government would certainly lead to corruption and undue favours being shown in favour of such benficiaries, Hegde said. Hegde requested administrative reforms commission to make suitable recommendationms in regard to the transfer policies, both in the central and state governments. On statewide transfer, it should be done on the recommendations of a committtee consisting of the Chief Secretary, next senior most secretary and secretary of the department in which the transfer was sought to be effected, Hegde said. "If this committeee is directed to perform its functions transparently, it will be open to the ministry to oversee the complaints on the actions of the committee and remedial actions could be taken," he said. Hegde said this would certainly take away the public perception that transfers were being done on political or collateral considerations. There should be minimum of three years fixed duration for the officers' stay in a particular post, which should not be normally reduced or enlarged except for good reasons to be recored in writing, Hegde said. "If the principal rule governing the transfer requires, some exceptions to be made like in transfers on compassionate ground, transfer to accommodate married couple to be at the same place or any such reason, same should be made public in the first instance itself, so that these exceptions are not misused," Hegde said. http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=152930

Is UPSC ‘killing’ talents? Or corrupting them? Think about it.

Written by Alok K. on Monday, March 12, 2012

Legend has it, becoming an IAS or IPS officer is the ultimate gift a talented young person can give to his/her family. You might not want to agree, but the truth remains that many of us have been at one point of time in life, ‘inspired’ ( or were tried to be inspired) by our fathers and uncles and grandfathers to study hard to be an IAS/ IPS officer.

Legend also has it that there is no power and status compared to an IAS/IPS in the administrative circle. Even the politicians can only transfer you, but they can’t fire you. You roam in ‘laal batti’ cars, and make decisions that matter, and you know that you are among the very few capable and deserving of making such decisions.

So, every year, tens of thousands of young talented men & women in India gear up for this ultimate test of old school wisdom of their country. A wisdom that is not based on mere laboratory experiments or calculus formula, or financial/marketing/entrepreneurial knowledge, but one that requires a basic understanding of how each of these important factors should be administrated in such a way that the nation progresses as a whole.

And then, surprisingly, the next thing you hear about an IAS/IPS officer is that whether he/she has been killed or, suspended for being involved in some kind of corruption. Either it’s a problem with the way media presents news to us, or there IS some actual flaw with the way IAS/IPS officers have to lead their lives in India.

What’s common between Narendra Kumar (2012), Yeshwant Sonawane (2011), Jagadananda Panda (2009), K.C. Surendra Babu(2005), Chadalawada Umesh Chandra (1999), G. Krishnaiah (1994)?

You seem to be getting a hang of this post. Yes, these are names of some of the many IAS/IPS officers who were either brutally murdered or committed suicide (after killing their family members). And the years in brackets doesn’t show their cadre or batch. They show the year they were killed.

Some of the news clippings read:

---

“Bhopal: It has been less than 2 days since IPS Officer Narendra Kumar Singh was murdered, another officer has been attacked by Mafia in  Madhya Pradesh. Alleged members of the sand mafia fired at the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and sub-divisional officer (Police) in Panna district Saturday afternoon.”

~After killing Narendra Kumar, another officer targeted by Mafia, news.biharprabha.com, March 11, 2012

---

“MUMBAI: The additional district collector of Malegaon, Yeshwant Sonawane, was on Tuesday burnt to death by the petrol and diesel adulteration mafia when he went to conduct a raid, police said.”

~Senior Maharashtra govt official burnt to death by oil mafia, The Times of India, January 25, 2011

---

“ Bhubaneswar: An under-investigation IAS officer who allegedly shot dead four family members before killing himself has left behind a letter claiming he was innocent of the corruption charges against him.”

~ Innocent cry before suicide, The Telegraph, August 2, 2009

---

“ HYDERABAD: Amid heart-rending scenes and a charged atmosphere, K.C.Surendra Babu, the Munger Superintendent of Police, who was killed in a landmine blast in Bihar, was cremated with State honours at Nalagandla in Ramachandrapuram here on Friday.

---

“HYDERABAD: A senior IPS officer, Chadalawada Umesh Chandra (33), his driver and gunman were shot dead by suspected People's War Group activists at Sanjeevareddy Nagar in the heart of the city this morning.”

~Senior IPS officer shot dead in AP, Express India News Service, September 5, 1999

---

The other side of the coin shows many IAS/IPS officers getting suspended for being involved in high level corruption case. Patna’s DM, Gautam Goswami, and scores of IAS officers involved in the Adarsh ghotala clearly show how the high level decision makers can and do easily get involved in corrupt practices. Just google ‘corrupt IAS/IPS officers’, and the wikipedia page for IAS mentions it, for crying out loud!

