mg devasahyam election sans democracy?

p20
Jitender bhargava National civil aviation policy p28
July 5, 2016 `200
vol. 10, issue 4

iatas dublin agm

D-G Tony tyler
worries about
terrorism

p36

gfilesindia.com

Haryana

Vadra Land
Deal

ISSN 0976-2906

ja b
n o
on ar ok
d
ra ha ext
jiv n ra
p4 g tha ct
2 an k
dh ur
i

Deepinder Singh Dhesi

Chief Secretary, Haryana Government

Will
Khattar
act
against
Dhesi?
1

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From the Editor

vol. 10, ISSUE 4 | JULY 2016

Anil Tyagi | editor
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HE post of Chief Secretary is not only enshrined in the Constitution as the sole
authority of the administration, but the person holding the post is also the
custodian of civil services of a State. In Haryana, the Chief Secretary used to
have an aura of strength. I have seen many Chief Secretaries in the State in the last
34 years and most of them worked with dignity and authority. The downfall basically
started with the Om Prakash Chautala regime which exploited the State machinery
and used it like a fiefdom. This trend was perfected by Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who
had a secretariat of classmates and friends. gfiles cover story on Haryana Chief
Secretary Deepinder Singh Dhesi reveals how the State machinery succumbed before
Hoodas authoritarian attitude, where not a single officer objected to the granting of
commercial licence to Robert Vadra. Vadra had every right to apply for the licence,
but adhering to the rules and guidelines was the duty of Dhesi and his colleagues.
Why has gfiles done a story on Dhesi and the Vadra land deal? The Justice Dhingra
Commission has recently sought an extension to dig out facts about Vadras land
deals. Either Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar is not aware of the facts
or is misrepresenting the facts to the people of Haryana. gfiles has put the record
straight and has exposed the coterie which initiated and sanctioned the deal. These
facts are with the Haryana government too. But, for reasons best known to Khattar,
it appears the State government is protecting the involved civil servants and Vadra.
The Khattar government came with a bang and was a source of hope for the
people of Haryana. But, the Chief Minister now feels that the civil servants
nurtured, by the builder lobby and Hooda will not allow him to fulfil the political
agenda for which the BJP selected him. But the real issue is, who is stopping him
from taking action against those officers who have connived in the alleged illegal
deals over the last ten years? It seems, Khattar does not have the courage to act.
Dhesi is considered to be an intelligent officer and was seen as Cabinet Secretary
material among his 1982 batchmates. But, the way he has performed in Haryana
and earlier as the Additional Secretary in the Ministry of Commerce, defies this
belief. As Neeraj Mahajans story on MMTC shows, Dhesi was an active partner in
the alleged scandals that took place during his tenure as CMD. Under him, the
MMTC for the first time went into the red. The Khattar government is not very
enthused with Dhesi as his leadership is not inspiring the State administration.
Dhesi himself wants to move out from the State as soon as possible. But, will the
Khattar government take any action on the Vadra land deal or will the case remain
as yet another example of politicians doublespeak.
Our Foreign Affairs consultant, Anish Gandhi, and I travelled to Dublin, Ireland,
to attend the IATA AGM in the first week of June to get an idea of the issues before
the world aviation industry. IATA DG and CEO Tony Tylers talked about how the
industry is troubled about the increasing terrorism-related incidents across the
globe and wildlife smuggling. Back home in India, the Ministry of Civil Aviation also
announced the National Civil Aviation Policy in June. Jitender Bhargava, a veteran
of the aviation industry, analyses it and hopes, One is tempted to take a positive
stance because the potential to expand air connectivity to cover tier II and III cities
does exist. Success is also critical if the target of 300 million domestic tickets by
2022, from the present 80 million tickets, is to be achieved.
ANIL TYAGI

Download the gfiles app

www.indianbuzz.com

HGLWRU#JOHVLQGLDFRP

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

CONTENTS

LETTERS
editor@gfilesindia.com

06 Bric-a-Brac

leonardo at rss party, wooing varun,

london dateline, chauhan gets
fashionable

comprehension why the NMDC would

resort to selling iron ore at a discount,
especially when other governmentowned miners like Hind Copper and
NALCO fix the price of copper and
aluminium in line with prevailing
international prices. The low prices set
by NMDC definitely affects the market
for other sellers and creates an uneven
playing field.
K Rao via blog

08 Cover Story

dhesi debacles: no action from haryana

chief minister khattar
16 dhesis days at mmtc

18 Eyes Wide Shut

the parity debate

20 Governance

cleansing the electoral rot

28 aviation policy: focus on regional
connectivity
32 iata meet bemoans funds crunch
36 iata ceo says, security paramount

26 State Scan

unhealthy air at mcd

41 Stock Doctor

look for opportunities

42 Book Extract

the rajiv years

50 Perspective

more than just imagination

57 By the Way

reprieve for blacklisted producers, new

rules for deputation, freshers report for
duty, rae bareli post

Shivrajs woes
The cover story on Madhya Pradesh
(Simhastha jinx stalks Shivraj, gfiles,
June 2016) was an eyeopener. It
needs to be read in the context of the
recent clean chit to Chief Minister
Shivraj Chouhan. According to
newspaper reports, the Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI) has not found
any political conspiracy or evidence
of an organised syndicate in the
Vyapam scam which rocked Madhya
Pradesh and threatened to oust Chief
Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhans
government. Commenting on the scam,
the CBI said that, most cases
investigated so far appear to be
individual cheating and corruption
cases, and it is difficult to connect one
case to the other. There are only a few
cases where the accused are common
or middlemen have worked together.
But clearly, this is not the end of the
matter. As the gfiles story indicates
there are many aspects that still need
to be considered. I hope those will be
taken into account.
SK Sinha via email

Iron ore scam

The NMDC story (Iron ore heist,
gfiles, June 2016) only begs the
question, why? It is beyond

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

Mining has always been a sector rife in

controversies. The story of NMDC selling
iron ore at a discount only adds to the
litany of woes surrounding the sector.
The Indian mining industry, moreover, is
passing through a critical phase,
especially in the last two years,
witnessing negative growth. As mining is
interlinked with industrial development,
availability of raw material is of prime
importance and as such, the pro-active
role of union and state governments is
called for to ensure an era of mineral
development. Mining projects across the
country remain stalled owing to
environmental, regulatory and land
acquisition issues. Corrupt practices
need to urgently give way to clean
development of the sector.
Lata via blog
I would like to congratulate you on the
excellent expose of NMDC illegal
practices. I look forward to more such
articles from gfiles.
Dhiraj via blog

Reviving the Ganga

There has been a lot of discussion on
the Ganga revival plan (Purifying the
purifier, gfiles, June 2016) and now
from gfiles, we learn that a
parliamentary committee too has
discussed the matter. But I would like to
ask whether anything is happening on
the ground or is it all in the air?
Anita M via blog

www.gfilesindia.com

www.indianbuzz.com

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

Bric-a-brac
friends & foes

Leonardo at RSS bash in London

branson also expected to attend

HE UK-based Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, known

as a branch of the RSS, will be celebrating its
golden jubilee in Britain at
Hertfordshire County ground in
Luten, about 45 km from London,
on July 29-31, 2016. The RSS has
branches in 34 countries. It is not
present in Islamic nations, where
it is not allowed to function. Its
most prominent branches are in the
US and England. RSS chief Mohan
Bhagwat and other ideologues, Dattatreya
Hosbole and Swamitra Gokhale, head of Sanghs foreign

department, are the main organisers of the event. The

convention titled Sanskriti Mahashivir (cultural
meeting) will focus on Hindu philosophy, vegetarianism
and cow slaughter. Some reports
indicate that Hollywood star
Leonardo DiCaprio and Richard
Branson of Virgin fame will share
the dais with Bhagwat. DiCaprio
will in all probability endorse
vegetarianism as well support a ban
on cow slaughter. With the star attraction
being DiCaprio, the convention is expected to be
attended by more than 10,000 people.

Game on in Uttar Pradesh

congress trying to woo varun

HE Congress seems to be playing a game to create

confusion in the BJP ranks ahead
head of elections in Uttar
ar
Pradesh. The saffron brigade is hoping to wrest
rest
power from the Samajwadi Party in
n 2017 by
taking on the might of Mulayam Singh
ngh Yadav
av
and Mayawati and her Bahujan Samaj
Party.
maj Par
arty.
The Congress is leaderless in UP. Ferozee
Varun, the son of Maneka Gandhi, hass
emerged as the BJPs most acceptable
abl
ble
face in the seven surveys conducted
ed
d by
UPs most prominent papers so far.
r.
However, the BJP is reluctant to project
ro
oject
him as a possible face in UP because
u of his
use
surname and several senior leaderss of the
party briefed journalists during the National
Executive in Allahabad that there would
w
be
difficulty in accepting him as a leader
deer
in UP. There are stories being
planted in different newspapers
that the Congress may declare him
as the candidate for the UP Chief
Ministers post. As per these stories, if

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

Varun agrees then the trio of Rahul-Varun-Priyanka Gandhi

will
wil sweep the polls in UP. It sounds good. The reason for
these rumours is that Priyanka, Robert Vadra and
their daugh
daughter spent some quality time with
Varun
V
at the wedding reception of her family
friend,
Tehseen
Poonawala, at the Meridien
fr
T
Hotel
H
iin Delhi a couple of months ago.
Sonia
So
onia Gandhi and Rahul also attended the
function.
Congress leaders found
func
ncti
Priyankas
candid interactation with
Priya
ya
Varun
Varu
un significant enough to spread the
word.
word. Rahul Gandhis key adviser and UP
poll strategist
Prashant Kishor is
stt
understood
to have called on the BJP leader
understt
with an o
offer of making him the chief
ministerial
ministeria
a face of the Congress if he chooses
to switch
swittc sides. Sources said that Prashant
Kishor
was politely told that this
Ki
proposal was unacceptable and
though there were family ties,
politically, the cousins were on different
sides of the fence.

www.gfilesindia.com

Who appointed Chetan Chauhan?

from cricket to fashion

VEN some politicians in the BJP are not able to digest how
w well-known
cricketer Chetan Chauhan was appointed the Chairman off the National
Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT). A loyalist of former
mer Delhi and
District Cricket Association (DDCA) President and Union Minister
ster Arun
Jaitley, sources said Chauhan gained from the backing of the BJP,
JP,
but were hard-pressed to explain his credentials for the post.
Sources disclosed that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi
was not kept in the loop. It is reported that an all-powerful
minister in the Modi government called Textiles Minister
Santosh Gangwar and asked him to release a notification
appointing Chauhan immediately. Gangwar was confused because
use
he had not received any instructions from the PMO. Sources say
ay the minister
tried to ask the leader if he had spoken to the PM about Chauhan.
an. The allpowerful leader confirmed that he had informed the PM. Gangwar
war had no
reason to disbelieve him and announced the appointment. Incidentally,
dentally,
the other minister was on leave that day. After the announcement,
ent,
Gangwar got a call from the PMO and, sources say, the ministerr got
a piece of the PMs mind. Gangwar was reportedly told that he
should have asked the PMO before taking any such decision.

Over to London
party circuit provides fodder

ONDON is a happening place for Indians,

especially in summers. All those who can
afford the cost generally move to the
beautiful city. Influential facilitators of the
Indian government are seen holidaying in
London, according to reports. The first
report was about a book release by a
socialite. He got into trouble when he
boasted to a well-known industrialist of
his proximity to a very senior minister.
He said that he could facilitate any
work that was temporarily stalled. What
the man did not know was that the
industrialist was visiting the same
minister that day itself. The socialite
received a warning from the concerned
minister. Another report informs that Sri Sri
Ravi Shankar recently met Robert Vadra in London
recently. Sources say that Sri Sri apparently asked Vadra

www.indianbuzz.com

to ensure that Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka went to his

ashram in Bangalore publicly; after that he would
personally ensure that Vadra got a clean chit.
This has infuriated the ruling dispensation
and Sri Sri has been told not to involve
himself in these kind of activities
otherwise he would be declared persona
non grata. In another report datelined
London, Essar Group head Ravi Ruia,
after getting the permission from the
CBI court to meet a close relative who
was counting his last breaths, was seen
partying at the Loulou night club at
Londons 5, Hurt Ford Street. Sources
disclosed Ruia, an accused in the 2G
scam, was also seen with Robert Vadra and
Jyotiraditya Scindia. Sources also say the party
was thrown by Vadras close friend and Dubaibased industrialist Rajiv Vazir. Stay tuned for more...

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

COVER STORY
haryana dhesi

Vadra land deal

Dhesi under
a cloud

Deepinder Singh Dhesi

Chief Secretary, Haryana Government

Deepinder Singh Dhesi, the Chief Secretary of

Haryana, is being chased by a controversial past.
According to documents with the Haryana
government, Dhesi was hand-in-glove in
sanctioning land in Gurgaon to Robert Vadras
company, a deal that flouted rules and regulations
at the behest of then Chief Minister Bhupinder
Singh Hooda. The question is, when will Chief
Minister Manohar Lal Khattar act against him and
others involved in the controversial deal? And why
he has not done so till now?

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

by ANIL TYAGI

HEN Manohar Lal Khattar

took over as the Chief
Minister of Haryana on
October 26, 2014, he did not have a
slightest idea how to run the administration. Khattar joined the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in 1977.
He worked as a full-time pracharak for 14 years before moving to
the BJP in 1994. During 2000-2014,
Khattar was Organisational General
Secretary of the BJP in Haryana. He
was, by all means, a political worker
who was far away from the intricate
world of governance, administration
and civil services of the State. When

www.gfilesindia.com

he took over as Chief Minister, he

even did not know civil servants by
name or face. He appointed Sanjeev
Kaushal, a 1986-batch IAS officer, as
the Principal Secretary in the Chief
Ministers Secretariat. Kaushal, a seasoned civil servant, started building
his team, keeping in mind the political agenda of the new government in
the State.
As PK Gupta, Chief Secretary,
Haryana, a 1981-batch IAS officer,
was about to retire on December 31,
2014, Khattar was looking for a new
Chief Secretary. First, Ashok Lavasa,
the then Secretary, Union Ministry of
Environment and Forest, and now
Finance Secretary, Government of
India, was offered the job. But he
politely declined to move to the State,
stating the Prime Minister has
assigned him an important task to
complete and it will not be courteous
to move in between. Another senior
officer, Anuradha Gupta, a 1981-IAS
officer, who is posted at WHO at
Geneva, was also contacted. But
she was not eager to leave the
highly paid job.
As per sources, Kaushal had in
mind to have a congenial group to
administer the State. Apart from
this, it was the first time the
builder lobby of Haryana was not
aware how a new Chief Minister
will administer the State. Khattar
was absolutely new to the builder
lobby, which was desperate to get
a senior official appointed as
Chief Secretary who had earlier
worked with them and was sympathetic to their cause.
Kaushal, meanwhile, was contacting all available senior-most
officers. He called Deepinder
Singh Dhesi, a 1982-batch IAS
officer of Haryana, who was
serving as Additional Secretary
Commerce, to find out was he

available to join as Chief Secretary.

Dhesi had earlier worked as chief of
Town & Country Planning Department
in Bhupinder Singh Hooda government. Being a Haryana cadre officer,
he was well versed with the system.
But, he was not sure about his future
as he was still four years from

At the behest of Hooda, the

officers of, the Ministry of
Urban Development,
Country & Town Planning
Department and Haryana
Urban Development
Authority (HUDA) not
only connived with the
process of allotment but
did not even raise any
objection regarding
the allotment

retirement. These four years had to be

meticulously planned. Kaushal and
Dhesi had worked earlier in Om
Prakash Chautala and Bhupinder
Singh Hoodas regimes, so both had
very cordial relations. Dhesi immediately joined as new Chief Secretary of
Haryana. Khattar, a complete novice,
did not have an idea about the background of Dhesi and the intentions of
the powerful builder lobby.

HERE are two parts to Dhesis

career. First, when he was posted
as Joint Secretary in Haryana
and was heading the Town & Country
Planning Department, and second,
regarding Dhesis role when he was
serving as Additional Secretary,
Ministry of Commerce, with additional charge of Metals and Minerals
Trading Corporation of India
(MMTC). (See School for scams by
Neeraj Mahajan.)

gfiles inside the government

COVER STORY
haryana dhesi

Before joining the Ministry of

Commerce, Dhesi was allegedly
involved in a commercial land plan
sanction in Haryana to Sky Light
Hospitality Pvt Ltd, a company of
Robert Vadra, son-in-law of Congress
President Sonia Gandhi. Khattar government has constituted a one-man
commission headed by retired High
Court Judge SN Dhingra to investigate commercial licence of land to
hundreds of private companies,
including Skylight Hospitality and
DLF. Justice Dhingra sought six-week
extension to submit the report, hours
before the deadline was to end on
June 30, 2016.
Gfiles has reviewed the allotment
document of Sky Light Hospitality.
The way former Chief Minister Hooda

and officers along with Dhesi allotted

land to son-in-law of Sonia Gandhi
shows systematic failure of the State
machinery. At the behest of Hooda,
the officers of the Ministry of Urban
Development, Country & Town
Planning Department and Haryana
Urban
Development
Authority
(HUDA) not only compromised the
process of allotment but did not even
raise any objection to the allotment.
(See the signatures on the sanction
list). The document reveals the unabashed loot of resources in defiance to
all regulations.
The story starts on January 4,
2008. The project sanction files first
line states: This case relates to grant
of licence to develop a commercial
colony over an area measuring 3.53

Sanction Circus
2008
January: Onkareshwar Properties applies for a licence to commercially
develop 2.53 acres in Sector 83, Gurgaon.
February: Robert Vadra's Sky Light Hospitality buys the plot from
Onkareshwar.
March 10: Sky Light Hospitality applies for a licence. Officials say while
financial capacity papers of the company do not exist, the status of Robert
Vadra should be considered for approval. Other exceptions and
interpretation of rules help the company.
March 21: Sky Light Hospitality's application gets the approval of the
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda.
March 28: Letter of intent from the government for a commercial licence
given to Sky Light Hospitality.
August 5: Armed with the letter, Vadra's company signs collaboration
agreement with DLF; DLF is to invest in and develop the commercial plot,
Vadra's company to get half the built-up area.
November 13: Sky Light Hospitality's licence application rejected.
November 18: Sky Light Hospitality's licence proposal, backed by
agreement with the DLF, approved.

2012
April: Licence is transferred from Sky Light Hospitality to DLF.
September: Sky Light Hospitality sells its entire stake to DLF at more than
700 per cent of the price at which it bought the land.

10

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

acres of land at village Sikohpur in

Sector 83 in Gurgaon by M/s
Onkareshwer Properties Pvt Ltd.
Onkareshwer Properties is owned by
Satyanand Yajee and Godavari Yajee,
registered at Flat No B-14/C, First
Floor, Freedom Fighters Enclave,
Neb Sarai, New Delhi. Its alleged that
both are proxies of Hooda. After
reviewing the 29-page file one understand how the files moves when the
Chief Minister has allegedly vested
interests. There should be many files
like this. If the Khattar government
digs them out, it will open a Pandoras
Box, but to do so needs political will,
honesty and courage.

