Diwali is a time for propitiating not only the gods, but their equivalents – bosses –in government departments and ministries. So the bosses are flooded with costly gifts from those trying to curry favour with them. And, even strangers are not barred from entering the big man’s house during this season.
However, this year, those who attempted this annual rite with Delhi Chief Secretary Rakesh Mehta were in for a rude shock. They found the Chanakyapuri residence of the 1975 IAS officer of the AGMUT cadre out of bounds. “Sorry, sir, no one is allowed inside without appointment,” said the guards. But, to make an appointment, the mobile number is required. The desperate types sought the number from the guards. The terse reply was: “We are not permitted to give you the number.”
Now, will other bureaucrats like to follow Mehta’s example next Diwali?
UP’s god of big contractors
For as long as most people can remember, the district authorities of the UP Jal Nigam have always allotted contracts for all work to small contractors – disbursing the work among a number of them. That is the norm in most States. But everything has changed since Navneet Sehgal became Chairman of the Jal Nigam.
Sehgal is a powerful officer – being Secretary, Urban Development and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Mayawati. He has instructed his officers not to allot partial work to contractors. That means one contractor will carry out all the Jal Nigam work in one district. The logic being cited is that this ensures efficiency.
The work in a district is worth over a thousand crore rupees. So small contractors are out. Recently, a Mumbai-based contractor benefitted hugely from Sehgal’s new system.
Worker, ahoy!
The Delhi government would be well advised to distribute the most powerful binoculars that money can buy among the officers of the Delhi Building and Other Construction Workers’ Board. For the officers apparently cannot find construction workers in Delhi.
The Board has a yearly budget of Rs 300 crore, meant to be spent on construction workers: for illness, marriage and other welfare measures. But, especially at a time when the city is choc-a-bloc with constructions for the Commonwealth Games, the Board cannot find workers who qualify for these benefits! There is no dearth of reports pointing out that middlemen are exploiting these workers and not even paying the statutory minimum wage.
Last heard, the officers had decided to divert the fund to other causes.
Steel turns spic
The Steel Ministry in Udyog Bhavan has had a face-lift, thanks to a bureaucrat who is a cleanliness freak. Dr Dalip Singh, a 1982-batch Haryana cadre officer, cannot tolerate a dirty office and has initiated this cleanliness drive. When necessary, he personally meets the person in charge of sweeping. Otherwise, a Deputy Secretary meets the sweepers every Tuesday.
The sweepers are pleasantly surprised at this recognition of their role. After years of being ignored, their work is being accorded importance.
Caution no mention
No sooner do Union Cabinet meetings get over, the top secret files are handed to the Additional Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat. The agenda papers are also collected immediately. However, some Ministers have been leaving clutching a bunch of files and returning the agenda papers the next day by special courier.
As a precaution, controversial and important items are included in the agenda only at the last minute. The agenda papers are circulated after the meeting has been called to order with the Prime Minister in the chair. And, the papers are collected immediately after the item has been discussed.
So, when Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee, and Fertilizer and Chemicals Minister MK Azhagiri carried away agenda papers from a meeting, it created quite a flutter.
