All in the Som family
Founded in 1950, the Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR), weathered the alleged involvement of its former Director-General, Rakesh Kumar, in human trafficking. Now, it is beginning to achieve notoriety for deculturization of its in-house appointments under the nose of its President, Dr Karan Singh.
An unusual and unprecedented appointment in ICCR by the Minister of External Affairs has set tongues wagging in both the council and the ministry. The Minister has appointed Reba Som, wife of retired Indian Foreign Service official Himachal Som, as Regional Director of ICCR’s office in Kolkata. Incidentally, Himachal is a former Director-General of ICCR.
Previous occupants of the Regional Director’s post were ICCR or Ministry of External Affairs officials (on deputation) of the rank of Deputy Secretary. Nepotism besides , the scene is set for a situation in which the wife of a former DG will be reporting to a DG who is a few rungs junior to the retired DG!
Thorat throws caution to the winds
The Chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), Sukhadeo Thorat, has risked a vigilance inquiry by allotting a tender to HCL for supply of computers, according to sources.
The government decided to provide 20,000 computers to colleges and universities from the budget available under the current Five-Year Plan. Subsequently, UGC called for tenders and many companies responded. HCL quoted Rs 90 crore higher than a few other companies, who made lower bids with matching specifications.
Eyebrows were raised when, ignoring the lowest bidders and the objections of Education Secretary RP Agarwal and the Financial Adviser, Minister of Human Resource Development (HRD), Thorat allotted the tender to HCL. But the risk was not without future gain. For Aishwarya Singh, grandson of HRD Minister Arjun Singh, is an employee of HCL.
Now, Agarwal and the Financial Adviser are sitting in Shastri Bhawan with their fingers crossed. If they take any action against the tender allotment, they might invite the wrath of the Congress veteran. If they ignore it, a vigilance inquiry is on the anvil.
Pathli galli from IB to Raj Bhavan
PC Halder, a 1970-batch IPS officer of the Bihar cadre and currently Director of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), has been noted as frequenting the Prime Minister’s house rather in excess of what his official duties require.
Usually, the IB Director visits the Prime Minister at home in the evening to provide feedback about elections, Assembly as well as Parliamentary. If the PM is unavailable, the sealed report is left with none other than the Principal Secretary to the PM.
The Karnataka Assembly polls were held recently in three phases and, going by this, only three visits were required. Intriguingly, Halder visited 7 Race Course Road about 20 times during the Karnataka elections. What is most interesting is that only three visits were to meet the PM. The rest were for meetings with TK Nair, Principal Secretary to the PM.
Halder is retiring in a couple of months and knows that the Governors of Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh and Maharashtra are due to be appointed. The appointment of former IB Director ESL Narsimhan as Governor of Chhattisgarh after retirement has tempted Halder to set out to win Nair’s favour as a stepping stone to a Raj Bhavan.
A vengeful whimper
As you sow , so shall you reap was the hard fact Vasudevan Thulsidas , a1972-batch IAS officer of the Tripura cadre learnt after his retirement as Chairman and Managing Director of National Aviation Company of India Ltd (NACIL) the new mega conglomerate that now runs the merged national carriers Indian Airlines and Air India . Vasudevan headed Air India before the merger.
The tradition in Air India, as in every government department, is that when an officer retires colleagues contribute money to organize a going away party and the head of the organization joins them. During Vasudevan’s stint several officers retired but the haughty chief was conspicuously absent from the farewell bashes. Then came Vasudevan’s own recent retirement. When his loyalists in Air India approached colleagues for the traditional contributions, they paid him back in his own coin. The planned grand adieu party – scantily attended — ended in a vengeful whimper.