HE controversial case in which

Dhesi, who was then heading Town & Country Planning
Department, SS Dhillon, Additional
Chief Secretary to the Haryana government, Transport and Civil Aviation
Departments, who was then Director,
Town & Country Planning Department
and Chhatar Singh, Member, Union
Public Service Commission, who was
then Additional Principal Secretary to
the Haryana Chief Minister, approved
the land plan for commercial use
overruling all mild objections.
The land in question is 126.80 acres
which was allotted to 14 developers
(see box), including Sky Light
Hospitality Pvt Ltd. The controversial
land deal concerns 3.53 acres of this
land. This piece of land was a prime
property as it was surrounded with
top commercial sanctioned plans.
After investigating the documents, it
was pointed out by junior-level
officials that the area measuring 0.83
acre falls in residential zone for which
licence cannot be considered. The
area was then reduced to 2.70 acres.
In its files, the State government
recorded that the 24-metre-wide road
within the Sky Lights plot would take

www.gfilesindia.com

away 1.35 acres from the overall plot.

In its report, the CAG said this would
leave only 1.35 acres to commercialise,
which is less than the minimum
requirement of two acres according
to rules.
The noting on file states: As per
the provisions of the development
plan of the Gurgaon-Manesar Urban
Complex, the 50 per cent of the
Commercial Zone area can be considered for grant of commercial licence.
Actually, after all the statutory
deductions, the land available for

The land in the

controversial commercial
sanction plan has no
road or provision for
any connectivity.
Legally, no plan can
be sanctioned if there is
no road connectivity to
any commercial or
residential plan
commercial utilisation was just 1.621
acre, which junior level officers pointed out to be on the lower side and
could not be considered for sanction.
The dealings in Haryana were questioned by the CAG report on Haryanas
Town
&
Country
Planning
Department, released in March 2015.
The report notes that to camouflage
the facts, the file all through talks
about ownership for 3.5 acres of land,
whereas it was actually 1.6 acres.

ECOND, the land in the controversial commercial sanction

plan has no road or provision
for any connectivity. Legally, no plan
can be sanctioned if there is no road
connectivity to any commercial or
residential plan submitted before
the government. Third, the plan was

www.indianbuzz.com

Will Dhesi continue?

ill Deepinder Singh Dhesi, a 1982-batch IAS officer of Haryana

cadre, and the Chief Secretary of Haryana, be removed?
Sources disclosed that Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal
Khattar is not content with the working style of Dhesi. Reportedly, Dhesi
seldom speaks in the meetings and does not express his frank opinion.
Sources disclosed that Khattar is planning to replace Dhesi, but the real
issue is whom to bring on this crucial post? Sources close to Dhesi also
say that he himself desires to move out from the State and is eager to join
as Secretary in the central government. It is learnt that he was offered the
post of Secretary, Woman and Child Development Ministry, but he was
not enthused as he was eyeing the Ministry of Urban Development. Also,
Dhesi has visited Delhi many times regarding a MMTC case being
investigated by the CBI, but there is no respite till now for him.
In Haryana, Khattar has to take a tough call in a caste-ridden State. If
one ggoes byy seniorityy and availabilityy of officers,, Anuradha Gupta
p is the
senior-most. Its to be seen if th
the
government offers, will she be
WHO
able to join leaving her W
job. The next in line is
Jalan, a
Krishan Kumar Jala
officer,
1982-batch IAS of
who is Secretary,
Micro, Small
Ministry of Micro
Enterprises.
& Medium Enterp
hardworking
Jalan is a hardw
has 11
officer and ha
before he
months befor
best
retires. Next b
State
choice for the S
Kesani
government is Ke
Anand Arora, a 19831
batch IAS officer,
Secretary of
Additional Secretar
Government. She
Haryana Governme
will retire in 2020. T
Then
19
there is YS Malik, a 1983batch IAS officer, posted as
Ayog.
Additional Secretary, NITI A
Wait and watch who replace
replaces
decides to
Dhesi, if Khattar decide
him.
say goodbye to h

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

11

COVER STORY
haryana dhesi

allegedly sanctioned because

Vadra was the Director of Sky
Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd.
On Page 7, point 10 of the sanction report states that as after
deducting the land for the road the
remaining 1.62 acre is on lower
side of the total site area, therefore
the ground coverage and FAR
shall be permitted on the area of
1.62 acres, subject to actual demarcation of site.
An important observation is
made by officials on page 10 of the
sanction file. It states: After examining it is reported that site does not
have any approach, either through
revenue rasta (road) or any constructed road in development plan
as also reported by patwari. It
means the land was locked from all
sides and had no road connectivity.
But when a Chief Minister desires
and officers connive, many ways
could be found. Same happened in
the Vadra case.

HE real twist took place in

March 2008. Page 15 of the sanction states: M/s Onkareshwar
Properties Pvt Ltd, vide application
10.03.2008 (PUC), has intimated that
they have sold this land to M/s Sky
Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd (SLHPL)
and now the licence may be considered in the favour of SLHPL. SLHPL
has two directors, Robert Vadra and
Maureen Vadra, registered at 268,
Sukhdev Vihar, New Delhi 110025.
The officers were conscious about
the importance of the file and the personality involved, so they noted their
objections in a subdued manner. The
sanction reports page 23 mentions
the apprehension of officers: To safeguard the proposed arrangement,
necessary conditions have been proposed in the office note. It is submitted that the department has been

12

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

www.gfilesindia.com

Signatories of the final approval documents

considering an approach road from

the existing plotted colony for grant of
additional licence, but there
are no precedents as per the
arrangement
proposed.
This report did not deter or
create any obstructions to the
sanction as the government
planned
to
create
an
approach road to the said
land, which was almost two
kilometres from the main
road. The road had to be constructed with public money to
facilitate M/s Sky Light
Hospitality Pvt Ltd.

AGE 24 of the report

doubts the credentials
of Mr Vadra. It clearly
says: The department has
not granted any license to the
applicant company M/s Sky
Light Hospitality Pvt Ltd for
setting of commercial colony
in Haryana. The financial
capacity considering the status
of the Director (read Robert
Vadra) of the applicant company can be considered. It means
though Vadra was new to the
business, but being Vadra, he
may be considered. Documents
with the Haryana government
show that Sky Light Hospitality
did not submit any document as
proof of its financial capabilities
at this stage.
The operative part of the report
is summarised between pages
27-29, which is inconsistent with
the earlier notes: There is no
existing approach to the applied
land but the same is adjoining
the proposed plotted colony of
M/s Onkareshwar, M/s Mark
Buildtech and others in collaboration with M/s Vatika Landbase
Ltd. The detailed comments in

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gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

13

COVER STORY
haryana dhesi

not only gave a clean chit to the deal,

but also held that Khemka had acted
beyond authority by cancelling the
mutation of land that was sold to DLF
by Vadras company. The State government then reportedly reversed
Khemkas decision and sanctioned
the land deal.

List of applicants who applied for commercial projects in Sector 83

the regard, in this note of DTP (HS)

may kindly be persued. If agreed, a
condition shall be imposed that the
company will submit NOC from M/s
Onkareshwar Properties (P) Ltd and
M/s Mark Buildtech (P) Ltd to allow
access till the construction of 24-metre
wide internal road as proposed by the
office, from their site.
Following this, the file moved rapidly and was cleared by March 25,
2008. It is signed by Dhillon, Dhesi
and all concerned senior and junior
officers and, finally Chattar Singh,
APS CM1, signed it with the stamp
CM has approved. It is on record

14

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

that Hooda did not sign a single file; it

is a tradition in Haryana that PS of the
CM signs the file and it is considered
as CMs approval, which is constitutionally void ab initio. But who cares...
Ashok Khemka, an IAS officer of
the 1991 batch, had claimed that
Vadra had falsified documents for the
3.5 acres of plot at Shikohpur village
of Gurgaon.
Later, the Hooda government constituted a three-member panel, headed by the then Principal Secretary
(Revenue), Krishna Mohan, to investigate Khemkas charges. In its report,
submitted in March 2013, the panel

URGAON is full of such

illegal deals by real estate
developers. The builders in
Haryana adopted a new technique
while aggregating land from farmers
before getting any township plan
sanctioned. They offered advance to
farmers and got land registered on
the promise that as and when the
township will be sanctioned, the
balance payment will be made. It is
alleged that many colonisers have not
cleared the payments till now. Why
and how it happened? The Revenue
Department, Country & Town
Planning Department and HUDA
were aware of the deceit, but when
palms of most of the officers were
allegedly greased, who would have
stopped the loot. Sources disclosed
that there are many farmers who
have knocked every door but are not
able to get justice. There was nobody
in the Hooda regime to take notice of
these farmers.
Documents establish that Dhesi
was very much a part of these misdeeds of the Hooda government. It
belies the faith of Haryanas people
when Khattar government claims that
it is serious in investigating all Vadra
land deals in Gurgaon. It is ironic
that perpetrators of the alleged crime
are running the Khattar government.
The people of Haryana have punished
Hooda by dethroning him. Now the
Khattar government has to act. Why
it is not doing so even as it has all the
documents in its possession is though
not clear. g

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KILLING FIELDS OF KAIMUR p24

RIGHT TO INFORMATION
THE SWELLING TIDE p16

POLITICS
SON RISE IN
CONGRESS p34

WEST BENGAL: DISTANT THUNDER p22

VOL.

3, ISSUE 7 | OCTOBER 2009 | RS 50

GOVERNANCE
FERTILISER : WRONG
MEDICINE p26

years

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FIRST STIRRINGS
VISHNU BHAGWAN p28

A K VERMA
REDS HERE TO STAY p22

SPECIAL FOREST OFFICERS

VICTIMISATION IN HARYANA p24

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ISRAEL

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www.indianbuzz.com

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

15

COVER STORY
scam mmtc

School for scams

During Deepinder Singh Dhesis tenure as CMD,
MMTC for the first time went into the red

by NEERAJ MAHAJAN

N case you are wondering why

mega public sector undertakings
continue to make losses and bleed,
heres why: Mismanagement and
total lack of accountability from top
to bottom in the leadership chain.
One of the classic examples of such
mismanagement and sorry state of
affairs is Metals and Minerals Trading
Corporation of India Ltd (MMTC),
one of India top exporters, highest
foreign exchange earner and largest
public sector trading giant, which has
been accorded the status of a Five Star
Export House by the Government
of India.
You just have to flip the coin to
reveal it as a school for scams, scandals, and shady deals.
Right from the very beginning in
1963, MMTC has had a chequered history of misgovernance, nepotism and
corruption. Recently, the Comptroller
and Auditor General (CAG) of India
passed strictures against MMTCs
financial mismanagement, possible
fraud, negligence and absence of
financial prudence.
According to the CAG report tabled
in Parliament, MMTC suffered a loss
of `1.33 crore in a deal with Suchetan
Export Pvt Ltd for the procurement of
cotton waste. The CAG report
expressed concern over losses suffered because of inadequate security
and release of stock on the basis of
PDCs (post-dated cheques) in
various deals.
According to insiders, one of the

16

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

worst phases seen by MMTC was during the tenure of Deepinder

Singh Dhesi as CMD, MMTC. Even
though MMTC has seen many inefficient leaders in the past, it was never
a loss-making organisation. But during Dhesis tenure, MMTC for the first
time went into the red. It was also a
period when delinquent officials were
reportedly protected and honest officers were victimised.
Such was the mismanagement that
persons with shady backgrounds

In what is a closely
guarded secret, Dhesi,
Gupta and Trivedi flouted
all norms to participate in
speculative gambling at
the Jignesh Shah-promoted
National Spot Exchange
Limited (NSEL)
Rajeev Jaideva, Anand Trivedi and
MG Guptawere not only allowed to
rise to board-level posts, but also to
abuse their positions to draw allowances beyond 50 per cent of basic pay,
which is the maximum permissible as
per DPE guidelines.
One of the first things that Dhesi did
after taking over as CMD on October
6, 2012, was to bring in his own set of
people in the Functional Management
Committee of Directors. Gupta, who
had caused a loss of `10 crore to
MMTC in the M/s Suchetan Exports
deal by ordering import of 11,000 MT
of coal at a high price from a foreign

supplier, was appointed Director

(Finance), while Trivedi, another Dhesi favourite, was appointed
Director (Marketing) in July 2012.
Incidentally, Trivedi, a BCom third
class, is the son of former Chief
Election Commissioner (CEC) of
India and Governor of Gujarat, RK
Trivedi. Likewise, Jaideva, against
whom strictures were passed by the
CBI for showing undue favours to
NAADP without requisite securities,
was appointed Director (Personnel),
flouting the PESB rules.
All this is similar to the infamous
promotion fraud in MMTC when
Nripendra Mishra was holding additional charge of CMD, MMTC in
February 1998 and 18 DGMs were
promoted to the post of GMs.
Cover up operations
MMTC entered into a Long Term
Agreement (LTA) to purchase freshly mined and washed coking coal
from Anglo Coal on FOB (trimmed)
basis. The agreement ran into rough
waters and the Arbitration Award was
pronounced in May 2014 for alleged
non-lifting of 453,034 MT of coking
coal by MMTC and Anglo was entitled
to recover damages from MMTC to
the tune of US$78 million (`500
crore) with interest.
MMTC challenged the Arbitration
Award in the Delhi High Court
through former Union Law Minister P
Chidambaram, but the petition was
dismissed. For the aforementioned
reasons, the Court finds no grounds
having been made out by MMTC

www.gfilesindia.com

under Section 34 of the Act

for interference with the
impugned majority Award
dated 12th May 2014. The
petition is dismissed with
costs of `1,00,000, which
shall be paid by MMTC
to Anglo within four
weeks, the Delhi High
Court order by Justice S
Murlidhar read.
Dhesi suppressed the liability on MMTC as per the
Arbitration Award by not
informing the Department
of Commerce. Further,
instead of taking disciplinary action against the guilty officials,
a chargesheet was initiated against M
Thyagarajan (the then CGM) who was
the whistleblower and the complainant to CBI in the Chennai Gold Fraud
Case (`120 crore). Ironically, one of
the prosecution witnesses in the
departmental
inquiry
against
Thyagarajan, Gurumurthy, then GM
(F), was an accused in CBIs
chargesheet in the Chennai Gold
Fraud case.

N what is a closely guarded secret,

Dhesi, Gupta and Trivedi flouted
all norms to participate in speculative gambling at the Jignesh Shahpromoted National Spot Exchange
Limited (NSEL).
Both Gupta and Trivedi had close
links with Shah since the time they
were CGMs (West Zone). Gupta even
managed to get his son, Vineet Gupta,
employed in NSEL. But, instead of
initiating disciplinary action against
him, Dhesi sided with him to trade on
NSEL platform.
Following a circuitous route, trading on NSEL was approved by MMTCs
Functional Management Committee
of Directors (FMCOD), chaired
by Dhesi, without taking the approval

www.indianbuzz.com

Persons with shady

backgroundsRajeev
Jaideva, Anand Trivedi and
MG Guptawere not only
allowed to rise to boardlevel posts, but also to
abuse their positions to
draw allowances beyond
50 per cent of basic pay,
which is the maximum
permissible as per
DPE guidelines
of Board of Directors as required
under the MMTCs Delegation of
Powers (DOP). Accordingly, GM
(Precious Metals), N Balaji, and GM
(F&A), T Kumaran, were asked to sign
the application for NSEL membership
on behalf of MMTC.
Interestingly, even at that initial
stage, CGM (Finance), Vijay Pal,
and GM (Finance), Surjeet Singh,
objected to the high-risk trading
at NSEL where warehouse receipts
were not supported by physical
stocks.
But,
Dhesi
overruled
their objections in the 88th meeting

of
the
Functional
Management Committee of
Directors, which was held on
June 14, 2013.
The result was a whopping
loss of `250 crore due to
speculative trading through
NSEL. Money was advanced
to private parties without
any collateral security. This
was in violation of Delegation
of Powers of MMTC.
MMTC acknowledged a loss
of `226 crore in its quarterly
results ending June 30,
2013, and `25 crore on
account of VAT.
Interestingly, the associates of
MMTC, who acted as sellers, were
also the buyers for the same
commodity that was sold to MMTC?
Many of these buyers and sellers, like
Mohan India and Yathuri Associates,
were common to both NSEL
and MMTC.
The Supreme Court, in the State of
Gujarat vs Mohanlal Jitamalji Porwal
and Anr. AIR 1987 SC 1321, observed,
The entire community is aggrieved if
economic offenders who ruin the
economy of the State are not brought
to book.
Likewise, in the Ram Narain Popli
vs CBI, 2003 (3) SCC 641, the Apex
Court observed, In the last few years,
the country has seen an alarming rise
in white collar crimes which has
affected the fibre of the countrys
economic structure. These cases
are nothing but private gain at the
cost of the public and lead to
economic disaster.
This notwithstanding, Dhesi a
1982-batch Haryana cadre, IAS, lords
over as the 32nd Chief Secretary of
Haryana. Dhesi, who still has nearly
four years of service left, took over
from PK Gupta as Haryana chief
secretary on December 1, 2014. g

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

17

EYES WIDE SHUT

prabhat kumar

The war within

IAS and non-IAS officers continue to wage a battle of words on the question of
parity. The essence of civil service lies in serving the people, which,
unfortunately, the civil servants possess only by exception.

HE war for parity between IAS and non-IAS officers Quixote charging at the windmills. Arguably, an IAS officer
of the Union Government is far from being over. In gathers enormous amount of experience while handling a
the last couple of weeks, it came very close for the range of issues like law and order, public distribution,
non-IAS services to win parity with IAS. I am sure the bit- consumer affairs, agriculture, irrigation, community
ter war of words on the social media and elsewhere will development, industry, rural development, which
continue unabated despite, or as a consequence of, the according to some, is required to play a leadership role in
Governments decision to defer it for further examination. policy making. The opponents to IAS supremacy say that
Twenty-odd organised Civil Services of the Union had the processes and techniques of governance have acquired
moved a petition before the 7th Central Pay Commission a complexity far beyond the capability of mere generalists.
for ending the much-maligned IAS supremacy by remov- They say that the emerging civil service structure needs to
ing the handicap suffered by non-IAS officers in matters of evolve to meet contemporary challenges. Since both the
emoluments and hierarchical positions. They argued that groups have emerged from the same selection process and
possess identical intellectual
over the years, the IAS had been
stonewalling any move to bring
According to the chairman of the calibre, I do not think the debate
has any possibility of approaching
down the edge given to them after
Pay Commission, there was no
a plausible resolution.
Independence. The main pain
justification for the continuation of
The essence of civil service is
area was the two-year differential
the two-year gap, an archaic
not the knowledge of the domain
in empanelment for higher posiconcept in the present realm
or the 360 degree familiarity with
tions in the Central Government.
governance, but the spirit of
It was argued that earlier empanelment entitled IAS officers to higher pay and other ben- serving the people, which, unfortunately, the civil servants
possess only by exception. In the babble of mutual
efits than their batchmates belonging to other services.
The report of the 7th Pay Commission, which recom- mudslinging, the point is missed by both. There are several
mended by a majority vote the opening up of central staff- individual officers who show the path of real public service
ing scheme for competition to give all participating ser- by raising the bar above the normal call of duty. One such
vices an equal chance at top posts, came as a premonition officer says, To my mind, the challenge is to transform
of disaster to the IAS fraternity. According to the chair- more within than without.
The main discourse in the arena of governance the
man of the Commission, there was no justification for the
continuation of the two-year gap, an archaic concept in world over is regarding conscious public service. There are
the present realm, as the Indian bureaucracy had since international conventions and workshops on the theme of
come of age. He says, the main cause of resentment is that reorienting the mindset of public functionaries. A colloover a period of time IAS has abrogated to itself all powers quium on the subject was organised in Brazil, which conof governance and relegated all other services to a second- cluded that ethics, and not efficiency, is the soul of good
ary position It is time that the government takes a call governance. I wonder, if the debate between the services
that subject domain should be the criteria to man posts would ever focus on quality of their service delivery.
Endpoint: Has the Indian Bureaucracy really
and not a generalist. Judgment signed and delivered.
The arguments on both the sides, in my view, are equally come of age, as claimed by the Chairman of the 7th
unconvincing. While the supporters of IAS harp on the Pay Commission? g
singularly appropriate all-round experience to hold top The writer was the Cabinet Secretary and the first Governor of
policy making jobs, it is ridiculed by the rivals as Don Jharkhand. He can be reached at pkumar1511@hotmail.com

18

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

www.gfilesindia.com

INITIATIVE
nhai project

ADVT.