This brings me to the basic question. What happens to the starry eyed, grandfather-inspired, talented, outspoken, wise UPSC aspirant, who once left no stone unturned to burn all his midnight lamp studying the rich heritage and geography and political nuances of India amongst others?

The question is a bit disturbing. Suddenly the IAS, IPS posts start appearing as a sharp pointed hill. You either roll this way or that way.

It’s projected as if there is no mid way. As if there is no way an IAS/IPS officer can remain honest and alive.

It’s projected.

Is it a problem with the media, then? How about talking about some honest IAS/IPS officer retiring after having lived a spotless life. How about showcasing the achievements of an honest officer while he/she’s alive?

But what if we haven’t any? It’s something to be pondered about.

The UPSC talent hunt continues in the meanwhile. And the killings too. And we celebrate Holi.

Alok K.

March 12th, 2012

P.S. I apologize for having not raised the issue of mafia and the criminals and the illiterate politicians who comment after a brave IPS/IAS officer is killed. They are the real culprits, all of us would agree.        

http://www.arbitspeculations.com/2012/03/is-upsc-killing-talents-or-corrupting.html

IT'S TRANSFER RAJ IN U.P. AGAIN

The afternoon of March 6, 2012 was a busy one for Uttar Pradesh babus. Mayawati loyalists gaped in horror as the live tally of assembly election results poured out on their TV screens. Bureaucrats loyal to the previous Samajwadi regime however donned their best suits, stepped into their cars and headed towards the SP party office at 9, Vikramaditya Marg in Lucknow. The party office wore a festive look. Seen in plainclothes among exultant SP workers was IPS Navneet Sikera – the strapping encounter specialist who claims inspiration for the Bollywood thriller Ab Tak Chappan. Long-time SP loyalist, Sikera had found himself sidelined during the last five years of Maya regime. Now the bicycle had outrun the elephant and Sikera along with a host of other hopeful IAS/ IPS aspirants were back to stake their claim.

For all his “I'm different” persona, it appears that Akhilesh Yadav is also cut out of the traditional Indian politician mould. In a display of the usual politics of one upmanship and favoritism, within hours of his appointment as Chief Minister, Akhilesh nearly cleaned out the pancham-tal (the legendary fifth floor which houses the CM office and top bureaucrats). All the top babus, believed to belong to Maya's coterie were asked to leave. These included senior IAS officers including Navneet Sehgal, Anil Sant and Chandrabhanu. Principal secretaries to Mayawati, Kunwar Fateh Bahadur, Raj Pratap Singh, Durga Shankar Mishra and Net Ram, were also shown the door. Most of them have not been posted anywhere else and are adorning the waiting list for now.

Akhilesh's bureaucratic reshuffle so far has already seen the transfer of more than 80 officials, including 47 IAS officers, a dozen PCS officers and a couple of dozens IPS officers. And if BSP loyalists are exiting; SP's blue eyed babus are making a comeback. Old Mulayam loyalist and 1990 batch IAS officer Anita Singh was crowned Secretary to the Chief Minister on 16th March. Singh had to live in “exile” for the last five years as Mayawati – right after being sworn in as the Chief Minister on 13th May, 2007 – had appointed her as the Secretary of the “not-so-important” Department of Administrative Reforms.

Clearly, Akhilesh's lack of exposure to the state bureaucracy and the fact that he has never been a part of the state government, is reflecting in his selection of bureaucrats with a known allegiance to the Samajwadi Party. Most of those who have been brought back into the top posts are ones who served Mulayam Singh Yadav as Chief Minister. Mulayam loyalist Jagmohan Yadav for instance has been elevated to the position of Additional Director General of Police (Law & Order). He replaces Mayawati's close aide Brijlal who has now been sent tothe Police Training Academy at Moradabad.

A retired bureaucrat of the UP cadre bemoans this trend. “Most of us (bureaucrats) now know that a new Chief Minister in the state means transfers. Each time it happens, not only is the quality of administration affected but often such changes negate positive steps taken by the predecessors.” Unfortunately for the administrative health of the state, the trend of replacing top bureaucrats every time there is a regime change in the state is not new to Uttar Pradesh. Mayawati's first few days in office when she became Chief Minister in 2007, saw a similar reshuffle in police and bureaucracy. Over 173 IPS officers, including twelve IGs, 27 DIGs and almost all district police chiefs, were transferred. She also overhauled the Chief Minister's Secretariat and created the post of Cabinet Secretary and elevated non-IAS loyalist Shashank Shekhar to the top slot. Of course, on coming back to power, Akhilesh Yadav did not waste any time in scrapping the post altogether.

