The famous trickle-down effect is so very apparent in the Ministry of civil aviation. The Secretary, Civil Aviation, M Madhavan Nambiar, gives two hoots for anything or anybody when it comes to distributing freebies to his chosen many. Air India might be a sinking ship but the holds of sinking ships still retain treasures which can be distributed to favourites. And even CMD Arvind Jadhav cannot overrule the orders of the Secretary.
Recently, when a computer company sought a special package from Air India for its employees, the airline refused as it was not in a position to grant it. To the firm’s unending delight, Nambiar intervened and it’s wish was fulfilled. That Air India lost a few lakhs of rupees in the process, is irrelevant.
When the deal was finalized, Air India officials were naturally curious as to why the Secretary pursued it with such interest. They discovered that his daughter works for the company. Once the deal was through, she was posted in London by way of reward. Ahem.
Penniless, building castles in the air
Going by the inertia of the National Disaster Management Authority, the recent cloudbursts in Ladakh and Uttarakhand are apparently not disasters. Nobody can easily recall the organization swinging into action after a calamity.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is its Chairman while Gen NC Vij is Vice-Chairman. The force is constituted from eight battalions, two each from the BSF, CRPF, CISF and ITBP. Each battalion provides 18 self-contained specialist search and rescue teams of 45 people each, including engineers, technicians, electricians, dog squads and medical personnel or paramedics. The total strength of each battalion is approximately 1,158.
But the NDMA is active only on its website and in files. Gen Vij has no funds to tackle disasters, yet he apparently dreams of creating a parallel system for disaster management rather than attempting to use the available infrastructure. On its part, the government wants NDMA to be active but does not want to pump in funds.
Gen Vij’s term ends in September and the hunt is on for a senior bureaucrat who will fit the bill.
Cold war over SEBI post
North Block’s two most powerful offices are at loggerheads. The conflict stems from the tussle for appointment of their henchmen as chief of the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI). The term of the present incumbent, CB Bhave, is ending and a high-level appointment panel, headed by Cabinet Secretary KM Chandrasekhar, has been constituted. There are several contenders for the coveted post, from State Bank of India chief OP Bhatt and National Stock Exchange chief Ravi Narayan to Finance Ministry officer KP Krishnan, who is now part of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Panel.
Bhave was part of P Chidambaram’s team when the latter was Finance Minister. When the change of guard took place in the Finance Ministry, the scenario altered. Though, when it came to the National Stock Exchange (NSE), the old coterie was controlling it through MD and CEO Ravi Narain and Pranabda could do little as NSE is a private body. Now the race is on to grab the SEBI chief’s post. A top official in South Block who belongs to the old school and is a Ravi Narain patron has also joined the cold war. Watch this space.
Skulduggery in the IDBI
Since Yogesh Agarwal became chairman of the Pension Fund Regulatory Development Authority in July, he has been busy trying to remote control the IDBI. He was earlier IDBI Chairman and spawned quite a few controversies over sanction of loans.
It is said that he had a deal with two industrial houses, one with interest in civil aviation and the liquor business and the other in wind power. One allegedly received substantial funding from IDBI in violation of prudent financing norms while the other secured debt restructuring to the substantial detriment of IDBI’s interests. Under the deal, Agarwal would be installed as Deputy Governor of the RBI and he would ensure BK Batra’s promotion as Deputy Managing Director of IDBI.
These plans were doused by the then Finance Secretary, Arun Ramanathan, whom Agarwal had rubbed the wrong way in the first meeting of the IDBI board. However, Agarwal’s proximity to an important official in Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s office secured him the PFRDA post.
He has been frequently visiting the official to get Batra appointed DMD of IDBI by flouting the eligibility norms which stipulate that only an ED with at least two years’ tenure will be considered for promotion. Batra had only one-and-a-half years to his credit at the time of the interview.
Both Agarwal and Batra have got away with their acts of commission and omission in the IDBI thanks to the blessings of the Chief Vigilance Commissioner (CVC). Dozens of complaints landed in the CVC’s office but were ignored because, well, the CVC’s son was taken care of in the IDBI by Agarwal and Batra.