O provide better commuting experience

to road users using the stretch and for
generating employment for female
population residing in close vicinity of the
Mathura toll plaza, the NHAI concessionaire
has employed only local girls as collectors
of toll fees.
The Delhi-Agra toll project is 180 km in length and
connects Delhi, the National capital with the historical
town of Agra and has prominent religious places/ towns
like Mathura, Virindavan and Govardhan located en route.
There are two toll plaza located on the project road, one at
Palwal, (KM74.000) and other at Mathura, (KM164.000).
NHAI has entered into an agreement with concessionaire Delhi-Agra Toll Road Pvt
Ltd (DATR), a group company of
Reliance Infra Ltd, for widening the
road from existing four lanes to six
lanes carriageway.
What started as an experiment
has become a precedent for others
to follow as the girls at Mahuvan
(Mathura) Toll Plaza are persistently and diligently carrying out their
duties for last one and a Half years.

www.indianbuzz.com

Female
power at
NHAIs
Mathura
toll plaza

Currently, a total of 25 female staff is

employed at the toll plaza for carrying out
various duties. Belonging to poor communities, these local female staffers are running their family independently and are a
social support for their dependents.
Out of the three shifts, the morning shift
is exclusively manned by female staff; they not only collect
the toll fees but also manage traffic in the lanes. Initially, the
concessionaire did face problems as the concept was being
tried for the first time in this part of the country and with
the toll industry being a predominately male dominated
industry, parents were not keen on their daughters taking
up the job. Also, the girls themselves were unsure whether
they would be able to perform the
duties, or not.
But the result has been every
encouraging. There have been less
user complaints and decline of altercations at the plaza. The women are
sincere, disciplined and honest in
their work. Due to inherent characteristics, they possess soft skills
needed to handle the duties. g
(Inputs from NHAI)

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

19

GOVERNANCE

elections mg devasahayam

Indian democracys underbelly

Time to clean-up

EC does not consult the people, the sovereign and the real stakeholders who
give power to the politicians. Instead they pander to political parties, who are
only interested in grabbing power by fair or foul means

RIME
Minister
Narendra
Modi prostrates before Delhis
Parliament House, venerating
it as Temple of Democracy. At
Capitol Hill in Washington DC,
he uses the same superlative for
the US Congress: This temple of
democracy has encouraged and

20

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

empowered other democracies the

world over It manifests the spirit
of this great nation In granting me
this opportunity, you have honoured
the worlds largest democracy
and its 1.25 billion people As a
representative of worlds largest
democracy, it is indeed a privilege to

speak to the leaders of its oldest.

On June 26, the 41st anniversary
of Emergency, PM Modi said this
in his Mann ki Baat: The night of
June 25-26, 1975, was the darkest
night for democracy. All rights of
citizens were taken away, country
was turned into jail. Many political

www.gfilesindia.com

leaders like Jayaprakash Narayan

were put behind bars we are now
in a democracy. Democracy is our
strength. These comments are eulogising Indias democracy. Has he ever
bothered to look at its underbelly? If
he had done so, he would have found
it rusted, moth-eaten and crumbling,
not something to be hyped about.
Countrys trackrecord of timely
DQG HIFLHQW HOHFWLRQV KDV JLYHQ
considerable prestige and legitimacy
to Indias democratic polity and its
SROLWLFLDQV ZKR DUH WKH EHQHFLDULHV
But the moot question is what kind of
people get elected? Are they leaders
or dealers? Nearly a third of elected
representatives face serious criminal
charges such as murder, rape,
abduction and offences relating to
moral turpitude. Almost all of them
have amassed wealth much beyond
their known sources of income!
Successive governments did not lift
DQJHUWRVHWULJKWWKLQJV+RZHYHU
the Supreme Court intervened and in
its judgment in March 2003, directed
all candidates contesting elections to
OH DIGDYLWV EHIRUH WKH 5HWXUQLQJ
2IFHUV VWDWLQJ WKHLU FULPLQDO
antecedents, assets and liabilities.
This was meant to curtail criminal and
money-power in elections. The same
court on July 9, 2013, struck down
Section 8 (4) in the Representation
of Peoples Act (RP Act) allowing
MPs and MLAs to continue to be
elected representatives even after
they get convicted for criminal
offences. On July 5, 2013, the apex
court decreed that Freebies shake the
root of free and fair elections to a large
degree and directed the Election
Commission (EC) to frame guidelines
for election manifesto.
But all these have come to naught
and the rot is deepening. We saw
this glaringly in Tamil Nadu Election
in 2016 where money power and

www.indianbuzz.com

IUHHELHV ZHUH LQ IXOO RZ 7KH UROH

of money power is described by the
EC in its order rescinding election in
Aravakurichi and Thanjavur assembly
constituencies: Decision is based
on the Commissions assessment
about the vitiated atmosphere in the
constituencies created by the illegal
use of money power to allure the
electorate by unethical and unlawful
means resorted to by the candidates
and the parties. The word vitiated
appears at several places in the
Order. What was written of these two
constituencies was applicable mutatis
mutandis to almost the entire State!
ECs Model Code of Conduct,
2014, (MCC) on freebies directs
political parties and candidates to

Nearly a third of elected

representatives face
serious criminal charges
such as murder, rape,
abduction and offences
relating to moral turpitude.
Almost all of them have
amassed wealth much
beyond their known
sources of income!
avoid making those promises which
are likely to vitiate the purity of the
election process or exert undue
LQXHQFH RQ WKH YRWHUV LQ H[HUFLVLQJ
their franchise. Also, in the interest of
WUDQVSDUHQF\ OHYHOSOD\LQJ HOG DQG
credibility of promises, manifestos
VKRXOG UHHFW WKH UDWLRQDOH IRU WKH
promises and broadly indicate the
ZD\VDQGPHDQVWRPHHWWKHQDQFLDO
requirements for it.
Election Manifesto released by the
AIADMK Party on May 5, 2016, just
10 days before the polling date, was in
total violation of the Supreme Court
judgment and the MCC. Earlier, the

DMK had issued its manifesto with

some freebies. EC did not take any
action on these blatant violations
except issuing a belated and weak
notice to these parties, that too on
the representation from civil society.
No further action was taken, polling
proceeded and government was
installed in power. Post-poll surveys
clearly revealed that the massive
freebies offered in the manifesto were
the clincher.

DDED to these was the serious

matter of seizure of huge cash
of `570 crore at Tiruppur, just
two days before election (around
midnight of May 13-14, 2016) that
had raised suspicion of humungous
electoral
bribing.
The
totally
unbelievable story of this money
(supposed to belong to SBI), moving
from Coimbatore to Vizag, is yet to be
fully investigated. On the orders of the
Madras High Court, the CBI is looking
into it. But, since this happened in
an election-bound State under the
virtual administration of EC, it is their
responsibility to ascertain facts and
initiate stringent action.
Why the rot?
Major factor is the attitude and
approach of political parties who are
a law unto themselves. These entities
have failed to bring about inner party
democracy, transparent funding and
functioning as well as merit-based
selection of candidates free of criminal
and corruption taint. The Political
Parties (Registration and Regulation
of Affairs) Bill, 2011 drafted by the
Association for Democratic Reforms
is in cold storage. What is worse,
political parties do not even want to be
considered as public authorities and
KDYHZLOOIXOO\GHHGWKH57,$FW7KH\
OLEHUDOO\ HOG FULPLQDOV DQG FRUUXSW
as candidates seeking election. They

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vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

21

GOVERNANCE

elections mg devasahayam

indulge in electoral corruption of

alarming proportion that includes
individual bribing and vote-buying
as well as mass inducement through
lavish showering of fancy/consumer
goods as freebies in the election
manifesto. All these have made the
HOHFWRUDOHOGDQXQHYHQFHVVSRRO
Being
controlled
by
these
very political parties, the central
government is averse to any change.
Proposals from the EC are pending for
decades. Though all kind of reforms
are being brandished to make India a
super-rich and super-clean country,
there is not even a whisper about
electoral reforms to clean-up and
enrich Indias democracy which is our
greatest asset. Most glaring instance
LVUHQGHULQJWKH6&PDQGDWHRIOLQJ
RI DIGDYLW E\ WKH FDQGLGDWHV LQWR D
damp squib because the government
has failed to amend rules to disqualify
corrupt and criminal elements at the
thresh-hold. Political parties continue
WRHOGWKHVHSROLWLFLDQVZKREHFRPH
03V0/$V HYHQ DIWHU OLQJ IDOVH
DIGDYLWVDERXWWKHLUFULPLQDOUHFRUG
and illegal wealth! And most of them
get elected!

HE constitutional mandate
and Supreme Court judgments
hold EC squarely responsible
for conducting fair and free elections,
which is a basic feature of the
Constitution. For this, EC is vested
with legal (RP Act) and plenary powers
(Article 324 of the Constitution). Yet,
(& LV QGLQJ LWVHOI EHWZHHQ D URFN
(political parties) and a hard place
(government). For instance, though
Section 58A of RP Act empowers EC
to countermand election for booth
capturing, it has not been extended
to vote capturing through bribes
and freebies. Bullied by political
parties and disheartened by the
governments indifference, EC has

22

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

Though all kind of reforms

are being brandished to
make India a super-rich
and super-clean country,
there is not even a whisper
about electoral reforms to
clean-up and enrich Indias
democracy which is our
greatest asset
compromised on electoral integrity.
Result is the sharp diminishing of
Indias democracy. However, in TN
Election, 2016, exercising plenary
powers, EC rescinded elections in
two constituencies due to widespread
bribing of voters. It also issued notices
to the two major political parties on
the lavish promises of freebies in their
election manifestoes. One has to be
thankful for small mercies.
Issues & Posers
We need to look at India post
liberalisation,
privatisation
and

globalisation regime starting from

early nineties. No doubt, the country
KDVPDGHJUHDWVWULGHVLQPDQ\HOGV
and is now being heralded as worlds
fastest growing economy. TwentyYH\HDUVGRZQWKHOLQHZHDUHLQWKH
grip of a market economy. Rich have
become richer, black economy has
boomed and there is extreme poverty
and inequity.
In these years, election technology
and management has advanced with
EVMs, IT solutions and vast array
of observers, surveillance/ raiding
teams and paramilitary forces. But
democracy has decayed. Among the
WKUHH SOD\HUV LQ WKH HOHFWLRQ HOG
rule-less political parties are going
from strength to strength, rule-bound
government is indifferent and EC is
paralysed. Another key and powerful
player, judiciary, is treating election
in a casual manner and would not
decide election-petitions for ages,
making it a mockery.
In all, it turns out that election is
a mere exercise to facilitate political

www.gfilesindia.com

z Selection process of candidates by

political parties to contest elections should undergo a paradigm
change. India needs a system
wherein people can select and elect
their representatives who can be
recalled if they dont perform or
indulge in corrupt practices.
z We need to develop mechanisms
at the level of the constituencies
where an elected constituency
committee will involve the electorate in the process of selection of
candidates. In open meetings of
this committee, merits of potential
candidates should be discussed and
selection made. These selected candidates will be known and trusted
by the people.
z As of now, electoral arena
is totally biased in favour of
parties to capture and retain power
by fair or foul means. Fundamental
principles of democracy, such as
electoral integrity and level playing
HOGGRQRWVHHPWRKDYHPXFKVSDFH
in the scheme of things.
We are seeing this happening right
before our eyes. In TN, politicians
bought peoples votes and became
MLAs. In many other States, MLAs
sold their votes to money-bags to
make them MPs (Rajya Sabha).
Lok Sabha election is no better.
Grassroots elections (panchayats
and urban local bodies) are even
worse. Indias ingenuity for jugad has
morphed worlds largest democracy
into worlds biggest satta bazar!
What needs to be done?
Post-TN Assembly and Rajya Sabha
elections, a round table of eminent
activists, senior politicians and civil
society leaders along with representatives from the EC threw up some very
practical and pragmatic solutions to
VWHPWKHURWHQJXOQJWKHFRXQWU\

www.indianbuzz.com

Party politics has

drowned good
governance. EC has the
power for about two
months to control the
parties. EC should have
power throughout and not
just at the time of
elections
established parties that have a
permanent symbol that can be
easily recognised by the voters.
Since this is not available to smaller
parties who want to enter the fray
to provide alternatives, they are
put at tremendous disadvantage.
Either all registered parties should
be assigned permanent symbols
or none. Every party should get
different symbol for different
election. This could usher in a levelplaying field, which is the biggest
bugbear in todays elections.
z Announcing
mind-boggling

freebies in the election manifestos

in violation of MCC should be an
electoral offence punishable with
de-recognition and disqualification
of the concerned political party
from contesting elections.
z Corporate funding should be
banned since it brings undue
influence of money power. This
was done for a brief period in the
late 1970s. It was again permitted
under the plea that they have as
much right to fund elections. This
ban should be brought back.
z A judicious mix of the existing
first-past-the-post system and
a list-based proportional representation system would be good
for India.
z To prevent criminals from getting elected, MCC must demarcate
political activists from criminals.
For this purpose, Section 8 of the
RP Act needs to be amended. It
may not be foolproof but at least
there can be a check.
z The appointment of Election
Commissioners should be by a
collegium rather than being left
to the whims of the government of
the day.
z When a new political party wants to
work for the country, they should
get the opportunity to reach out to
the electorate through the media,
which is now being controlled by
big corporate houses and political
parties. It is they who decide the
winner through opinion polls and
creating waves about a particular
party or messiahs. EC should
ensure equal access to media for
all players.
z Party politics has drowned good
governance. EC has the power for
about two months to control the
parties. EC should have power
throughout and not just at the time
of elections.

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

23

GOVERNANCE

elections mg devasahayam

But all hope is not lost because

We, the people, who gave ourselves
the Constitution have not given this
responsibility to the government
or political parties, but to the EC.
People have also bestowed EC with
legal and plenipotentiary powers. In
a catena of judgments, the Supreme
Court has further strengthened it
by ruling that conducting free and
fair elections is the basic feature
of the Constitution and this is the
responsibility of EC. It is, therefore,
imperative on the part of EC to
function as a catalyst to rally the
forces and ensure electoral integrity
by all means and not remain tied to
the apron strings of the government.

z People may be accepting cashfor-votes since they know that

they will not get anything after
the elections. So they take whatever is given before the elections.
Political parties are reportedly
funded by mafia and it is their
money which is used to bribe the
voters. EC should take action to
stem this before, during and after
the elections.
z Mafia money used for bribing voters is accumulated and stacked
over a period of time and it is not
possible for EC to unearth it in a

body should go into the whole

issue of political funding. It can
check the character and experience
of the proposed candidates and can
keep a watch on the entitlements of
elected representatives. This body
can work with EC to bring about
political and electoral integrity.
z People are ignorant about the
basic tenets of democracy and the
purpose of holding periodic elections. They think it is just about
political parties capturing power.
Massive education and awareness
building is required to undo this.
Democracy and electoral process
should be made part of the school
and college syllabus in all streams
of studies.
time-period of two months. This
is the responsibility of the IncomeTax department and Enforcement
Directorate. EC should evolve a
mechanism to involve these agencies over longer period instead
of doing fire-fighting at the nick
of time.
z There is need for an all-India nongovernment body, whose main
objective would be to oversee the
process of political integrity. This

24

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

Election Commission as
the Catalyst
Consensus is that due to neartotal lack of electoral integrity,
Indias democracy is facing serious
decay. Neither political parties nor
governments are willing to take
the necessary remedial steps to
pull democracy out of this morass
by ensuring stringent standards of
electoral integrity.

S of now, EC does not consult

the people, the sovereign and
the real stakeholders who give
power to the politicians. Instead they
pander to political parties, who are
only interested in grabbing power
by fair or foul means. EC is not
placed there by We, the People to
bring political parties to power and
allow them to do whatever they
want. EC is there on behalf of the
people to sustain democracy and
make it vibrant. So, EC must initiate
a country-wide discourse wherein
people across-the-board should be
involved. Civil society organisations,
that include everyone except those
governed my military laws, can assist
the EC in this task.
EC is not a subordinate entity of the
government. It represents We, the
people to ensure electoral integrity.
In that capacity, EC should seek a fresh
RP Act, incorporating all the above
suggestions as well as the provisions
of the draft Political Parties Bill, 2011.
Sooner this is done the better it is for
Indias democracy! g
The writer is a former Army and IAS
officer. Email: deva1940@gmail.com

www.gfilesindia.com

ind

ia.

ind

.co

.co

co

ia.

ind

dia

in ia m
o
ind a.c
i
m
ind .co

ia m
o
ind .c
dia om
www.indianbuzz.com

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

25

STATE SCAN
mcd health

MCD

the
diabetes
infamy
Ashok Garg

Dr Ashok Garg, while heading the Corporations Diabetic Centre, earned

lakhs of rupees by ordering purchase of medicines that were neither
purchased, nor received and were never issued to patients
by K SUBRAMANIAN

HE Delhi Government called a

two-day special session of the
Assembly beginning Friday,
June 10, 2016, primarily to highlight
alleged corruption and irregularities
in the municipal corporations of
Delhi. The session was extended by a
day and concluded on Monday, June
13, 2016. Speaking at the session,
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
alleged that the BJP-ruled civic bodies

26

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

were riddled with so much corruption

that 95 per cent of councillors would
have been in jail if an impartial
probe was done. He further alleged
that the State government has given
substantially enhanced amount to
the civic bodies compared to the
previous two governments ruled by
the Congress and the BJP, but the
entire amount was siphoned off and it
was shameful that these corporations
had no money to even pay for salaries
to their employees.

