sore festering
Why is Uday Verma, Special Secretary, Ministry of I&B, an angry man when it comes to Doordarshan? He is noticeably disagreeable regarding any issue related to Doordarshan. Also, he is incommunicado with people in general and maintains a stiff posture which has riled several other senior bureaucrats. His behaviour, unbecoming of an experienced bureaucrat, is a talking point in the corridors of Shastri Bhawan.
The background to this business is that the otherwise genial Verma (IAS, 1976, Madhya Pradesh cadre) was a candidate for the post of DG, Doordarshan some years ago. He appeared for an interview during KS Sarma’s tenure as CEO. He was reportedly grilled for half an hour but the job finally went to Navin Kumar (IAS, 1975). Navin was the only DG, apart from SY Qureshi, who was highly regarded in Doordarshan. It is believed that Verma still nurses that old grudge regarding Doordarshan.
Lalli pop-up jars
during PM’s telecast
At his recent press conference, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke at length about the UPA’s achievements under his leadership. He extolled the landmarks of his government and also dwelt on its future course. He candidly accepted that corruption was spreading and the state was concerned over it. He also stated that his government did not interfere in the CBI’s functioning and the agency works in tandem with the CVC. Now, while all this was being televised live, keeping viewers riveted, an irritation surfaced on the television screen. An inset of another sardar kept appearing.
Some viewers rang up Doordarshan’s control room and enquired why the person was being shown repeatedly, to no avail. The person was none other than BS Lalli, CEO, Prasar Bharati. Seated in the front row, this was the opportunity of a lifetime to assert his presence on the national network and associate himself with the Prime Minister.
This manipulation by Lalli and his team in the news wing has left people baffled at the sheer audacity and unprofessionalism of it all. Will Ambika Soni express helplessness yet again, as she has earlier?
No light at the end of coal tunnel
International Coal Venture Ltd was set up by the Ministry of Steel to acquire metallurgical coal and steam (boiler) coal assets in selected countries with a special purpose vehicle consisting of NTPC, SAIL, NMDC, RINL and Coal India. The proposed equity base amounted to $0.9 billion and debt to $1.8 billion. Several letters expressing interest in lending mines have been received. Senior officials of PSUs have toured the world to locate the best mines. But there has been no progress beyond that.
One day, Atul Chaturvedi, who is Secretary, Steel, received a request from ICVL that an IAS officer on the board be withdrawn as it is an autonomous body. Chaturvedi saw the point and removed the officer. Then, instructions were issued from the top that a big chunk of mines was to be acquired and officials were to tour and submit a report for the acquisition.
Another letter arrived on Chaturvedi’s desk, saying an IAS officer should accompany the officials as the latter cannot take decisions suo motu. This has given rise to a quandary. No IAS officer is willing to go on the tour as everyone is in the dark as to why ICVL wants an IAS officer from the Ministry when it had earlier sought an officer’s removal. Meanwhile, Chaturvedi is under pressure to finalize the choice of mines. What is he to do?
Hard drive for soft files
In the corridors of power, the days of “file movement” are seemingly numbered. Some time ago, Prajapati Trivedi, who is Secretary, Performance Management in the Cabinet Secretariat, happened to visit Achal Kumar Jyoti, Chief Secretary, Gujarat. During his time in the latter’s office, Trivedi noticed an absence of files. He asked Jyoti about it. “We have done away with physical movement of files, now files are routed through computers. At meetings, officials bring their laptops,” explained Jyoti.
This was an eye-opener for Trivedi, who also sought a paperless office but had not been able to come up with a solution. He called the National Informatics Centre officials and issued instructions. Swift implementation followed and now the offices of the Cabinet Secretariat and the Secretary, Performance Management have done away with the bane of “file movement”. Now it’s the turn of the Ministries.
