Senior government officials who get postings in New Delhi have no worries on at least one count. They get reasonably furnished houses in excellent condition. In the past few years, the Public Works Department has done a decent job of upgrading houses in Lutyens’ Delhi.
However, some officials are still not happy with the standard of the houses – especially those who have many public sector undertakings under them. The officers who work on Sansad Marg have their own sense of importance and are a cut above the rest. A seasoned IAS officer has just joined work on the third floor of the famous building on Sansad Marg that draws bigwigs of finance. He did not like the interiors of the house allotted to him and, in a flash, public sector undertakings took over the redesigning. His wish was their command and North Block is now abuzz with news of the refurbished bungalow.
Business of better halves
Home Secretary GK Pillai’s office is one of North Block’s no-nonsense spots and officers who do not have much to do with it stay away of their own accord. But journos, of course, enjoy unrestricted access. On his part, Pillai is very welcoming of the media when he is not busy with meetings.
Recently, Pillai had an encounter with journalists who cover the Home Ministry. Tea was being served and the atmosphere was jovial. A newsman asked, “Sir, how do you detect the corrupt bureaucrats?”
“We locate them easily. Those bureaucrats’ wives run boutiques and textile businesses with profitable balance sheets. We know from where the money is coming,” was Pillai’s reply, perhaps a couched warning to fellow babus.
Burying the modern hatchet
In diplomacy, opponents sometimes have to shake hands, smile and pretend to admire each other and here’s one such story. Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao is classy, suave and modern, and a seasoned diplomat. During her tenure as High Commissioner in Sri Lanka in 2005, Mahinda Rajapaksa was the new President and the two remained at loggerheads until she left Colombo. She was Ambassador to China for some time and then became Foreign Secretary.
Rajapaksa destroyed the LTTE fiefdom and developed cordial relations with China. He also won the Sri Lanka elections impressively. Nirupama now landed in Colombo with a new status and decisive responsibility. She praised Rajapaksa’s victory and statesmanship before the media, surprising Colombo’s official circles no end. Meanwhile, Rajapaksa remains as warm and receptive towards India as ever – Nirupama or no Nirupama.
Nilekani ban on Facebook
Nandan Nilekani, Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India, has set out to create a Facebook of the nation. Many senior and junior officers in the government have joined hands with him in this gargantuan task, to be accomplished from UIA’s office in Yojana Bhawan – headquarters of the Planning Commission.
The government is liberal and to some extent transparent but it is still unable to come to terms with the internet’s penetration of its offices. Its own net is managed, developed and implemented by the National Informatics Centre read nic.in. Government officials have only nic.in connections and emails. And the UIA staff is frustrated by the fact that they are denied access to Facebook as nic.in does not permit private surfing. The irony is that those who are creating an exhaustive facebook of 112 crore people cannot log in to the global Facebook.