There are innumerable stories of

officials working in these civic bodies
being involved in rampant misappropriation of funds and irregularities
making millions, whereas the city
stinks and suffers due to lack of basic
amenities. The Assembly adopted a
motion to set up a house committee to
enquire into charges of rampant corruption and irregularities in municipal corporations and recommend
measures to improve sanitation,
health, and education. Taking the

www.gfilesindia.com

clue, Gfiles considered it appropriate

to start a series of investigative write
ups aimed at exposing some of the
most corrupt officials, manning various departments, who made millions
at the cost of suffering to the general
public. The first of such cases belongs
to the Health Department. Dr Ashok
Garg was heading the Diabetic Centre
set by the Corporation with much fanfare in Arya Pura, Delhi. Dr Garg
allegedly squandered lakhs of rupees
by ordering the purchase of medicines
that were neither purchased, nor
received and were never issued to
patients. All this was done with active
assistance of his juniors, namely
Radha Piari (pharmacist/ store keeper) and Dr Meenu Mahendru (MO).
Dr Garg, who is alleged to have illicit
relations with some of the female
members of his staff, embezzled
millions in the name of organising
diabetic camps. One can get a fair idea
by the following cases as to how
Dr Garg did this.
At a camp organised in Gita Colony
on September 2, 2007, from 8 am to
12 noon, vide OO No. AD.
MHO(M)/1435, to which Dr Garg was
the OSD and Radha Piari the store
keeper, tests were reportedly conducted on 563 patients (no authentic
records for the same were found). For
this, 563 blood sugar strips were
shown to be used, 2,000 urine sugar
strips were used, 2,000 albumin
strips were used and 550 urine pregnancy strips were used. But, how is it
possible to conduct all such tests for
563 patients within 4 hours? Also,
how a diabetic camp is attended by
patients who all were pregnant? Also,
all things were issued under the signature of Dr Mahendru, the then MO
In charge despite storekeeper Radha
being present.
Similar mass-scale embezzlement
of money is alleged to have been

www.indianbuzz.com

made by organising several such

camps, including ones at Jheel
Colony on September 30, 2007.
Thousands of fake tests were done
and medicines/ equipment were
shown to have to been used in
camps organised at Majlis Park on
October 14, 2007, Hardev Nagar on
November 4, 2007, Budh Vihar on
December 16, 2007, Gupta Colony on
December 23, 2007, Uttam Nagar on
December 30, 2007, Jonti on January
6, 2008, Rani Garden on January 13,
2008, Karala on January 20, 2008,
Roshan Pura on January 27, 2008,
and February 3, 2008, Gita Colony on

There are innumerable

stories of officials working
in these civic bodies being
involved in rampant
misappropriation of funds
and irregularities making
millions, whereas the city
stinks and suffers due to
lack of basic amenities
February 17, 2008, Sagar Pur on
March 14, 2008, and March 30, 2008,
Mandawali on April 6, 2008, Jangpura
on April 21, 2008 and April 27, 2008,
Nimri Colony on April 20, 2008,
and May 4, 2008, Gautam Nagar on
May 4, 2008, Shahdara on June 8,
2008, Raghubar Pura on July 19,
2008, Gita Colony on August 19,
2008, Usman Pur on August 19,
2008, Pitampura on October 2, 2008,
Gita Colony from October 2, 2008, to
October 4, 2008, etc.
Dr Garg, when contacted, said, No
camp was organised without the
approval of the higher authority. He
added that the very next day of the
camp, a report was submitted to the
higher authorities giving the number

of patients attended to. As OSD, Dr

Garg personally used to place all
orders for medicines/ test kits, then
receive them, inspect them and even
consume them despite having no such
financial powers. In 2007, MCD
purchased semi-auto analyser and
other equipment for diabetic centre at
Rajouri Garden laboratory, spending
lakhs of rupees. However, these are
yet to be used and must have been
damaged or spoiled by now. Such
brazen and crude were the ways
to squander the money that Dr
Mahendru purchased kits of Glycocylated Hemoglobin, T3, T4 and TSH
and these were shown to have been
consumed despite there being no
machine in the laboratory to use them
for these tests.

R Garg is not only involved in

serious financial irregularities,
but is also allegedly known to
have openly sought sexual favours
from female staff attached to him,
who were threatened to keep mum.
However, Dr Garg said that no female
staff member has ever accused him of
sexual harassment. An inquiry committee, comprising Dr Dharampal
Vashisht, Dr Prabhodh Kumar
Sharma and Dr Santosh Kumar, was
instituted to look into the irregularities committed by Dr Garg. The committee submitted its report to the
Additional Commissioner, Health, on
March 27, 2014, vide Diary and dispatch no. 6724/3161, recommending
stern action against Dr Garg.
However, the report was dumped
by senior officials for the alleged
largesse extended to them by
Dr Garg. Dr Garg is presently posted
as Officer in-charge, Pharmacy and
Store, and is actively engaged in the
purchases for the departmenta
position akin to something where the
thief is made the king. g

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

27

GOVERNANCE
G
GO
OVERNANCE

avvia
avi
a
aviation
via
iati
tion
io
on
n jitender
jitende
de
err bhargava
b ar
bh
a gava
ga
g
ava
a

National Civil Aviation Policy

Better late than never

A mistaken belief that
setting parameters will
ensure success is
fraught with danger

NDIA finally has a National Civil

Aviation Policy (NCAP)a good
25 years after private airlines
were allowed to fly in Indian skies;
a good 63 years after Air India and
Indian Airlines came into inception
as government airlines through
nationalisation; and, a good 84 years
after JRD Tata heralded the birth
of Indian civil aviation by operating
the maiden Karachi-Mumbai flight
via Ahmedabad.
Initial euphoria of eventually
having the NCAP apart, one cannot
but wonder why the policy was in
the works for almost three decades.
What is in the policy that should have
taken the country so long? After all

28

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

the basic features enshrined in it

are predictableaffordable travel,
enhanced air connectivity, development of airports, impetus to cargo
business, MRO, etc.
For one who has been associated
with the industry for almost three
decades, it is not difficult to surmise
that a combination of factors
absence of vision, lack of capability
and low priority accorded to the
industry as in the socialist era it was
deemed as elitistcan be listed as
some of the causes for the delay. This,
of course, if one discounts the fact of
deliberate omission in to-do list to
enable policymakers revel in ad hoc
decision-making for grant of licenses,
formulating policies like the infamous
5/20 rule to benefit a particular
airline or doling out seats to foreign
carriers with or without consideration.
Whatever be the rationale to justify
the delay, the irony is that India
has lost out in a sector which was

given a head start by JRD Tata. India

is now deemed only as a growing
market for exploitation by foreign
airlines and not for its standing
amongst global mega carriers or
aviation expertise.
While the current incumbents in
the Ministry of Civil Aviation (MoCA),
including the ministers, can justifiably
be proud of giving the country the
NCAP, they ought to consider
formulation of policy as the beginning
of the process for giving Indian
aviation a sense of direction rather
than a culmination of a prolonged
effort. Since MoCA has been witness
to frequent changes in recent years
at the Secretary level and bureaucrats serving the ministry have
never demonstrated knowledge or
understanding of the sector, it will
only be prudent for the ministry to
constitute a think-tank to translate
the vision spelt out in NCAP. A
mistaken
belief
that
setting

www.gfilesindia.com

up as promptly as they had mushroomed because entrants lacked adequate knowledge of the sector and the
ministry had evolved no procedures
to check financial robustness or business plans of the over-enthusiastic
entrepreneurs who ventured into the
hitherto unexplored field.
One can foresee a similar repetition
of history in the mad race that may set
in once the parameters for regional
connectivity, which is a key element of
NCAP, are spelt out. Collapse of even
a couple of new regional carriers in
initial stages will not only spell doom
for the incumbent players, but deter
others from venturing into it. Hence,

parameters will ensure success and

that their responsibility has ended
with the announcement of the policy
is fraught with danger.
Learning from the past
Old timers need to recapitulate for the
benefit of the current policymakers
the scenario the country witnessed
when Indian skies were opened to private airlines in 1990s. Airlines folded

The irony is that India has

lost out in a sector which
was given a head start by
JRD Tata. It is now
deemed only as a growing
market for exploitation by
foreign airlines and not
for its standing amongst
global mega carriers or
aviation expertise

theres the need for caution and handholding by the government.

Regional connectivity
HE basic guidelines in NCAP
relating to regional connectivityState governments meeting
cost of airport services, security, fire
arrangements, offering concessions
in applicable VAT on Air Turbine Fuel
(ATF)are worthy of being appreciated. However, for ensuring success,
one needs to dwell more on it by finding answers to some basic questions.
Why would a State government incur
expenditure on providing these services? Will the index-linked capped
fare of `2,500 for a less-than-60
minute flight help the prospective
operator recover operational costs?
One is tempted to take a positive
stance because the potential to expand
air connectivity to cover tier II and III
cities does exist. The success is also
critical if the target of 300 million
domestic tickets by 2022, from the
present 80 million tickets, is to be
achieved. The States, rather than
being left to decide on their own
volition (many probably lack the

Policy Objectives

HE policy in its vision statement states that it will

"create an eco-system to make flying affordable for
the masses and to enable 30 crore domestic
ticketing by 2022 and 50 crore by 2027; and international
ticketing to increase to 20 crore by 2027". Further, in its
objective, the policy states:
1. Establish an integrated eco-system which will lead to
significant growth of civil aviation sector, which, in
turn, would promote tourism, increase employment
and lead to a balanced regional growth.
2. Ensure safety, security and sustainability of aviation
sector through the use of technology and effective monitoring.
3. Enhance regional connectivity through fiscal support

www.indianbuzz.com

and infrastructure development.

4. Enhance ease of doing business through deregulation,
simplified procedures and e-governance.
5. Promote the entire aviation sector chain in a harmonised
manner covering cargo, MRO, general aviation,
aerospace manufacturing and skill development.
The all-encompassing NCAP covers all facets of the
industryregional connectivity; safety; air transport
operations; route dispersal guidelines; 5/20 requirement
for international operations; bilateral traffic rights; codeshare agreements; fiscal support; airports developed by
State governments; private sector or in PPP mode; air
navigation services; Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul
(MRO); ground handling, etc.

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

29

GOVERNANCE

aviation jitender bhargava

foresight), ought to be told of the

gains that will accrue to the
region through development of hospitality industry, movement of local
produce, affordable means of travel,
etc., once a particular region of the
State is linked with air connectivity.
Only if the State administrators
are made to see the larger gains
manifesting for them over a long term
will they feel the urge to encourage
regional connectivity.
Capped fare of `2,500
Likewise, existing airlines or budding
entrepreneurs wishing to enter the

everything going for it as it prepares

to take off, with or without the need
for Viability Gap Funding, a provision
for which has been made in NCAP
should the operational costs exceed
the revenues fixed at the capped fare
of `2,500 per passenger.

HE government, considering the

significance of regional connectivity for overall development,
can in fact go a step furtherfacilitate purchase/ leasing of aircraft at
favourable terms. Since regional players are expected to have small fleets,
they may not get the best deal from

airlines have been sending their

aircraft for maintenance abroad
Dubai, Singa-pore, Sri Lanka, etc.
NCAP, while finally recognising the
importance of MRO, not only accords
infrastructure status to the sector but
also provides incentives that will lead
to reduction in maintenance costs.
The impetus being given may soon
lead to a reversal in trend. Instead
of Indian carriers sending their
aircraft abroad for maintenance, our
MROs may begin undertaking
maintenance of aircraft of foreign
carriers. It is a field that has hitherto
remained unexplored.
Both, the regional connectivity and

Only if the State

administrators are made to
see the larger gains
manifesting for them over a
long term will they feel the
urge to encourage regional
connectivity

regional connectivity business may

have to be convinced of profitable
business, which it will be, provided
the regional connectivity operations
is structured professionally. A review
of current one-hour flights and fares
will show that on many sectors, the
fares are generally below or around
`2,500. The economies of scale (since
on existing sectors a larger aircraft is
used whereas smaller aircraft will be
used for regional connectivity) can be
offset with saving that will accrue due
to there being no airport and landing
charges, no passenger handling fee
besides only 1 per cent VAT on ATF
for regional connectivity as against
20-30 per cent for other sectors.
Simply put, regional connectivity has

30

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

aircraft manufacturers. As collectively the demand for small aircraft can be

200-300 aircraft in the near future,
why not club the requirement and get
the best deal not only in terms of price
but also maintenance from the manufacturers? One only has to look at how
Emirates, Etihad and Qatar airlines
had clubbed their demand for new
aircraft in 2013 and managed to get
a good bargain from both Boeing and
Airbus while ordering aircraft worth
$200 billion.
Reversing the trend
The other aspect of NCAP that
merits attention is the Maintenance,
Repair & Overhaul (MRO). In the
absence of MROs in India, all private

MRO, have enormous potential to

generate employment opportunities
for the countrys youth. With the kind
of gains that one can foresee in the
aviation sector through this one
omnibus policyeven if it fails to pass
the test on all thresholdsone is
tempted to ask the basic question:
Why did it take the country so long to
formulate a policy? In the lost years,
the politicians took numerous ad hoc
decisions to benefit a particular airline, or a country, thus not only harming Indias long-term interests but
also giving foreign airlines a stranglehold on most routes against which our
own carriers will now have to compete
to serve our own market.
Better late than never! g
The writer is former Executive Director,
Air India, and author of The Descent of
Air India

www.gfilesindia.com

www.indianbuzz.com

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

31

GOVERNANCE
iata dublin agm

IATAS DUBLIN AGM

Blocked funds
raise concerns
The sum of blocked funds globally exceeds $5 billion. The top two countries
blocking the repatriation of airline funds are Venezuela and Nigeria
by ANIL TYAGI AND ANISH GANDHI FROM
DUBLIN, IRELAND

ISTORIC Royal Dublin Society

was aesthetically decorated in
the first week of June to host
the 72nd International Air Transport
Association (IATA) annual general
meeting (AGM) at Dublin, Ireland.
$709 billion Air Industry with an estimated profit $39.4 billion this year
and representing over 260 airlines
accounting for 83 per cent of global
air traffic, Dublin AGM was splendid

32

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

by all means. Air should make more

money than previously expected this
year, helped by low oil prices and
effort by airlines to fill planes and
drive ancillary revenues. This was
the second time the IATA AGM was
organised in Irelandthe first being
in 1962.
The International Air Transport
Association (IATA) announced leadership changes at the conclusion of
the Associations 72nd AGM.
Willie Walsh, CEO of International
Airlines Group (IAG), succeeds

Andres Conesa, CEO of Aeromexico,

as Chairman of the IATA Board of
Governors (BoG). Walsh, who represents British Airways (BA) on the
IATA BoG, takes up his duties immediately for a one-year term until the
conclusion of IATAs 73rd AGM.
Alexandre de Juniac, Chairman
and CEO of Air France-KLM, was
confirmed to succeed Tony Tyler as
IATAs Director General and CEO.
His appointment is effective from
September 1, 2016.
IATAs AGM was concerned about

www.gfilesindia.com

IATAs board of governors

Terrorism and Safety, Environment,

Security of the passengers along with
illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife
products. The outgoing DG Tony
Tyler was worried about Taxation.
There are nearly 2,000 government-imposed aviation taxes and
charges in IATAs databaseof
which 230 are statutory taxes imposed
on tickets. Most increases are
incremental, but they add up. And, it
is not unusual for the net impact of
government taxes and charges to
reach 20 per cent or more of the cost

Alexandre de Juniac,
Chairman and CEO of Air
France-KLM, was
confirmed to succeed Tony
Tyler as IATAs Director
General and CEO. His
appointment is effective
from September 1, 2016
www.indianbuzz.com

Factfile
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of travelnearly four times the

airlines average net margin.
Many governments are simply not
doing the maths. The UK government

pockets GBP 3 billion a year from its

Air Passenger Duty. PwC estimates
that the UK economy would be GBP
18 billion more prosperous if the

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

33

GOVERNANCE
iata dublin agm

tax was abolished.

The foundation stone of security
has been rocked by tragedy. In the last
twelve months, terrorists have laid
claim to atrocities involving Metrojet
9268, Daallo 159, and at Brussels
Airport. These are grim reminders
that aviation is vulnerable. Airlines
rely on governments to keep
passengers and employees secure as
part of their responsibility for national
security. And we are committed to
working with them in that challenging
task, said Tony Tyler, IATAs Director
General and CEO.
Intelligence is the most powerful
tool that governments have to protect
their citizens wherever they areat
work, in their homes or while travelling. One of the biggest risk areas are
large crowds. Industry is helping to
bolster these efforts with practical
measuresSmart Security and Fast
Travelthat will mitigate risk by
reducing airport queues, said Tyler.
IATA unanimously endorsed a resolution denouncing the illegal trade in
wildlife and wildlife products and
pledging to partner with government
authorities and conservation organisations in the fight against the traffickers of endangered animals.
IATA AGM was concerned about
blocked funds globally, the sum of

IATA unanimously
endorsed a resolution
denouncing the illegal
trade in wildlife and
wildlife products and
pledging to partner with
government authorities
and conservation
organisations in the fight
against the traffickers of
endangered animals

34

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

www.gfilesindia.com

which exceeds $5 billion. The top two

countries blocking the repatriation of
airline funds are Venezuela and
Nigeria. Airline funds blocked from
repatriation in Venezuela total $3.8
billion. Currency controls implemented in 2003 necessitate government
approval to repatriate funds.
Total airline funds blocked from
repatriation in Nigeria are nearing

Top Five Countries Blocking

Repatriation of Airline Funds
Country

Amount
US$ Million

Months
Held

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4 IATAS DGS and CEOS together (above); Airbus welcome reception (left top); 72nd
AGM opening session (left below)

Juniac, the perfect choice

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www.indianbuzz.com

$600 million. Repatriation issues

arose in the second half of 2015 when
demand for foreign currency in the
country outpaced supply and the
countrys banks were not able to service currency repatriations.
A highlight of the World Air
Transport Summit was a panel
discussion on the industrys top issues
featuring Bernard Gustin, CEO,
Brussels Airlines; Ed Bastian, CEO,
Delta Air Lines; Sir Tim Clark,
President, Emirates Airline; Jayne
Hrdlicka, CEO, Jetstar Group; and
Charamporn Jotikasthira, President
of Thai Airways. The discussion was
moderated by CNNs Richard Quest.
There were only two airlines
representatives from India, Jet
Airways Chairman and MD Naresh
Goyal and Air Indias Pankaj
Srivastava, Director Commercial and
Board Member. Next years AGM will
be held in Mexico. g
(gfiles was not hosted by IATA for
this article)

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

35

GOVERNANCE
iata tyler

Force for
Good...
Security is the foundation stone of aviation
industry, although it has been tested by recent
outrages, like atrocities involving Metrojet
9268, Daallo 159, and Brussels Airport. Two
important IATA initiatives can help mitigate
risks with efficient processes that reduce
queues and crowds. The first is Smart Security,
where we are working with Airports Council
International (ACI), and the second is Fast
Travel, our initiative to speed-up passenger
processing with self-service technology, said
Tony Tyler Director General & CEO of IATA
during his speech at the Dublin AGM.

36

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

VIATION is not just connecting

people and shifting goods, said
Tony Tyler, IATAs Director
General and CEO in his report on the air
transport industry at the 72nd IATA
AGM in Dublin. Our work is building a
better future for the peoples of the
world. There are nearly 2,000
government-imposed aviation taxes
worldwide, for example. Often, the taxes
and charges can make up more than 20
per cent of the cost of air travel, four
times the airlines annual net margin.
Tyler noted that the math simply doesnt
add up, with governments foregoing
gains in economic performance and job
creation. The UKs air passenger duty
generates 3 billion in revenue for the
government, but one study puts the
potential gain, if the tax is abolished,
at 18 billion.

www.gfilesindia.com

Similarly, the need for cost-efficient

infrastructure to meet demand suffers
from short-term politics rather than
benefits from a long-term vision.
Congestion is seen in all corners of the
globe, from London to Sao Paulo to
Bangkok. And often the airspace is little
better. Unfettering airlines from
infrastructure constraints will facilitate
growth and prosperity will follow,
said Tyler.
Here are the excerpts from his
speech which gives an insight into
challenges faced by the Air
Transport Industry:
This year people will make 3.8 billion journeys by air. Among them will
be families reuniting, students exploring the world, businesspeople creating prosperity, aid workers responding to crises and political leaders
seeking to understand and solve
problems. Our fleets will deliver 35
per cent of goods traded internationally some 52 million tonnes of cargo.
Aviation makes our world a better
place. In doing so, it supports 63 million jobs and underpins 3.5 per cent of
global GDP
This year we expect a collective net
profit of $39.4 billion (6). It will be
only the second year in our history
and the second in a rowin which
airlines will make an aggregate return
in excess of the cost of capital. After
decades of capital destruction, thats a
significant achievement. But it is still
just the minimum performance that
investors expect.
On average, airlines will make
$10.42 for each passenger carried. In
Dublin, thats enough to buy four double-espressos at Starbucks. Put
another way, for every $100 in sales
that Starbucks makes, their net profit
is over $11. But airlines will only make
$5.60. We dont begrudge Starbucks
their profitability. But there is clearly

www.indianbuzz.com

still upside for airlines.