Former DGP of Uttar Pradesh and Assam, Prakash Singh, who filed the PIL which led to the landmark directions by the Supreme Court on police reforms, feels that the bureaucracy is as much to blame because they cozy up to a certain party in power. “Both the political establishment and the civil servants are to be blamed. Politicians because they want to choose officers who carry out their orders without asking questions and civil servants as they have become a part of this arrangement. One cannot expect fair administration from such officers,” he points out.

Some allege that many of the plum posts awarded by Akhilesh have a definite caste bias despite Akhilesh's poll promise of shunning casteism. Instances such as Anurag Yadav taking over as the new district magistrate of Lucknow and Jagmohan Yadav becoming ADG-Law & Order are giving fuel to this sentiment. “Transfers should be on merit and honest officers should be promoted. But since many postings are given on the basis of caste or affiliation, bureaucrats have no option but to become cozy with politicians,” adds retired justice C.B. Pandey.

Transfer of babus by politicians is not just a U.P. phenomenon alone. According to a research, between 1980-2000, the transfer probability of an IAS officer was 53%, while average IAS tenure was merely 16 months during the time period. While there have been demands for administrative reforms to put a limit to a politician's ability to transfer bureaucrats before they complete a minimum tenure, the political will for the same is still not in place. 

Meanwhile, all eyes are on Uttar Pradesh to see how Akhilesh and team will deliver in accordance with the aspirations of those who voted him. So far, most decisions – including the ministers in his cabinet and the bureaucratic shake-up – seem inspired by the previous SP regime. If Akhilesh has to deliver in 2014, he'll have to shake off some of that old dust

http://www.thesundayindian.com/en/story/its-transfer-raj-in-up-again/24/32096/

Boobathi Babu-Honest officer amid corrupt masters

TNN Apr 25, 2012, 05.33AM IST

HYDERABAD: He is a quiet and low profile officer, his name unheard of in public till lately. But D Boobathi Babu, the boss of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), who has become a thorn in the side of the administration, is a determined police officer and always has been so in his three-decade career. Zealous, honest and hard-working, the 1983 batch cop who also has a PhD to boast of can never be accused of not trying, his colleagues say.

"Not that he has always been successful, but he is never cowed down by the prevailing circumstances," says a senior IPS officer. As proof, he points out how Boobathi Babu as an officer of the Special Protection Force (SPF) had cracked down on the coal mafia in Singareni Collieries a couple of years ago.

"It is an open secret that a huge volume of coal is generated through illegal mining. This coal is smuggled out and sold off in the market in Hyderabad. All this happens with the connivance of cops including those of the SPF which provides security to the collieries," says an IPS officer. "Boobathi failed but that was because the ranks of his force were highly corrupt, not because he wavered in his mission," he adds.

It is this zeal of Boobathi Babu that is now worrying the state administration that finds the boss of ACB unwilling to relent and changing his tack depending on the expedience of politics.

For those who came in late, Boobathi had cracked down heavily on the liquor mafia in the state unearthing gory details of the illegal business that is a major source of political funding in the state and involves many top politicians. But when the heat became too searing, the powers that be transferred his lieutenant Srinivas Reddy. Any other boss would have acquiesced to the transfer but Boobathi Babu did not keep quiet and protested loudly against the move. Though attempts were made to rein him in, a PIL in the AP high court which saw the bench order a total crackdown on the liquor mafia had the powers that be worried. "Had it not been this ruling from the high court, it is reasonably safe to assume that Boobathi Babu would have himself been transferred by now. But now the government dare not transfer him," says a police officer. As the chief of ACB, the officer who hails from Tamil Nadu reports to the chief secretary and not the director general of police.

In the circumstances, the government is doing what it thinks is best: post in the special investigation team (SIT) of ACB an officer who is more amenable. Ravi Varma, a promoted IPS officer who was already at the ACB is the choice of the powers that be. Those who are in the know of things say that Varma is also an honest officer but has none of the zeal of Bhoobathi.

Moreover, unlike his boss and like most other cops would not go against the powers that be. Little wonder that Boobathi Babu has protested against the foisting of Varma on his SIT and has refused to take him. This has the bureaucracy upset and the powers that be have told him that he has no choice in deciding who will work with him. Officers who have watched Boobathi at work aver that the last in the matter is yet to be heard.

"As a young SP once Boobathi had cracked down on card rooms in the district he was posted in. One of the persons nabbed by him was a leading lawyer. There was much pressure on him - including from political quarters - to let off the lawyer. But to make a point, Boobathi produced the lawyer before a magistrate in the dead of night and had him remanded in judicial custody," a police officer says. This was in spite of the fact that the lawyer was charged with a bailable section.

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-25/hyderabad/31398414_1_ips-officer-acb-coal-mafia

Not enough IAS officers to run the country….

