The UPA’s deep embarrassment in the P.J. Thomas imbroglio last year, in which the government (or rather Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister P Chidambaram) cleared his name for appointment as Chief Vigilance Commissioner while ignoring the criminal charges pending against the babu has obviously left a deep scar. Clearly wishing to avoid a horrible repeat of the scenario, the government has reformatted vigilance clearance form to be filled by babus before empanelment at the Centre. According to sources, officers will now have to categorically declare if they are facing disciplinary or criminal proceedings, or as in Thomas’ case, have a charge-sheet against them. Apparently, during his brief stint as CVC, the Kerala cadre officer’s bio on the commission’s website conveniently omitted Thomas’ tenure as food secretary in Kerala, when the palmolein scam had taken place, and in which he featured rather prominently. Wisdom in hindsight? If only someone thought of effecting this change earlier!
Playing politics
The oft-mentioned IAS-IPS “rivalry” often takes a different dimension when politics intrudes. Currently the power corridors in Himachal Pradesh are buzzing with the report of a senior IAS officer complaining of harassment by the state police chief. Kangra’s division commissioner Sanjay Gupta, who is facing corruption charges, has now accused the state police chief D.S. Minhas of “targeting” him and trying to influence other officials against him. Curiously, Gupta has written about this matter not to his chief secretary or even Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, but to Dhumal’s political rival and former chief minister Shanta Ram! Babu-watchers say that this only shows that the well-know tussle between Dhumal and Shanta Kumar is now beginning to take toll among the babus, creating schisms in the bureaucracy.
An opportunity here
The exodus of three senior bureaucrats from the Ministry for Minority Affairs seems to suggest that the government needs to consider appointing babus with an interest in the social sector to implement its welfare programmes. Recently, sources say, three joint secretaries handling minority welfare chose more attractive assignments over an extended stint in the ministry. M.N. Prasad moved to the Prime Minister’s Office and then on to the World Bank. A. Luikham chose not to seek an extension when his tenure ended last month, and the third babu Ashish Joshi, who apparently had differences with the secretary S. Mitra chose to be repatriated to his parent cadre. Maybe it’s time to bring in the specialists or dare we say committed professionals from the outside. This may be just the opportunity the government needs to do something that’s been on the anvil for long.