Lower oil prices are certainly helpingthough tempered by hedging
and exchange rates. And your hard
work is strengthening the business.
Load factors are at record levels. New
value streams are increasing ancillary
revenues. And joint ventures and
other forms of cooperation are
improving efficiency and increasing
consumer choice while fostering
robust competition.

The need for cost-efficient

infrastructure to meet
demand suffers from shortterm politics rather than
benefits from a long-term
vision. Congestion is seen
in all corners of the globe,
from London to Sao Paulo
to Bangkok. And often the
airspace is little better.
Unfettering airlines from
infrastructure constraints
will facilitate growth and
prosperity will follow.
Safety
Our top priority is safety. The Egypt
Air tragedy reminds us that safety
is a constant challenge. Our thoughts
are with the victims, their friends
and families; and our colleagues at
Egypt Air.
Accidents are extremely rare. And
the strength of the foundation stone
of safety was clear in our 2015
performance. There was one major
accident for every 3.1 million flightsa
30 per cent improvement on the fiveyear average.
True to that commitment, the
IATA Operational Safety Audit
(IOSA)used by over 400 airlines
worldwidenow includes continuous

compliance monitoring.
Global standards also help us tackle emerging issues.
z Aircraft tracking came to the forefront in 2014 with the loss of
Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. Under
the leadership of the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO),
with input from industry, a global
tracking standard (14) has been
established. And our capabilities
may grow more robust in the
near future as space-based
technologies mature.
z And when we saw Just Culture
being threatened by litigious popular culture, relief was found in global standards. Working with ICAO,
Just Culture is now protected by an
amendment to the Chicago
Conventions Annex 19 on Safety
Management. This will ensure that
people can share important safety
information of any kind without
fear of reprisal.
Security
O too, is the foundation stone of
security, although it has been
tested by recent outrages. In
the last twelve months, terrorists
have laid claim to atrocities involving Metrojet 9268, Daallo 159, and
Brussels Airport. All are grim
reminders that terrorists do not
care who they victimise in trying
to achieve their endsincluding
innocent travellers.
The Brussels attack highlighted the
importance of security in airport
landside areas. This is fully within
the remit of governmentas is any
public space. As an industry we certainly do not advocate the pre-screening procedures imposed in Brussels.
Nonetheless, two important IATA initiatives can help mitigate risks with
efficient processes that reduce queues
and crowds.

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vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

37

GOVERNANCE
iata tyler

The signing of Wildlife Declaration

z The first is Smart Security, where

we are working with Airports
Council International (ACI). It will
streamline security with a riskbased approach and modern technology, with the triple benefit of
reduced queues, more effective
screening and a better passenger
experience.
z The second is Fast Travelour
initiative to speed-up passenger
processing
with
self-service
technology.
But airport security programmes
are not the keystone in the battle
against terrorism. Government intelligence capabilities play the biggest
role in keeping our societies secure
and stopping terrorists far away
from airports.
Airlines help support the risk
assessments that governments make
by complying with requirements to
provide
Advance
Passenger
Information and Passenger Name
Record data. We have worked with
ICAO, and other international agencies on global standards for data collection and transmission. It is paramount that governments implement

38

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

these standards consistentlyor

efforts to neutralise terrorism will be
weakened by complexity.
ICAO established an online portal for governments to share critical
information for airline risk assessments. But governments need to
improve the quality and quantity of
their contributions.

ASTLY, protecting cyber security

is a growing challenge. Our
electronically connected world
is vulnerable to hackers bent on
causing chaos. We are all vulnerable
and there is no guaranteed way to
stay a step ahead. That makes real
time collaboration and information
exchange with governments and
across the industry critical.
Make no mistake. We face real
threats. Government and industry
must be nimble, share information,
use global standards and keep a riskbased mindset when developing
counter-measures.
Global Standards
Global standards and processes
are themselves a foundation stone.

Many global standards have been

built by airlines working together in
IATA. And their importance extends
beyond safety and security. We could
not operate to the scale that we
do without them. And we will not be
able to accommodate the expected
doubling of traffic in less than two
decades unless we continuously
modernise them.
Airlines began this century by
working together to create value by
Simplifying the Business. That has
enabled a whole new way to travel
powered by e-ticketing and bar-coded
boarding passes. Popular self-service
Fast Travel options emerged that
already are accessible to a third
of travellers.
Four years ago we launched a programme to complement these travel
options with a state-of-the-art online
marketplace for air travel. New
Distribution Capability (NDC) is now
a reality. Twenty airlines are using
NDC schemas to sell tickets. We also
have launched an NDC certification
programme. This will help airlines, IT
suppliers and travel agents to find
each other.

www.gfilesindia.com

NDC will also enable further simplification. IATAs ONE Order initiative will combine and modernise processes for PNR, e-tickets and electronic miscellaneous documents. The
result will be one reference number
simplifying life for passengers and
streamlining complex and costly
reconciliation processes.
Sustainability
At COP 21 in Paris last December,
governments reached a landmark
agreement to mitigate climate change
by managing carbon emissions.
Aviation has been a step ahead in
understanding that our license to
grow rests on being a sustainable
industry. In 2009, we committed:
z to improve fuel efficiency by an
average of 1.5 per cent annually
to 2020.
z to cap net emissions with carbonneutral growth from 2020, and
z to cut net emissions to half of 2005
levels by 2050.
To meet these challenging targets,
airlines and industry partners have
been guided by a four-pillar strategy.
The first three pillars focus on improving technology, operations and infrastructure. As a result, emissions are
growing more slowly than the kilometres we fly, and we are on track to
meet our fuel efficiency target
On the technology front, airlines
continue to invest in new and more
fuel-efficient fleets. Over the next two
decades airlines are expected to invest
in aircraft worth some $5 trillion. And
the adoption of a CO2 standard by
ICAO this year will ensure continuous
improvement in carbon-efficiency for
future aircraft generations.
The proposal on the table at
ICAO is called CORSIACarbon
Offset and Reduction Scheme for
International Aviation.
We do not want a patchwork of

www.indianbuzz.com

conflicting regimes with overlapping

taxes and charges. We need a
mandatory global carbon offset
scheme that is fair, transparent,
effective, and simple.
Force for Good
IRLINES compete fiercely as
individual businesses. At the
industry level, airlines cooperate to be safe, secure, efficient and
sustainable. It is a combination that
has generated enormous value
helping aviation unleash ever-greater
energy for economic and social
development with global connectivity.
The question is, are governments
aligned with us? Although we share
a critical goalto grow prosperity
too
often
governments
make
decisions that weaken our ability
to be a force for good. The
divergence is clear in three very
important areasregulation, taxation
and infrastructure.
We must redouble our efforts
to change thatfor the sake of the
people and economies that depend on
air transport.

Aircraft tracking came to

the forefront in 2014 with
the loss of Malaysia
Airlines Flight 370. Under
the leadership of the
International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO), with
input from industry, a
global tracking
standard (14) has been
established. And our
capabilities may grow
more robust in the near
future as space-based
technologies mature

Taxation
Taxation is a good place to start. We
have nearly 2,000 governmentimposed aviation taxes and charges in
our data baseof which 230 are statutory taxes imposed on tickets.
Most increases are incremental,
but they add up. And it is not unusual
for the net impact of government
taxes and charges to reach 20 per cent
or more of the cost of travelnearly
four times the airlines average net
margin. Airlines are a force for good
creating jobs and spreading wealth.
Why then are we taxed as punitively
as the sins of alcohol and tobacco?
Many governments are simply not
doing the maths. The UK government
pockets GBP 3 billion a year from its
Air Passenger Duty. PwC estimates
that the UK economy would be GBP
18 billion more prosperous if the tax
was abolished. One can only wonder
why the tax still exists.
Infrastructure
The same force for good message
applies to our need for cost-efficient
infrastructure capable of meeting
growing demand.
Some governments understand
that aviation infrastructure is a driver
of national competitiveness. But too
many have forgotten. We see that
with bottlenecks in global cities as
far flung as New York, London,
Sao Paulo, Frankfurt and Bangkok.
And in some cases we have the
paradoxical situation of world-class
airports on the ground and gridlock
in the skies. I know the authorities
in China are working to improve
the frustrating situation there. Its
important that we see improvements
in the Gulf as well.
The bigger question is why arent
government decisions on infrastructure more motivated by seeing aviation as a force for good? Near-sighted

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

39

GOVERNANCE
iata tyler

At the closing session of the Dublin AGM that gave the message that aviation is a force for good

short-term politics get in the way of

long-term national interest.
To strengthen the force for good
argument we have done some work to
quantify whats at stakejobs, GDP
growth, and productivity.
The first focus was Europe where
infrastructure deficiencies are acute.
Air traffic management is an
inefficient mess. The Single European
Sky is the answer but there are few
signs of progress. And airports are so
difficult to build or expand that
Eurocontrol expects that 12 per cent
of demand in 2035 will go unmet.
The prize for tackling these issues
is big. A Single European Sky would
add EUR 245 billion to the European
economy in 2035 alone. And if
Europe could ensure sufficient airport
capacity the prize increases to over
EUR 300 billion.
Putting into numbers what weas
a force for goodcan make possible
is important. It should help governments put more muscle into the
long-term political leadership needed
for
infrastructure
development.

40

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

And thats as true in Europe as it is

anywhere else. Unfettering airlines
from infrastructure constraints will
facilitate growth and prosperity
will follow.
Regulation
HE last area where our force for
good message provides clear
guidance concerns regulation
in general.
Aviation has been well served by
regulationparticularly in safety
where everyone is committed to make
flying ever-safer. Not all regulation,
however, has the same galvanizing
clarity of focus.
Passenger rights rules, for example,
often seem more intent on penalizing
airlines than helping passengers
enjoy the benefits of efficient travel.
In a more positive light, where
economic regulation of airport
monopolies takes into consideration
the interests of passengers, we have
seen reduced costs, service level
improvements and efficiency gains.
Unfortunately examples of this are

all too rare.

As a force for good, we need Smarter
Regulationclearly defined rules
easily implemented to solve real
issues while respecting global
standards. Regulation must stand up
to rigorous cost-benefit analysis. And
ideally it should be built with plenty of
consultation as a joint effort to unlock
aviations benefits.
z Its also important for our 264
members and the entire value chain
to work together. Because together
we can send a proud message that
aviation is a force for good. And
we can do more good when tax
burdens and infrastructure constraints are removed, and when the
principles of Smarter Regulation are
applied properly.
People are thirsty for the
opportunities that aviation makes
possible. Every day we safely transport
ten million people and 140,000 tonnes
of cargo. We are not just connecting
people and shifting goods; our work
is building a better future for the
peoples of the world. g

www.gfilesindia.com

STOCK DOCTOR
dr gs sood

Move with caution

ARKET
will
witness
heightened volatility in the
short to medium term though
the outlook for the long term remains
bullish. The effects of Rexit, Brexit
and the progress of monsoon that has
remained erratic so far and needs to be
watched closely besides Indias failure
to get the membership of NSG may
lead to a sharp correction. Britains
exit of EU has further increased global
risks and may adversely affect global
growth outlook. Even before Brexit,
the World Bank had forecasted that
world economy will grow at 2.4 per
cent in 2016 and at 2.8 per cent in 2017
lower than the earlier forecasts of 2.9
per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively
due to increased risks to growth. India
will remain one of the fastest growing
major economies ahead of China for
next three years though it has lowered
growth projections to 7.6 per cent and
7.7 per cent for 2016-17 and 2017-18.
There is limited scope left for further stimulus by central banks in the
developed markets with interest rates
being at the lowest possible level. The
world may witness volatile forex
movements with devaluation of
pound sterling and China soon taking
the lead to devalue its currency.
Raghuram Rajan in fact warned of it
long back that the world may witness
a spate of competitive devaluations
and beggar-thy-neighbor policy.
Also, Chinas corporate debt is 145%
of Chinese economy and public and
household debts are another 40%
each. There are real dangers of China
not being able to meet it especially
when its economy is slowing. The
potential losses are estimated at

around 7 per cent of GDP and could

cost more than US$ 1 trillion.
The rupee may come under severe
pressure in the short to medium term
since UK and EU account for around
24 per cent of rupees exchange rate.
Brexit may lead to risk aversion in
equity markets resulting in outflow of
FPI money. The volatility in the rupee
may further get accentuated with estimated US$ 20 billion outflows likely
to take place during SeptemberNovember as most of the FCNR
deposits raised in 2013 will not be
rolled over. Companies having large
exposure to UK may get temporary
jitters. However, there is a positive
side of the story as well. All this make
the possibility of a US Fed rate hike
almost zero. Also, Brexit coupled with
Chinas slowing growth may lead to
commodity prices softening further
giving respite to the recently increasing rate of inflation thereby giving
some elbow room to RBI to go in for a
rate cut sometime in August.
India remains a sweet spot being

one of the most sought after destination for investment due to its improving macroeconomic fundamentals.
However, current valuations are a bit
stretched with the Sensex trading at
trailing PE of around 20 and forward
PE of around 18. The Nifty is at 2.8
times its book value, the highest
among top global bench mark indices.
The market could have witnessed
sharp correction but for the support
of domestic funds. The private capex
cycle may take another year or so to
set in motion due to surplus capacities
with corporate India. Rising food
prices is already giving sleepless
nights to the ruling dispensation and
disbursal under 7th Pay Commission
may further fuel inflation.
Investors would, therefore, do
well to exercise caution and use
only steep corrections to increase
exposure to equities. The market may
give excellent opportunities to buy
even blue chips when its gets beaten
down amidst bouts of selling due to
heightened global risks. g

Stock Shop
BY

RAKESH BHARDWAJ

Srikalahasthi Pipes
(CMP `247)

HE company is into manufacturing of

steel and iron pipes, demand for which
is growing due to rapid urbanisation. The
governments thrust on infrastructure
offers immense opportunities for the
company. The companys profit has been
consistently growing quarter-on-quarter

for the last several quarters. The company

has also reduced its debt considerably.
The current market price discounts the
EPS by just around 6 times as against the
industry PE of around 10. It has declared
an enhanced dividend at the rate of 50 per
cent for this year. Mainly catering to the
domestic markets, the company is fairly
insulated from the global risks. The stock
can give decent returns over a period of
1-2 years with negligible downside risk.

The author has no exposure in the stock recommended in this column. gfiles does not accept responsibility for investment decisions by
readers of this column. Investment-related queries may be sent to editor@gfilesindia.com with Bhardwajs name in the subject line.

www.indianbuzz.com

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

41

BOOK EXTRACT

prime ministers rajiv gandhi

Janardan Thakur started

his career in journalism
with the nationalist
Patna
daily,
The
Searchlight, in December
1959. In his long and
distinguished career
spanning the reign of
each Prime Minister
since Independence,
Thakur reported from
the thick of some of the
most
momentous
contemporary events at home and afarJPs
total revolution, the Emergency, the bristling
emergence of Sanjay Gandhi, the fall and rise of
Indira Gandhi and then the rise and fall of Rajiv,
the Kremlin of Leonid Ilyich Brezhnev, the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan and Khomeinis revolution
in Iran, Ronald Reagans re-election in an America
swinging Right, VP Singhs ascent as a messiah
with tainted magic and the rasping run to power
of the BJP. Thakurs journalism, from the very
start, broke traditional moulds of reportage and
writing, going beyond the story that meets the
eye and into processes and personalities that
made them happen. His stories on the Bihar
famine of the mid-1960s and the manmade floods
that ravaged the State were a sensation. He was
perhaps alone in predicting defeat for Indira
Gandhi in 1977 and again singular in exposing the
corroded innards of the Janata Government that
followed. A Jefferson Fellow at the East-West
Center, Hawaii, in 1971, Thakur moved to New
Delhi as a Special Correspondent for the Ananda
Bazar Patrika group of publications in 1976. He
went freelance in 1980 and turned syndicated
columnist. In 1989-91, he was Editor of the
fortnightly Onlooker, and The Free Press Journal.
Thakur authored All The Prime Ministers Men,
probably the most successful of the crop of books
that followed the Emergency. His All the Janata
Men, the story of the men who destroyed the first
non-Congress government in New Delhi, was
equally successful.
He passed away on July 12, 1999.

42

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

The antipolitician

AJIV Gandhi was an unique example in Indian

politics. He was the anti-politician who became the
Prime Minister without wanting it, perhaps without
ever having dreamt of it, at least until Sanjay Gandhi
was around. Everything had come to him on a platter:
membership of Parliament, post of general secretary of
the Congress, and now the countrys topmost job. All of
this in less than four years. In March 1977, he had been
under pressure from his wife, Sonia Gandhi, to leave the
country; when Sanjay Gandhi died, she was set against his
getting into politics even if it meant just helping Mamma;
and if Sonia Gandhi could not even press him this way or
that on October 31, 1984, it was more because of the failure
of nerves all around. There was not even the time to think.
Things were just happening. Events had taken a life of
their own.
In a dazed silence, Rajiv Gandhi, the new Prime Minister
of India, had stood hour after hour, with dignity and grace,
by the side of his mothers body as people in thousands,
people great and small, Indians and foreigners, filed past,
laying wreaths and flowers at the feet of the brave woman
who had said just the day before that she would shed her
last drop of blood for the country. She had. By the manner
of her dying she had transcended all her faults, all her failings. Indira Gandhis greatest wish had also come true: her
son had stepped into her shoes.
Rajiv Gandhi had begun with a head start like no other
man in politics, and he won an election like no other Prime
Minister ever had. He still knew next to nothing about
politics, and yet he was saying the right things, just the
things people had been saying for years and years without
any leader listening to them. When Rajiv Gandhi spoke at
the Bombay session of the Congress in December 1985, it
seemed he was breathing new life into a dead party. Here
at last was a leader who was articulating the despair of
the people, without any hedging. He was saying all the
things that needed to be said, in a tone and voice that
sounded sincere, for the simple reason that this was not
some foxy politician engaged in the usual double-talk.
Here was a young Prime Minister and party president who
was calling spade a spade. He was saying the country had
government servants who did not serve but oppressed the

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poor and the helpless. He was saying the police did not
uphold the law but shielded the guilty, tax collectors did
not collect taxes but connived with those who cheated the
state. He was saying there were whole legions whose only
concern was their private welfare at the cost of society.
They have no work ethic, no feeling for the public cause,
no comprehension of national goals, no commitment to
the values of modem India. They have only a grasping,
mercenary outlook, devoid of competence, integrity, and
commitment... He was saying that instead of a party that
fired the imagination of the masses throughout the length
and breadth of India, the Congress had shrunk, and had
lost touch with the toiling masses. Millions of ordinary
Congress workers throughout the country
were full of enthusiasm for the Congress
policies, but they were handicapped, for on
their backs ride the brokers of power and
influence, who dispense patronage to convert
a mass movement into a feudal oligarchy...
Obviously that speech was ghost-written,
but if Rajiv Gandhi meant what he was
reading out, as people thought he did, there
was great hope for the future. Here for the
first time a young Prime Minister was talking
of marching India into the 21st century
and that roused hopes no end, because it
was Rajiv Gandhi who was saying it, a Prime
Minister who was an anti-politician.
It was a great start. 1985 was rightly called the Year
of Hope. Hope sprang up on all sides, even in strife-tom
Punjab and Assam. The accords, sadly, were half-baked
and did not hold for long, but even so the people saw that
here was a well-meaning Prime Minister, a man without
malice who was eager to heal the wounds of the past, and
was striving for it. Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had won
the biggest landslide in Indian electoral history 48.1 per
cent of the popular vote and a staggering four hundred one
of the five hundred and eight Lok Sabha seats. At Bombay
in December 1985, his image had soared so high that it
seemed no other leader, no other party could touch him
for the next twenty years or more. It looked too good to be
true. His image could not go higher. It could only go down.
And down it did go, and so fast that one could only
feel sorry and sad. The euphoria died too soon. He was
becoming too much of his mothers son: imperious, distant,
arrogant - without her political savvy. He had no real
understanding of politics. It was not only the grammar of
politics that was beyond him; it was more that he just could
not understand the language of his party men. He had

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suddenly become the president of the party but remained

a stranger to most Congressmen right till the end.
Within a year or so, Rajiv Gandhi started showing a
different side of himself. Hubris was taking over. Even
at her majestic worst, Indira Gandhi had never exhibited
the kind of arrogance that Rajiv Gandhi did when in a
rather cavalier manner he sacked the foreign secretary,
AP Venkateshwaran. Right in the middle of a televised
press conference. A senior journalist from Pakistan had
asked him about his planned visit to Pakistan. I have not
planned any such visit, the Prime Minister said. But, said
the journalist, the Indian foreign secretary had suggested
that such a trip was on the cards. Ask the new foreign
secretary, beamed the Prime Minister
arrogantly. What a way to announce the
dismissal of a foreign secretary! Watching
him at the press conference that morning,
I was amazed that he should sit on that
chair and be so flippant and insouciant.
Could it have something to do with genetics,
I had wondered.