As per a tiny newspaper report in the TOI today, there is a shortage of 1777 IAS officers in the country. Add to this the shortage of 1327 IPS officers and the picture becomes eminently clear – no one wants to join the government services. There have also been similar reports of shortages in Army officers. Why does no one want to work for the Government?

Honeslty, it’s not that difficult to figure out the reasons. People work either for money or for the pride and prestige (power?) that comes with the job. In the years following independence and all the way until the beginning of the economic liberalization cycle in 1991, IAS and IPS jobs were the most coveted of all jobs. These roles provided aspirants the opportunity to serve their country and engage in nation building. Of course, the fact that there was a very small private sector – and that entrepreneurs as a class had not been truly invented – also helped push most able people towards government jobs. There was also a lot of “power” associated with government jobs, especially the IAS and IPS (as manifested in the high dowry sums they commanded in the market). Now take whatever you want from the word power; but the fact is that that was a strong reason for attracting the best.

There was another reason why government jobs were considered the best. The salary was decent; and largely comparable with what the private sector provided. The private sector itself had been caged by the License Raj; and private sector salaries were much muted. Government jobs also came with “job protection”. All factors put together, there were enough entrants into the IAS cadre. I remember when I graduated from IIM, and joined a large private bank, some of my older relatives were curious to know if I had taken up a private sector job because I hadn’t managed to get a government one!

Since 1991 however, the times have changed. There is a huge amount of consumerism all around. The shops are filled with tempting goods; and there is so much that money can buy. Today, more than ever before, money plays a crucial role in a person’s life. A person’s stature today is determined by the car he drives and the address claims as his home; not by the “powers” or “pride” his job may carry. And here’s the reality – government jobs simply do not pay enough. Especially in comparison to private sector jobs – where a shortage of talent in the last decade and a half – has led to a huge increase in salary levels. CEOs earning a crore of rupees in salaries is not uncommon. And yet the seniormost IAS officer – the Cabinet Secretary – has a take-home salary of less than Rs 1 lac a month.

Many people object to taking “take home salary” as the way to measure salaries. IAS officers get mansions to live in. They have loads of “helpers” available all the time. All that’s fine, but all that doesn’t help buy the goodies. And all that disappears the moment one retires. Having come from a family where my dad was a banker in a government bank, I know exactly how it feels post retirement.

There is also this dangerous trend of recent times to attack the character of eminent bureaucrats that has to be factored in. In today’s world, a bureaucrat who takes a wrong decision (as every manager does once in a while), is first and foremost accused of being corrupt. In our uneducated and illiterate minds, the only reason a person makes a mistake (even a genuine one) is when he is motivated by bribes. In the lifetime of a bureaucrat, the hundreds of good decisions he takes go unnoticed; the rare mistakes get magnified. In today’s world, there is active encouragement to those bureaucrats who refuse to take decisions; as long as they avoid any taint of being corrupt. Who wants to work in such an environment? High performers seek assignments where they can do a lot; not just sit on their back sides.

So the IAS offers pathetic salaries; and a very hostile environment for taking decisions and “building the nation”. Not surprising then that there is a dearth of talent. Not surprising also that the dearth of talent is especially high in states that are known for highly politicized and inefficient governance – 216 short in UP, 128 in Bihar, 118 in MP, 112 in Rajasthan and 100 in Jharkhand. Who wants to work in these states, where in addition to all that has been discussed earlier, there is the threat of person safety as well – with active Maoist movements and the ever present mafia as well. Not surprising therefore that the caliber of people joining the IAS has plummeted dramatically. And with this has plummeted the personal ethics of the cadre. Today, corruption in the IAS is a big issue – but the reasons are well known.

India needs the most talented people to join public life and government service. That’s what happens in the developed world. The European government jobs pay more than private sector ones (of course, that has created its own problems). In the US, the salaries are at least as good as, if not better than, private sector salaries. A cop in NY earns as much as 75-80,000 dollars a year after putting in 5-7 years of service. The US President earns upwards of 250,000 dollars – at least a decent sum of money (our PM earns less than Rs 1 lac a month). In Singapore, bureaucrat salaries are linked to market opportunities. It’s time that India also considers rewarding its bureaucrats much better.

In order to reward bureaucrats better, we will need to reduce headcount. The Government cannot become the job provider of the last resort. The Indian Railways employs some 16 lac people and that is supposed to be a proud statistic. Air India has some 45000 people working for it; while its rival has a number than is perhaps one quarter of that. All India Radio has some 17000 engineers on its rolls (one wonders if engineers run a media organization), while the biggest TV and radio stations have not even 1% of that number.

The real truth is that the government needs to employ fewer people, pay better, and provide a better work environment if it wants to attract better people. All simple suggestions, but extremely difficult to implement!

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/the-real-truth/entry/not-enough-ias-officers-to-run-the-country