MONG his governments biggest

achievements were the various
accords he had signed, and it was
here that he was proving most vulnerable.
The Punjab accord had become a dead letter, in Assam the agreement was cracking to
pieces. But the Prime Minister had a totally different view
of things. He had brought to the press conference what he
described as the original agreements to refute the widespread belief that they had failed to work. Point by point
he ran through the documents, to show how most of the
points had been done, and that if some of the points still
remained to be implemented, it was the fault of either
chief minister Surjit Singh Barnala or of Prafulla Kumar
Mohanta and not of Rajiv Gandhi. By then Rajiv Gandhi
had totally forgotten about his great power-broker
speech. No more action was needed against them, he was
saying. The power-brokers were already out of the party,
that is to say! Forgotten too was all talk about marching
India into the 21st century.
The downhill slide was getting faster. The Republic Day,
1986, which had been set as the deadline for the transfer
of Chandigarh to Punjab came and went. The Sikhs lodged
in Jodhpur jail had still not been released. Instead the
government had started a campaign to pacify Haryana,
obviously because of the impending Assembly elections,
due in the summer of 1987.

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43

BOOK EXTRACT

prime ministers rajiv gandhi

Stirrings of dissent had started in the party, but they

were either ridiculed as idle chit-chat or put down with
a heavy hand. Organisational election, he now realised,
was an anathema for the party. With every split in the old
party, Indira Gandhi had trimmed and honed the organisation to suit her own purposes, and now to talk of restoring what some kept describing as inner-party democracy
would have amounted to going against the partys grain.
Few doubted, even then, the intentions of the young
leader. Fewer disagreed that he had brought a whiff of
fresh air in the conduct of the government. He still wanted
to simplify the operations of the government, and speed up
decisions. The Congress Party had started using computers and there was a new look to the party headquarters.
But behind the facade of modernity the party was slipping.
Dissenters were raising their heads. A bit of confidence
was regained by the election victories in Nagaland and
Tripura in early 1988, but a stunning blow awaited the
part) when the new challenger Vishwanath Pratap Singh
won the Allahabad by-election. From the new hopes generated at the AICC session at Maraimalai Nagar in April
1988, which had been described as a love fest of sycophancy, the mood had swung to one of despair. Rajiv
Gandhi responded by changing two chief ministers and
shuffling his pack at the Centre. In the process he showed
that he was returning to the comparative security of the old
guard. Though the honeymoon seemed to be coming to an
end, people were still fond of Rajiv Gandhi, but he could
retain their support only by giving uninhibited expression
to his own deepest beliefs

EANWHILE, arrivals and departures from the

Rajiv ministry had become so frequent that dozens of hopefuls in the party seemed to be glued
all the time to their telephones for a possible call from
the Prime Ministers Office. They prayed all the time that
when Rajiv Gandhi gave the next jerk to his ministerial
kaleidoscope, they were not left out on the grey margins.
Those who kept track of the quick-change patterns in the
shifting kaleidoscope said during the first three years of
the Rajiv Gandhi regime, nearly 80 Congress MPs, or 80
bits of glass, if you please, had at one time or another
found a place in the kaleidoscopes central design, in
other words the Central ministry, their periods of stability
ranging between a few weeks to seven or eight months,
except in the cases of some rare specimen. By the end of
his two years as the PM, Rajiv Gandhi had sent off 47 of his
ministers to the guillotine.
Rajiv Gandhis first ministry, before he got his own man-

44

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

date, had been virtually a carry-over of his mothers team,

except for a few who were bundled out unceremoniously.
After the massive mandate of December 1984, the Prime
Minister could begin playing with his new-found toy, if
only a little tentatively. At one jerk of the kaleidoscope, the
diminutive Pranab Mukheijee, who had slowly risen to the
top in Mrs Gandhis power structure and become her No.2
in the Cabinet, was flung overboard. It had been whispered
that after Mrs Gandhis assassination he had coveted the
post for himself, an inexcusable misdemeanour.
Another jerk of the kaleidoscope had brought in a curious mix or young and old, dubious warhorses and greenhorns, with a good number of old Doon School chums.
Critics could only keep their judgements in suspension
over the entry of the heavyweight cousin, Arun Nehru, or
Madhavrao Scindia, or K Natwar Singh, a former career

At the funeral of Indira Gandhi

diplomat. If the carping ones could raise their eyebrows at

the entry of the Haryana Strongman, Bansilal, whom even
Indira Gandhi had flung aside after her return to power
in 1980, they could not help welcoming the induction of
a couple of experienced men like Krishna Chandra Pant,
son of Nehrus one time Home Minister, Govind Ballabh
Pant, and Vishwanath Pratap Singh, the former Raja of
Manda whom Sanjay Gandhi had made the chief minister
of Uttar Pradesh.
The former Raja was to become, first Rajiv Gandhis
knight in shining armour and then his biggest nightmare.
Even while dust had begun to settle on Rajiv Gandhis
image, that of VP Singh was becoming glossier. He was
being hailed as the mascot of Rajiv Gandhis clean government. Singh had struck terror in the hearts of businessmen and industrialists and the more shock- waves he created the happier he seemed. In one of his first interviews

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as the Prime Minister, Rajiv had been asked why he had

dropped Pranab Mukherjee and he had said, The Finance
Minister has to be very tough. He cant be goody-goody...I
dont think he (Mukherjee) was tough enough...
Singh was his tough man. He was clapping big businessmen behind bars. He was being described as a lionhearted Finance Minister. VP Singh was enjoying every
minute of his crusade against the scamps and scoundrels
of the business world. Eyebrows had begun to go up in the
Rajiv circle. There were undercurrents of consternation
around. Some of Rajiv Gandhis aides had begun telling
him to watch out against Singh, but he was not willing to
believe that his dear Finance Minister could have any ulterior motives. He had absolute trust in VP. But the Finance
Minister was slowly chipping away at the Prime Ministers
main plank. While Rajiv Gandhi was getting associated in

VP Singh had promptly assumed charge of the Defence

portfolio and moved from the North Block to the South.
Everyone could see that Singh had resented the transfer.
The rift between VP Singh and Rajiv Gandhi assumed a
new dimension in April when the Defence Ministry issued
an official press release announcing that an inquiry had
been ordered into a `30-crore commission reportedly
received by an Indian agent in a defence deal with a foreign country. The release said the ministry had received a
formal intimation through a telex message from an Indian
embassy that an Indian agent was involved in a defence
deal worth more than `400 crore for which he got a 7 per
cent commission. VP Singh had consulted neither the
Cabinet nor the Prime Minister before ordering the probe.
Faced with attacks from the Congress, VP Singh declared
he was ready to undergo the severest test to prove my
loyalty to my party and my leader.

S
With mother Indira Gandhi

the public mind with the process of economic liberalisation

and getting flak for it, VP Singh was seen as the man who
was really crusading against corruption. He was emerging
as cleaner than Mr Clean, and the more Rajiv Gandhi
slipped and blundered, the more VP Singhs image shone.
On January 22, 1987, Rajiv Gandhi had called VP Singh
to 7 Race Course Road and shared with him his thoughts
on the need for a full-time Defence Minister. Indian
troops were already deployed on the Punjab border with
Pakistan and the forces of the two countries were eyeball to eyeball. The top Army brass was apprehensive of a
major crisis erupting any time. Rajiv used the opportunity
to shift VP Singh to the Defence Ministry. He did it two
days later, causing an immediate howl all around that the
Prime Minister had used the pretext of a border crisis to
get rid of an inconvenient Finance Minister. Saying Neta
ka hukum sir mathe par the leaders orders are supreme

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UCH was the furore in the Congress, with many asking for Singhs dismissal, that Rajiv Gandhi cut short
his visit to Uttar Pradesh and rushed back to Delhi.
While the Raja kept repeating that he would stand by
Rajiv Gandhi, come what may, several Congress leaders
told the Prime Minister that Singh has literally declared a
war against the Government.
A few days later, VP Singh wrote a two-page resignation
letter, put it in a sealed cover marked Prime Minister
and drove down to Rajiv Gandhis residence. As VP Singh
himself described his meeting with the Prime Minister:
It was a heart-to- heart talk with some very touching
moments... According to another account given by Rajiv
Gandhis acolytes, it had been a highly emotional meeting:
VP Singh had wept and sobbed and then hugged Rajiv
Gandhi at the door before leaving.
In public, VP Singh was still pledging everlasting
support and loyalty to his leader, Rajiv Gandhi. And then
just four days after he resigned, the Swedish Radio dropped
a bombshell. It reported that an arms firm, Bofors, had won
Swedens biggest export order by paying bribes to senior
Indian politicians and key defence figures through secret
Swiss bank accounts. The Political Affairs Committee of
the Cabinet met in a state of panic and denied the report,
but the Swedish Radio not only stuck to its story but even
promised to release documentary evidence to support it.
The mystery deepened with the Radio claiming that it had
the numbers of secret Swiss bank accounts into which the
multi-million dollar bribe had been stashed.
With the Opposition mounting an attack on the
Government, and an already alienated President pressing

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45

BOOK EXTRACT

prime ministers rajiv gandhi

for details of the Bofors deal, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi

rose in Parliament to deny the charge that any clandestine
payments were involved in the Bofors arms deal.
Rajiv Gandhi was now seen to be in trouble, but very
few of the Congress MPs were ready to stick their necks
too far out. Elections were still far away, and even VP
Singhs Jana Morcha MPs were keeping their Parliament
seats, even at the cost of their sensitive souls! VP Singh
had given several clarion calls to Congress MPs to rise in
revolt against Rajiv Gandhi. All he got was a sullen silence.
Even if the pastures could later turn out to be greener on
the other side, where was the guarantee that they would
get nominations for Parliament in VP Singhs new set-up?

TOP Raisina Hill, tempers were mounting. Zail

Singhs term was ending, and Rajiv Gandhi had
already started discussions with the Opposition
parties for a new consensus candidate. Amid widespread
rumours that the President was planning to dismiss the
Rajiv Government came Zail Singhs statement:
The President has noted with distress the reports and
comments which have appeared in the Press persistently
speculating that the President intends to dismiss Mr
Rajiv Gandhi from the office of the Prime Minister. The
President has so far refrained from commenting on
these reports as also on the conjectures concerning what
transpired in his recent meeting with the Prime Minister.
The President feels that reports and comments concerning
so grave a matter as the dismissal of the Prime Minister
cannot be allowed to remain uncontradicted any longer.
The President therefore wishes it to be known in the
clearest terms that the said reports and comments are
utterly devoid of any basis.
Even so, the controversy took a sharper turn after the
Prime Minister armed himself with a Cabinet resolution in
support of his contention that the Council of Ministers was
the final judge on how much information could be given to
the President. Having done this, the Prime Minister finally
turned down the Presidents request for more details on
the Bofors.
On the night of June 20-21, the Rajiv Government
seemed to teeter on the brink of a precipice. The plot to
dismiss him was being given final shape in the Rashtrapati
Bhawan atop Raisina Hill. President Zail Singh and his
circle huddled for nearly six hours and the eminent jurist
Asoke Sen was even ready with a draft announcing the
dismissal of the Prime Minister. At one point, the scenario
took a farcical turn, when one of those gathered there
suggested that Raiiv Gandhi should be called for talks and

46

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

then locked up in a room until after a new Prime Minister

was installed.
Indian politics had been reduced to a burlesque.
The President had contacted VP Singh to find out if he
was willing to be sworn in as the new Prime Minister. Singh
had gone into his own huddle and decided that even if he
made it to the Prime Ministers chair this way, he could
not last very long, and what was more, it would finish him
forever. He gave a No to Zail Singh.
Next morning was a decisive day. The Opposition parties
were meeting to choose their candidate for the Presidents
post. The game was really over after the two communist
parties rejected the candidature of Zail Singh. And now
Rajiv Gandhi was being pressed by his advisers to go and a
have a meeting with the President. Sir, please be cool and

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly

patient with that man, they pleaded. Sir, please dont be

provoked by what he says, Sir...Only listen to him, Sir...3
Rajiv had agreed. At a cordial 70-minute meeting, Zail
Singh had been sweet as honey and assured Rajiv Gandhi
that all the reports that he was planning to act against
him were totally motivated and baseless. By then he had
already given up the hope of winning a second term for
himself as the Oppositions candidate.
But Rajiv Gandhi was still jittery. Thirty-three days still
remained for Zail Singh to step down from the steps of the
Rashtrapati Bhawan. What if he changed his mind? Some
Congress leaders, including Kamalapati Tripathi, began
trying for a rapprochement between the Prime Minister
and Vishwanath Pratap Singh, who was the only person
whom Zail Singh could use if he got down to mischief.
Rajiv could trust neither Zail Singh nor VP Singh. The
former Finance Minister was still saying in public that
Rajiv Gandhi was in no way involved in the Bofors scandal,
that his objective was not to harm my leader. Even so, he

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was creating waves, and every day he was becoming a little

perkier, demanding that the Bofors deals be scrapped, that
the government sign a bilateral treaty with Switzerland
for getting information on Indian money stashed away in
their banks. He was spinning round the country. He had
set his sights on the Prime Ministers chair.
On June 26, the Rajiv camp was in real panic when news
came that VP Singh had finally joined hands with the other
Congress dissidents. At a tea party at the Sunehri Bagh
residence of Arif Mohammed Khan, who had left the Rajiv
government over the controversial Muslim Personal Law
bill, VP Singh had joined hands with the former Boss
of the Rajiv government Arun Nehru. The slogans at VP
Singhs meetings were becoming more and more reminiscent of the JP movement. Desh neta kaisa hop ...Desh

On the election trail

ka neta V.P. Singh... The Raja of Manda was now talking

about the need for a change in the political system, for an
awakening of Janashakti (people s power). The opposition
too was becoming aggressive.
Rajiv Gandhis confidence had somewhat revived after
Venkataramans election and his own visit to Moscow
where President Gorbachev had assured him full support
in his fight against destabilisation. He finally struck. The
bouquets and garlands from a triumphant rally at Hardwar
were still fresh when VP Singh learnt that his three newfound comrades, Arun Nehru, Vidya Charan Shukla and
Arif Mohammed Khan, had been expelled from the party.
On his way back from Hardwar, VP Singh had stopped
at the telegraph office at Muzaffamagar and wired a long
resignation letter to the Prime Minister. Condemning
the expulsion of his three friends, he wrote, The action
taken against them was undemocratic and dictatorial. This
has proved that Congressmen can be politically hanged
without any hearing or show-cause notice. The telegram

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went on to say that if his removal served the party, he was

prepared to offer the supreme political sacrifice and
resign from the Congress. His letter itself could be treated
as his resignation, he said, and as a natural corollary I
am also attaching my resignation from the Rajya Sabha,
which may be forwarded to the Chairman... Rajiv Gandhi
rejected VP Singhs resignation on the ground that it was
a conditional offer.

INGH stepped up his campaign. Six more days were

still left for Zail Singh to relinquish office. There were
hopes in one quarter, jitters in another. Pressures on
Rajiv Gandhi from within his caucus became so strong that
he finally expelled VP Singh from the party. The very next
day, Singh told the Press that he favoured the prosecution
of Rajiv Gandhi. He had suddenly forgotten all his vows
and pledges.
On his last day in office, President Zail Singh rejected
a petition by cartoonist-politician Rajinder Puri seeking
permission to prosecute the Prime Minister. He may have
feared that any action on that front could create problems
in his search for a proper house and post-retirement
security for himself. Gianiji had finally caved in.
The danger from the Rashtrapati Bhawan had ended,
but the other fronts remained. Most of all the danger from
Rajiv Gandhis own front. In the long run, he proved to be
his own worst enemy. No other Prime Minister had got
the kind of start that he had, none had less to worry about
from the Opposition than he did. Even the opposition that
emerged later was his own creation. When he began, there
was virtually no opposition in the country; they had all
been stunned into silence. All had been reduced to a virtual
zero, when the electoral pendulum could well have swung
their way once again in a normal election despite all their
cannibalistic fights during the Janata interregnum.
Rajiv Gandhi was a likeable man, but he was a man
who had no real convictions of his own. There was the
joke in Delhi that Rajiv Gandhi was like a cushion which
took on the impression of the last person who sat on it.
Destiny had suddenly pitchforked him into a job which
was simply beyond his ken. Even so, he did the best he
could to understand the intricacies and complexities of the
office he held, and to the extent that he could, he did bring
about several changes. What if Rajiv Gandhi had stuck to
his anti-politician stance? What if he had stuck to his own
true self? Maybe he would still have failed, but that failure
would have been far less tragic than it turned out to be. g
Excerpted from Prime Ministers: Nehru to Vajpayee by
Janardan Thakur, Eeshwar Prakashan, New Delhi

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

47

SPOTLIGHT
Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Power, Coal and
New and Renewable Energy, Piyush Goyal, presented the
National Excellence Awards-2016, at the inaugural session of
the National Workshop on Rooftop Solar Power, organised by
the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy. Cabinet Secretary
PK Sinha, Additional Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister,
Dr PK Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of New & Renewable Energy,
Upendra Tripathy, and Secretary (Coordination), Cabinet
Secretariat, SK Srivastava are also seen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi at an interaction with think

tanks, in Washington DC.

Chief of Army Staff, General Dalbir Singh, presenting a

memento to Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar at
the foundation stone laying ceremony of Jai Jawan Awas
Yojna (JJAY), in Bahadurgarh, Haryana.

Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha, Commerce Secretary Rita A

Teaotia and other dignitaries at the valedictory session of
the 3rd National Standards Conclave 2016 on Challenges of
Standards and Technical Regulations, organised by the
Department of Commerce, Ministry of Commerce & Industry
in collaboration with the Confederation of Indian Industry
(CII), in New Delhi.

The Joint Secretary (Multilateral Institutions),

Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of
Finance, Raj Kumar and Country Director, ADBs
India Resident Mission, Teresa Kho, Jharkhand
Chief Secretary Raj Bala Verma along with the
officers of the Ministry of Finance and ADB at the
signing ceremony of an agreement between
Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the
Government of India, for $200 million loan to
upgrade 176 km of state roads in Jharkhand.

48

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vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

www.gfilesindia.com

PHOTOS: PIB

Minister of State for Urban Development, Housing and

Urban Poverty Alleviation, Babul Supriyo, releasing a
publication on Human Settlements-Planning & Design, in
New Delhi. Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban
Poverty Alleviation (HUPA), Nandita Chatterjee and other
dignitaries are also seen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a group photograph with

business leaders during the USIBC Round-table, in
Washington DC, USA.

Textiles Secretary, Rashmi Verma, inaugurating the

Purbashree Emporium at Handloom Haat, New Delhi.

Union Minister for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises,

Kalraj Mishra, launching the MSME data book, at a Press
Conference, in New Delhi. Minister of State for Micro, Small &
Medium Enterprises, Giriraj Singh, MSME Secretary KK Jalan
and other dignitaries are also seen.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the Judges and members

of the Bar, during his visit to the Allahabad High Court
Museum, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Union Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment, Thaawar

Chand Gehlot launching a scheme Reimbursement of
Membership and Annual Fee to SCAs for Membership of
Credit Information Companies (CICs) for the SCAs, in New
Delhi. Minister of State for Social Justice & Empowerment,
Krishan Pal, and Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and
Empowerment, Anita Agnihotri, are also seen.

www.indianbuzz.com

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

49

PERSPECTIVE
spirituality sadhguru

NE of the reasons the word

spirituality arouses such
suspicion in our world today is
the fact that it is pursued by several
who have little or no control over
their imaginations. Unfortunately,
these unbridled flights of fancy have
given rise to the view that the spiritual
process is intended only for those who
can boast of past-life experiences or
visions of angels and celestial lights.
Imagination is strictly a faculty of
the mind. It has nothing to do with the
existential. It does not matter how
wild or fertile your imagination is, it is
still very firmly rooted in your past
experience of life. Most people do not
know where memory stops and imagination begins. The lines of demarcation are very blurred. If you try to
recall an incident that occurred in
your life thirty years ago, you would
find that half of it is pure imagination.
If you imagine God is always with
you, it could bring you comfort, or
imbue you with confidence, but no
more. People believe that imagining
God is better than imagining the
Devil. On the contrary, the Devil
might be preferable, because there is
a strong likelihood you would want to
be liberated from this hallucination
real quick!
For those on a tantric path seeking
mastery over a particular aspect of life
or nature, imagination can be a powerful tool. But for those seeking mukti
or liberation, it is of no consequence
whatsoever. In fact, if you are seeking
liberation, you must first liberate
yourself from imagination and memory, because these are very deep traps.
When people try to meditate, their
biggest problem is that they are either
thinking about the past or dreaming
about the future. Once you release
yourself from these two traps, you
find meditation is just natural.
Spirituality has been grossly mis-

50

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

Liberate yourself
from imagination
understood by those who have sought
to blindly imitate certain legendary
devotees. A very small number of people in the world are truly devout; the
rest are conditional devotees.
The legend of Poosalar is well
known in southern India. Poosalar
was a poor man, but determined to
build a magnificent temple for his
beloved Shiva. Every day he diligently
went about building this temple, brick
by brick, entirely in his mind. This
inner exercise took him years. The
king of the country was also planning
to inaugurate a huge Shiva temple
that he had built. The night before the
grand opening, the king had a dream
in which Lord Shiva appeared and
told him that he could not come for
his temple opening because his most
faithful devotee, Poosalar, had invited
him to his temple instead.
The king was dumbfounded. He
wondered who had been able to build
a temple grander than his own. He set
out in search of Poosalar and finally
found him in a ramshackle hut in the
poorest district in town. Where is

your temple? demanded the king.

The only temple I have, replied
Poosalar, is in my heart.
Now, that is a devotee. His consciousness is so crystallised that he
has, in a sense, become one with the
Creator. The distinction between
what is real and what is not real is
obliterated. If such a person believes
in a certain form, that form just comes
alive for him. This is not imagination
anymore. This is creation.
Looking at the lives of a few
devotees of such calibre, others have
tried to use the imagination to
emulate them. But it will not work
because Poosalars inner temple was
not built of the imagination; it was
built of flawless, unwavering, singleminded devotion.
The bhakta or devotee is not
seeking to be special. He is content
to be ordinary extra-ordinary, in
fact. He is not aspiring to become
powerful: that is his power. g
Sadhguru, a yogi, is a visionary,
humanitarian and a prominent spiritual
leader (www.ishafoundation.org)

www.gfilesindia.com

birthdays
IAS officers birthdays July 16, 2016 August 15, 2016

IAS officers birthdays July 16, 2016 August 15, 2016

Rigzian Sampheal

Vivek Pandey

Kundan Kumar

Rajeev Kumar

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: UNION TERRITORY

CADRE: BIHAR

CADRE: WEST BENGAL

rigzian@ias.nic.in

vivek@ias.nic.in

kundankumar@ias.nic.in

kumarr14@ias.nic.in

Ashwini Kumar Vaishnaw

Puneet Agarwal

Ranjeeth Kumar J

Manoj Kumar Sahoo

CADRE: ODISHA

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: GUJARAT

CADRE: UNION TERRITORY

vaishnaw@ias.nic.in

puneet@ias.nic.in

ranjeeth.k.j.@ias.nic.in

mksahoo.ias@ias.nic.in

Arti Dogra

N Saravana Kumar

Ritesh Kr Singh

Brijesh Kumar Sant

CADRE: RAJASTHAN

CADRE: BIHAR

CADRE: KARNATAKA

CADRE: UTTARAKHAND

artidogra.ias@ias.nic.in

kumarns@ias.nic.in

singhrk9@ias.nic.in

brijesh.ias@ias.nic.in

Ashish Vachhani

Kamal Kumar Dayani

Sonia Sethi Bali

Chandesh Kumar Yadav

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

CADRE: GUJARAT

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: UTTARAKHAND

vachhani@ias.nic.in

dayanikk@ias.nic.in

ssbali@ias.nic.in

chandesh.ias@ias.nic.in

Patibandla Ashok Babu

M Thennarasan

SVR Sriniwas

Santanu Mukherjee

CADRE: ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

CADRE: GUJARAT

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

pashokbabu@ias.nic.in

tarasan@ias.nic.in

snivas13@ias.nic.in

smukher@ias.nic.in

Dheeraj Kumar

K Phanindra Reddy

S Bharathi Dasan

M Ariz Ahammed

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

CADRE: CHHATTISGARH

CADRE: ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

dheeraj.kr@ias.nic.in

reddykp2@ias.nic.in

bharathidasan.ias@ias.nic.in

ahmedma@ias.nic.in

Onkar Singh Meena

Manoj Kumar Singh

Aunjaneya Kumar Singh

Manohar Agnani

CADRE: WEST BENGAL

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: SIKKIM

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

meenaos@ias.nic.in

singhmk1@ias.nic.in

ak.singh@ias.nic.in

agnanim@ias.nic.in

P Vaiphai

Amod Kumar

Uma Kant Umrao

Jayant Narlikar

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

vaiphaip@ias.nic.in

kramod@ias.nic.in

umraouk@ias.nic.in

jnarlikar@ias.nic.in

Manish Kumar Gupta

Arunish Chawla

Meeta R Lochan

Mukesh Kumar Meena

CADRE: UNION TERRITORY

CADRE: BIHAR

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: ANDHRA PRADESH

guptamk2@ias.nic.in

chawlad@ias.nic.in

lochanmr@ias.nic.in

mmukesh@ias.nic.in

Solanki Vishal Vasant

S Swarna

Rajiv Bansal

Anoop Kumar

CADRE: ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

CADRE: NAGALAND

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

s.v.vasant@ias.nic.in

swarnas@ias.nic.in

bansalr@ias.nic.in

kranoop@ias.nic.in

Ritu Sain

Sonali Ramesh Ponkshe

Rajesh Kumar

Arabinda Kr Padhee

CADRE: CHHATTISGARH

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: MAHARASHTRA

CADRE: ORISSA

ritusain@ias.nic.in

ponkshes@ias.nic.in

kumarr5@ias.nic.in

padheeak@ias.nic.in

C Vijayaraj Kumar

Varun Roojam

Arti Kanwar

Arushi Choudhary

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

CADRE: PUNJAB

CADRE: GUJARAT

CADRE: RAJASTHAN

kumarcv@ias.nic.in

varunroojam@ias.nic.in

kanwara@ias.nic.in

arushi@ias.nic.in

Chandra Bhanu

Gaurav Dayal

Kaushal Raj Sharma

Adusumilli V Raja Mouli

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

bhanuc@ias.nic.in

gauravdayal@ias.nic.in

kaushal.ias@ias.nic.in

adusumilli@ias.nic.in

16-07-1975

18-07-1970

18-07-1979

19-07-1970

20-07-1974

20-07-1977

20-07-1970

21-07-1969

21-07-1967

22-07-1982

22-07-1978

22-07-1965

22-07-1967

22-07-1979

23-07-1974

24-07-1973

25-07-1965

25-07-1971

25-07-1965

25-07-1965

25-07-1971

26-07-1968

26-07-1971

27-07-1975

27-07-1978

27-07-1979

28-07-1975

28-07-1975

28-07-1973

29-07-1969

30-07-1965

31-07-1977

31-07-1976

01-08-1966

02-08-1966

02-08-1963

03-08-1965

05-08-1975

05-08-1978

05-08-1969

07-08-1979

10-08-1971

11-08-1975

12-08-1964

12-08-1968

14-08-1964

15-08-1978

15-08-1971

15-08-1964

15-08-1969

15-08-1977

15-08-1973

For the complete list, see www.gfilesindia.com

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gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

51

birthdays
IPS officers birthdays July 16, 2016 August 15, 2016

IPS officers birthdays July 16, 2016 August 15, 2016

Manoj Kumar Lal

Vivek Gogia

VJ Gautam

Ravi Kumar Lokku

CADRE: AGMUT

CADRE: AGMUT

CADRE: GUJARAT

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

manojlal@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

vivekgogia@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

cor-crime@gmail.com

rklokku@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Anita Roy

Deo Prakash Gupta

Kumar Vinoy Singh Deo

Seemant Kumar Singh

CADRE: AGMUT

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: ASSAM-MEGHALAYA

CADRE: KARNATAKA

anitaroy@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

dpgupta@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

vsdeo@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

seemant@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Pawan Deo

Hari Kishore Kusumaker

Rakesh Aggarwal

Ghanshyam Upadhyay

CADRE: CHATTISGARH

CADRE: WEST BENGAL

CADRE: HIMACHAL PADESH

CADRE: ODISHA

pawandeo@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

hkkusumkar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

rakesh@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

ghanshyam@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Ganji Anil Srinivas

Tomin J Thachankary

Yogesh Deshmukh

Ajitabh Kumar

CADRE: WEST BENGAL

CADRE: KERALA

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: BIHAR

gasrinivas@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

tomin@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

yogesh@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

ajitabhk@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

UC Sarangi

Manoj Yadav

SS Deswal

J Poornachandra Rao

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: HARYANA

CADRE: HARYANA

CADRE: ANDHRA PRADESH

sarangi@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

manojyadav@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

ssdeswal@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

poornachandra@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Mahendar Bagria

G Akhito Sema

Surendra Panwar

Iqbal Preet Singh Sahota

CADRE:GUJARAT

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: ODISHA

CADRE: PUNJAB

spdcp2-ahd@gujarat.gov.in

akhitosema@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

surendrapanwar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

iqbalpreet@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Harishekaran P

Nasir Kamal

Satya Narayan Pradhan

Jawed Shamim

CADRE: KARNATAKA

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: JHARKHAND

CADRE: WEST BENGAL

harishekaranp@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

nkamal@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

snpradhan@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

jawedshamim@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Rakesh Asthana

B Srinivasan

N Shanker Reddy

Ashok Dohre

CADRE: GUJARAT

CADRE: JAMMU & KASHMIR

CADRE: KERALA

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

rakeshasthana@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

srinivas@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

nshanker@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

adohare@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Bishwajit Mahapatra

Rajni Kant Misra

Mahesh Dixit

Shailesh Kumar Yadav

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: ANDHRA PRADESH

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

bmahapatra@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

rkmisra@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

maheshdixit@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

skyadav@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Piyush Mordia

Harish Kumar Gupta

Patil Ajit Bhagwat Rao

S Nithiyanandam

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: ANDHRA PRADESH

CADRE: ODISHA

CADRE: AGMUT

piyushm@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

hkgupta@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

patil@mail.svpmpa.gov.in

snithiyanandam@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

M Gopi Krishna

Satyajit Mohanty

KV Sreejesh

Nalin Prabhat

CADRE: ANDHRA PRADESH

CADRE: ODISHA

CADRE: MANIPUR-TRIPURA

CADRE: ANDHRA PRADESH

mgopikrishna@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

satyajitmohanty@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

kvsrejesh@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

prabhat@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

Saji Mohan

TV Ravichandran

Milind Kanaskar

KK Sindhu

CADRE: Jammu & Kashmir

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: HARYANA

sajimohan@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

ravichandran@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

milindkanaskar@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

kksindhu@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

SK Jha

Vitul Kumar

Upendra Kumar Jain

MVN Surya Prasad

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: UTTAR PRADESH

CADRE: MADHYA PRADESH

CADRE: TAMIL NADU

skjha@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

vitul@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

ukjain@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

mvnsuryaprasad@mail.svpnpa.gov.in

16-07-1963

16-07-1966

16-07-1968

17-07-1971

18-07-1962

19-07-1982

21-07-1968

22-07-1961

22-07-1962

23-07-1970

24-07-1961

24-07-1967

25-07-1964

25-07-1965

25-07-1969

25-07-1972

29-07-1963

30-07-1965

30-07-1967

31-07-1962

01-08-1964

02-08-1959

02-08-1965

03-08-1961

03-08-1964

03-08-1968

04-08-1956

05-08-1963

05-08-1968

05-08-1968

06-08-1961

06-08-1961

06-08-1964

07-08-1960

07-08-1967

07-08-1974

08-08-1974

09-08-1962

10-08-1967

10-08-1966

10-08-1970

10-08-1973

11-08-1968

12-08-1961

12-08-1962

12-08-1971

13-08-1961

13-08-1965

14-08-1960

14-08-1968

15-08-1961

15-08-1962

For the complete list, see www.gfilesindia.com

52

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

www.gfilesindia.com

Lok Sabha Members July 16, 2016 August 15, 2016

Lok Sabha Members July 16, 2016 August 15, 2016

Ajay Tamta

Harsimrat Kaur Badal

Mukesh Rajput

Nepal Singh

BJP (Uttarakhand)

SAD (Punjab)

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

ajay.tamta@sansad.nic.in

harsimratk.badal@sansad.nic.in

mukesh.rajput@sansad.nic.in

dr.nepalsingh@sansad.nic.in

Ramesh Bidhuri

Prem Dasn Rai

B Sreeramulu

Arjunlal Meena

BJP (Delhi)

SDF (Sikkim)

BJP (Karnataka)

BJP (Rajasthan)

ramesh.bidhuri@sansad.nic.in

mpsikkim@gmail.com

sreemulu070@gmail.com

arjunlal.meena@sansad.nic.in

Anshul Verma

Hari Om Pandey

Hariom Singh Rathore

Rameswar Teli

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

anshul.verma@sansad.nic.in

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

BJP (Rajasthan)

BJP (Assam)

hariom.pandey@sansad.nic.in

hariomkelwa@gmail.com

rameswartelimp@gmail.com

Manohar Utawal

Ramesh Bais

Ranjanben Dhananjay Bhatt

Bahadur Singh Koli

BJP (Madhya Pradesh),

BJP (Chhattisgarh)

BJP (Gujarat)

BJP (Rajasthan)

utawalmanohar@gmail.com

ramesh.bais@sansad.nic.in

ranjanbhatt135@gmail.com

mpbskoli@gmail.com

16-07-1972

18-07-1961

18-07-1961

19-07-1966

25-07-1966

31-07-1954

01-08-1956

02-08-1947

08-08-1968

08-08-1971

09-08-1957

10-08-1962

12-08-1940

12-08-1964

14-08-1970

16-08-1961

Haribhai Parthibhai Chaudhary Jay Prakash Narayan Yadav

20-07-1954

02-08-1954

BJP (Gujarat)

RJD (Bihar)

haribhaipchaudhary@gmail.com

jpnarayan.yadav@sansad.nic.in

Mallikarjun Kharge

Pasunoori Dayakar

INC (Karnataka)

TRS (Telangana)

mallikarjunkharge@yahoo.in

pasunooridayakar@gmail.com

Vinod Kumar Boianapalli

Rabindra Kumar Jena

TRS (Telangana)

BJD (Odisha)

vinodkumarboianapalli@yahoo.com

rkjena.mpblsloksabha@gmail.com

Ananth Kumar

Saugata Roy

BJP (Karnataka)

AITC (West Bengal)

ananth@ananth.org

saugatapolitics_roy@yahoo.co.in

BK Hariprasad

Sitaram Yechury

Vishnu Dayal Ram

Tamradhwaj Sahu

INC (Karnataka)

CPI (M) (West Bengal)

BJP (Jharkhand)

INC (Chhattisgarh)

vishnudayalram.mp@gmail.com

loksabhadurg14@gmail.com

Darshan Singh Yadav

PC Mohan

Kamlesh Paswan

SP (Uttar Pradesh)

BJP (Karnataka)

BJP (Uttar Pradesh)

pc.mohan@sansad.nic.in

kamleshpassi67@gmail.com

Prabhakar Kore

G Hari

Priyanka Singh Rawat

BJP (Karnataka)

AIADMK (Tamil Nadu)

BJP (Uttar Pradesh),

tiruttani.hari@gmail.com

priyankasingh.rawat@sansad.nic.in

21-07-1942

22-07-1959

22-07-1959

23-07-1951

24-07-1963

25-07-1960

02-08-1967

04-08-1967

06-08-1947

06-08-1949

06-08-1976

07-08-1985

Rajya Sabha Members July 16, 2016 August 15, 2016

AV Swamy

K Chiranjeevi

IND. (Odisha)

INC (Andhra Pradesh)

18-07-1929

1-8-1955

av.swamy@sansad.nic.in

Vishambhar Prasad Nishad

18-07-1962

SP (Uttar Pradesh)

Pradeep Kumar Balmuchu

26-07-1957

INC (Jharkhand)

29/07/1954

Anu Aga
3-8-1942

NOM. (Nominated)

Narayan Lal Panchariya

10-8-1954

BJP (Rajasthan)

narayan.panchariya@sansad.nic.in

12-8-1952

hariprasad@sansad.nic.in

31-07-1944

darshan.yadav@sansad.nic.in

Renuka Chowdhury
13-08-1954

INC (Andhra Pradesh)

chowdhury.renuka@sansad.nic.in

1-8-1947

p.kore@sansad.nic.in

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gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

53

Tracking

For a complete list of appointments & retirements, see www.gfilesindia.com

OM PRAKASH MEENA

K GNANADESIKAN

GAREEB DASS

The 1979-batch IAS officer has been

appointed Chief Secretary of Rajasthan.

The 1982-batch IAS officer, Chief Secretary

of Tamil Nadu, has been moved as Chief of
the Industries Development Corporation,
Tamil Nadu.

The 1977-batch IPS officer of the Jammu

& Kashmir cadre has been appointed as
Director (Vigilance) in Railways Board.

SANTHA SHEELA NAIR

The 1973-batch IAS officer will now
be OSD to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J
Jayalalithaa.

The 1989-batch IAS officer of the Madhya

Pradesh cadre has been appointed Joint
Secretary (Expenditure) in the Government
of India.

MEENA

ASHISH MADHAO RAO

RISHI KUMAR SHUKLA

The 1989-batch IAS officer has been

appointed Secretary to Tamil Nadu CM J
Jayalalithaa.

The 1983-batch IPS officer has taken over

as new DGP of Madhya Pradesh.

CHETAN SANGHI

The 2005-batch IAS officer of the

AGMUT cadre has been appointed
Private Secretary to Railway Minister
Suresh Prabhu.

PRABHAS JHA
The 1982-batch IAS officer of the Uttar
Pradesh cadre has assumed office as
Secretary, Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs.

PC PHARKA
The 1983-batch IAS officer has been
appointed Chief Secretary of Himachal
Pradesh.

RAMA MOHANA RAO

The 1985-batch IAS officer of the Tamil
Nadu cadre has been appointed Chief
Secretary of Tamil Nadu.

VIJAY KUMAR
The IAS officer has been appointed
Secretary to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister
J Jayalalithaa.

The 1988-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT

cadre has been appointed Joint Secretary,
Ministry of Women & Child Development.

SAMEER VERMA
The 2002-batch IAS officer of the Uttar
Pradesh cadre, who is currently on
compulsory wait, has been appointed
Deputy Secretary, Department of Rural
Development, Government of India.

Moving On: IAS officers retiring in July 2016

ASSAM

Swapnanil Barua (1997)

Mahtabuddin Ahmad (1997)
Dhrubajyoti Hazarika (2000)

ANDHRA PRADESH

MV Satyanarayana (1993)

BIHAR

Anand Vardhan Sinha (1978)

Ram Bujhaban Choudhary (1999)

MANIPUR

Vinod Kumar Thakral 1982)

S Minlianthang Vaiphei (2005)

MADHYA PRADESH

Dr. Akhilesh Kumar Shrivastava (2001)

RAJASTHAN

UTTARAKHAND

HIMACHAL PRADESH

UTTAR PRADESH

KARNATAKA

PS Vastrad (1998)

MAHARASHTRA

Prem Singh Meena (1981)

54

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

The Executive Director, SAIL, has taken

charge as Director (Technical), Steel
Authority of India Limited.

MP CHAUDHARY
The Appointments Committee of the
Cabinet has approved the appointment
of Director (Finance), MOIL, as Chairmancum-Managing Director, MOIL Limited.

NS VISHWANATHAN
The officer currently ED, RBI overseeing
the banking regulation and non-banking
department will be the new Deputy
Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.

The 1991-batch officer of IA&AS cadre

has been appointed Planning Adviser
(JS level) in North Eastern Council
Secretariat (NEC), Shillong under
the Ministry of Development of North
Eastern Region.

GUJARAT

Vidya Kant Pathak (2002)

RAMAN

TAMIL NADU

T Radhakrishanan (1978)

JHARKHAND

The director has taken charge as

Chairman-cum-Managing Director,
BEML Limited.

CH KHARSHIING

CV Sankar (1982)
Hemant Kumar Sinha (1982)
VMX Chrisso Nayagam (1998)

Prem Chand Dhiman 1984)

DK HOTA

Onkar Singh (1999)

CHHATTISGARH

Ganga Ram Aloria (1981)

RAJEEV RANJAN

Avnendra Singh Nayal (1997)

Vijay Bahadur Singh (2000)

UNION TERRITORY
Ramesh Negi (1984)
ZU Siddiqui (2002)

WEST BENGAL

Ananda M Chakrabarty (1999)

BVRC PURUSHOTTAM
The 2004-batch IAS officer of Uttarakhand
cadre has been appointed Deputy
Secretary, Department of Personnel &
Training (DoPT).

BUDHDHABHATTI
The 2008-batch IAS officer of the Bihar
cadre has been relieved to join as Private
Secretary to Upendra Kushwaha, Minister
of State for HRD.

www.gfilesindia.com

PHOTOS: PIB

ASHOK KUMAR SINGH

The Appointments Committee of
the Cabinet has approved the
appointment of GM, BCPL, as Managing
Director, BCPL.

YUGUL KISHORE JOSHI

The 1997-batch officer of the IRPF cadre
has been appointed as Director, Ministry
of Drinking Water and Sanitation.

YASHA MUDGUL
The 2007-batch IAS officer of the Jammu
& Kashmir cadre has been transferred
and posted as Additional Resident
Commissioner and ex-Officio Secretary,
Resident Commissioner, New Delhi.

THE FOLLOWING IAS OFFICERS HAVE

BEEN TRANSFERRED AND POSTED TO
DIFFERENT PLACES IN JHARKHAND
SKG RAHATE has been posted
Secretary, Personnel, Administrative
Reforms and Raj Bhasha; SURENDRA
KUMAR has been made Special
Secretary, Energy; RK SRIVASTAVA
has been appointed Additional
Secretary, Energy; ARUN KUMAR
SINGH has been given additional
charge of Jharkhand State Housing
Board; KK KHANDELWAL gets
additional charge as Transport
Commissioner; PRADEEP KUMAR gets
additional charge as Kolhan Division
Commissioner; ARUN becomes
Secretary, Rural Development (Rural
Works); ABINASH KUMAR has been
appointed Secretary, Excise and
Prohibition; SATENDRA SINGH has
been appointed Secretary, Tourism,
Art and Culture Department; AMITABH
KAUSHAL has been appointed Project
Director of National Rural Health
Mission (Jharkhand) with additional
charge as State Project Director
of Jharkhand AIDS Control Society
and MD of Jharkhand Medical And
Health Infrastructure Development
And Procurement Corporation Ltd;
DC MISHRA has been appointed
Special Secretary, Industry, Mines
and Geology; AB SIDDIQUE has been
appointed Mines Commissioner;
MUKESH KUMAR has been appointed
State Project Director of Jharkhand
Education Project Council.

President Pranab Mukherjee with the Officers of the Indian Engineering Services
(IES) of 2013 and 2014 batch posted in the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways,
at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi.

President Pranab Mukherjee with the Officers Trainees of the Indian Engineering
Services (IES) of 2015 batch from CPWD Training Institute, Ghaziabad, at Rashtrapati
Bhavan, in New Delhi.

RAJ KUMAR
The 2001-batch IPS officer has been
appointed as Director in the Union Public
Service Commission (UPSC).

NEERAJ KUMAR
The officer of the IRS-IT cadre has been

www.indianbuzz.com

deputed as Chief Vigilance Officer in Goa

Shipyard Limited (GSL).

R BHAMA
The officer of IRS-IT cadre has been
appointed as Principal CIT (OSD) in the
office of Principal CCIT, Delhi.

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

55

Tracking

For a complete list of appointments & retirements, see www.gfilesindia.com

GODALA KIRAN KUMAR

The 2005-batch IAS officer of the
West Bengal cadre has been
appointed Joint Secretary, Statistics &
Programme Implementation Department,
West Bengal.

MK PANDEY
The officer of IIS cadre has been
appointed as Member, Staff Selection
Commission.

SS MAJUMDAR
The officer has been appointed as
Director, National Institute of Animal
Biotechnology (NIAB), Hyderabad.

NILKANTH AVHAD
The 1999-batch IAS officer of the
Punjab cadre has been appointed
Counsellor (Economic) in the Economic
Wing of Embassy of India, Washington
DC, USA.

PRASHANT LOKHANDE
The 2001-batch IAS officer of the AGMUT
cadre has been appointed Counsellor
(Economic) in the Economic Wing of the
Embassy of India, Beijing, China.

V THIRUPPUGAZH
The 1991-batch IAS officer of the Gujarat
cadre has been appointed Senior Adviser,
National Reconstruction Authority (NRA)
of Nepal.

MK MALIK
The Director-General, Air HQ, has been
appointed as Air-officer-in-charge
Administration (AOA), Air Headquarters,
New Delhi.

MK UNNI
The Lt Gen has been appointed Director
General, Armed Forces Medical Services ,
in New Delfi

SATISH CHANDRA
The 1985-batch IAS officer of the Punjab
cadre has been appointed Additional Chief
Secretary, Local Bodies Department,
in Punjab.

RAHUL AGARWAL
The officer of the IRTS cadre has been
appointed Executive Director (Statistics &
Economics), Railway Board.

56

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

THE FOLLOWING IAS OFFICERS HAVE BEEN TRANSFERRED AND POSTED TO

DIFFERENT PLACES IN GUJARAT
MS DAGUR has been appointed Additional Chief Secretary, Forests & Environment;
SUJIT GULATI posted as Additional Chief Secretary, Energy & Petrochemicals;
PUNAMCHAND PARMAR appointed Principal Secretary, Urban Development &
Urban Housing; SANJAY PRASAD was appointed as Principal Secretary, Agriculture
& Cooperation; VIPUL MITRA appointed Principal Secretary, Ports & Transport;
RAJIV KUMAR GUPTA appointed Principal Secretary, (Primary and Secondary
Education), Education; L CHUAUNGO appointed Principal Secretary, Labour &
Employment; RAJ GOPAL appointed Principal Secretary, Panchayats, Rural Housing
& Rural Development; ANURADHA MALL appointed CEO, Gujarat State Disaster
Management Authority; ANITA KARWAL appointed Principal Secretary, (NRI & ART),
General Administration and also Director General, Sardar Patel Institute of Public
Administration (SPIPA); KAMAL KUMAR DAYANI appointed Principal Secretary, Social
Justice & Empowerment; D THARA appointed Vice Chairman & Managing Director,
Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation; MONA KHANDHAR appointed Secretary,
(Economic Affairs), Finance; T NATARAJAN appointed State Project Director, Sarva
Siksha Abhiyan and Ex-officio Commissioner of Primary Education; MUKESH KUMAR
appointed Municipal Commissioner, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation; ARUN
KUMAR M SOLANKI appointed Managing Director, Gujarat Mineral Development
Corporation Ltd; HAREET SHUKLA appointed Commissioner of Land Reforms and Exofficio Secretary, Revenue and is also Revenue Inspection Commissioner; DN PANDEY
appointed CEO and Rehabilitation Commissioner, Sardar Sarovar Punarvasavat
Agency, Vadodara; MANOJ AGGARWAL appointed Development Commissioner; HS
PATEL is Additional CEO, Gujarat State Disaster Management Authority; ROOPWANT
SINGH appointed Commissioner of Geology & Mining; M THENNARASAN appointed
Commissioner of Women and Child Development and Secretary, Women and Child
Department; MR KOTHARI appointed Municipal Commissioner, Bhavnagar Municipal
Corporation; VP PATEL appointed Secretary, Sports, Youth & Cultural Activities;
ANJU SHARMA appointed Principal Secretary, Agriculture & Cooperation; DP JOSHI
appointed Special Commissioner, Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan in the Commissionerate
of Rural Development; MANISH BHARDWAJ appointed Commissioner of Relief and
Ex-officio Secretary, Revenue; GT PANDYA appointed District Development Officer,
Rajkot; RM JADAV appointed Commissioner of Transport; VINOD R RAO appointed
Municipal Commissioner, Vadodara Municipal Corporation; and MANISHA CHANDRA
appointed Director, National Rural Health Mission.

MUKTESH KUMAR PARDESHI

NISHI SINGH

The 1991-batch IFS officer, currently

Ambassador of India to Mexico, has
been concurrently accredited as High
Commissioner of India to Belize with
residence in Mexico City.

The Member (Personnel and Vigilance) in

Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has
been assigned zonal charge of Mumbai,
Pune and Nagpur.

BN REDDY
The 1993-batch IFS officer has been
appointed the next High Commissioner of
India to the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Member (Revenue) in Central Board

of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has been assigned
zonal charge of Kolkata, Guwahati, Patna
and Bhubaneswar.

PRADEEP CHADDAH

MADHUSUDAN PRASAD

The District and Sessions Judge,

North Delhi, has been appointed Whole
Time Member (Law) in the Pension
Fund Regulatory and Development
Authority (PFRDA).

The 1981-batch IAS officer of the

Haryana cadre, outgoing Secretary
Urban Development, has been appointed
Member, Public Enterprises Selection
Board (PESB).

GOPAL MUKHERJEE

www.gfilesindia.com

...by the way

Nobody for Rae Bareli

t appears that nobody wants to go to Rae Bareli in

the government. There are few takers for the post of
project director in the Rajiv Gandhi National Aviation
University (RGNAU), located in Rae Barelis
Fursatganj area. Rae Bareli is Sonia Gandhis
constituency and RGNAU is a major institution in the
area. In the changed political circumstances, there
few takers for the post. Basically, it is used as a private
helipad by Rahul Gandhi, Captain Satish Sharma,
Sonia Ganhi and Priyanka Gandhi. They all travel by
private planes and seldom use train to reach Rae
Bareli It was originally a joint secretary-ranked post,
downgraded possibly after there were few takers. The
earlier government in March 2014 decided to keep the
place of posting in New Delhi so as to possibly attract
more applicants. The DoPT office memorandum
dated June 8, 2016, however, added that the project
director would be required to also operate from the
project site, i.e. Fursatganj, UP though the officer
will be stationed in New Delhi. In 2013 when the
UPA-II headed by the Congress was at the helm and
Rae Bareli Member of Parliament and Congress
President Sonia Gandhi was all powerful, the JS level
post was designed to be located in Rae Bareli only.
But even in 2013, the government received a
lukewarm response from applicants. Since no
response has been received from the eligible officers,
it has been decided to once again circulate the post of
Project Director (Joint Secretary Level), Rajiv Gandhi
National Aviation University (RGNAU) under the
Ministry of Civil Aviation on deputation basis, a
DoPT letter dated November 22, 2013 and signed by a
DoPT director, said. The post was originally
advertised on October 3, 2013 after the Union Cabinet
on July 11, 2013 decided to set up the aviation
university and construction works needed to be
planned and monitored. The decision to shift the
project directors location to New Delhi was taken by
the UPA-II itself, as mentioned in a DoPT
advertisement dated March 19, 2014. In May 2014,
the NDA government came to power. The NDA
government continues to hunt for an eligible officer.
The post is a non-Central Staffing Scheme post to be
filled through the civil services board (CSB)
procedure. The officer will be posted on a deputation
to the Ministry of Civil Aviation for an initial period of
three years. g

www.indianbuzz.com

Learning at the Centre

or three months, between August and October

this year, about 200 IAS officers of 2013 and 2014
batches will be posted in Central government ministries
and departments, mainly to give them a first-hand
experience of the functioning in the Central government
before they begin their administrative career in the
States. This is the second year in a row when young IAS
officers will work at the Centre on central deputation
and not directly move to their states from LBSNAAthe
IAS academy where the officers are being trained. The
officers of the 2014 batch on expiry of the phase-II
training in LBSNAA on 29.07.2016 will be placed at the
disposal of Central government. The officers of 2013
batch who will be appointed this year, will be placed at
the disposal of the Central government with effect from
01.08.2016, said an office memorandum dated June
15, 2016. Though the appointment of these officers
in Central secretariat is for a period of three months,
it has not been treated as temporary transfer. Their
appointment has been treated as Central deputation,
the memorandum added. In that case, they will get
one-time composite transfer grant (a months basic
salary) in relaxation to Rule 114 of the Supplementary
Rules. These assistant secretaries will report to the
joint secretary (administration) in DoPT. The officers
will get usual medical facilities, travel entitlements
and accommodation being provided by the Ministry
of Urban Development. The officers are, however,
requested not to take any leave, considering the short
period of their appointment. g

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

57

...by the way

Empowering Ministers!

Slot bidding racket

rasar Bharati is surprisingly gung-ho about the

scheme of rehabilitating private producers who
were dropped for not meeting financial parameters
and whose litigation resulted in un-estimated loss to
exchequer. It was a cartel of Mumbai based producers
who made serials in 1990s for DD Metro and DD
National who failed to pay their dues. The elongated
litigation resulted in nothing and Prasar Bharati
succumbed to the diktats of the syndicate of
producers, advertisers and some insiders. It was well
known in media circles that the inclusion of these
blacklisted producers was plotted to buttress their
dwindling fortunes. It began at the policy drafting
stage itself, where the CEO, Prasar Bharati, allegedly
tried influencing the Acting DG, Doordarshan, to
incorporate a line in policy document favouring
erring applicants for slot bidding. The doughty officer
stood his ground on propriety and principles. The
result became obvious when Ms. Aparna Vaish was
shifted to All India Radio. It was sad that the CEO
who often asserted himself as the only-brain around
seemed unaware of implications of the forced clause
can be considered that gave enormous leverage to
those who did not qualify but could yet be adjusted.
Ms Aparna Vaish, then the Acting DG Doordarshan,
who did not want to go beyond Eligible and Not
Eligible clauses thought it wise to deny any such
manipulation. How else could cash-rich Balaji
Television (Ekta Kapoor and her father Jeetendra),
Numero Uno (Sanjay Khan), Cinevista (Sunil Mehta),
Creative Eye (Dheeraj Kumar) among others be given
a reprieve at the cost of the public exchequer. g

peculiar case of a PCS officer from UP has come

to our notice who managed to stay put on
deputation to Delhi South MCD, NDMC for 16 years
despite dubious credentials. Cases for major penalty
proceedings are pending consideration in the Central
Vigilance Commission and State Vigilance
Commission of UP. Prime Minister Narendra Modi
ordered the officers repatriation to UP as soon as his
government took over. And this issue has been
further clarified in a recent DoPT circular. If a
ministry or a department or any other organisation
wishes to retain an officer on deputation beyond five
years, it can now do so with the approval of the
minister concerned, without the case being
referred to the DoPT. The only conditions, however,
are that the extension has to be absolutely
necessary in the public interest, and it can be only
up to a period not exceeding 7 years at a stretch,
according to the DoPT letter dated June 27 to all
state chief secretaries. The subject of the letter
was Consolidated Deputation Guidelines for All
India Services. All other requirements such as
willingness and vigilance clearance of the officer
concerned, no-objection certificate of the lending
authority or state government, and the UPSC or ACC
approval wherever applicable, however, still need to
be fulfilled. g

ILLUSTRATIONS: ARUNA

58

gfiles inside the government

vol. 10, issue 4 | July 2016

www.gfilesindia.com

10

th
POLITICS
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gfilesindia.com

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Venod Sharma

Kunal Bhadoo

Congress MLA, Ambala

Hoodas son-in-law

KP Singh

Owner, BPTP

Owner, DLF

JAPAN

ABEPLOMACY
JEFF KINGSTON
p76

gfilesindia.com

Haryanas

De facto

Chief
Ministers?
p6

Kabul Chawla

February 10, 2014 `

Febr
VOL. 7, ISSUE 11

M
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Year
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BHAI
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B

Sameer Gehlaut

Arvind Walia

Anil Bhalla

Owner, Indiabulls

Owner, Ramprastha

Owner, Vatika Builders

59

Regn.No.DL(C)-14/1161/2016-2018 Licence No. U(C)-03/2016-17,

Licence to post without prepayment Posted on 7th & 8th of every month at SPM SRT Nagar,
Post Office, New Delhi 110055 R.N.I. No: DELENG/2007/19719.
`200, vol. 10, issue 4 | Date of Publication: 5/7/2016 | Pages 60

GOVERNANCE
AWARDS
2016
26-11-2016

AWARDS

60

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