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Rajasthan transfers reveal Gehlot's frustration with his own incompetence

New Delhi (06.01.2021): Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot has set a new and extraordinary example: in the last six months since July 2020, he has transferred about 150 IAS officers, around 100 IPS officers, and countless officers (some estimates put it at more than 300) from the Indian Forest Service (IFoS) and the Rajasthan administrative service (RAS). He is seen so much freaked on, or enamored by, the idea of frequent transfer and posting as an instrument for stabilizing his shaking control over the administration that he effected another one on Monday night and Tuesday.

In an extraordinary sweep that reminded everyone of similar moves in July and November 2020, in the course of fewer than 24 hours from the night of 04/01/2021 to 05/01/2021, he transferred and posted as many as  21 IAS officers including three district collectors, 56 IPS officers, 28 IFoS officers, and 183 Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS) officers.

These transfers also reveal his astrological love for number 21. The same number of IAS officers were transferred in November 2020.

That apart, why is Gehlot doing this and what does he aim to achieve? - are the questions being asked by everyone in New Delhi and Jaipur, even though the answer is written on the Secretariat walls of Jaipur and wafting through the cold winds blowing from Rajasthan to New Delhi.

Open-source intelligence (OSINT) reports indicate that the CM is no longer his old confident self since receiving the blow from Sachin Pilot in June-July 2020. And whatever little confidence was left in him after recuperating from the blow by way of retaining his CM's chair was drained out from his system from the decisive and definitive blows he received from the voters who trounced his hand-picked candidates in December 2020 in the elections of Panchayat Samiti constituencies and Zila Parishads.

As Gehlot's political popularity started spiraling down from mid-2020, he sought to consolidate himself through administrative shakeups. Obsessed and driven by a destructive sense of 'exaggerated self-importance', he first compromised his old and much-admired political and administrative reputation by appointing Rajeeva Swarup as the new chief secretary in July 2020 replacing D B Gupta, happily overlooking the fact that Gupta was in any case due to retire in September and Swarup in October. He topped this self-injurious and grievous adventure by transferring and posting over 100 officers, adding to the brewing discontent and disenchantment against his emergent cavalier attitude towards governance.

Despite being fully aware that the opposition BJP was watching him and looking for gaps to outflank him and hit him hard where it will immeasurably hurt his pride and politics, he galloped into BJP's trap when he sought and was refused, rather insultingly by keeping him in suspense till the last moment, the extension of service for Swarup as CS beyond the latter's tenure. And yet, the CM, in another reckless move that further lowered his dignity and respect among officers, hastily moved to make a far junior IAS officer, Niranjan Kumar Arya, as the new CS, superseding a large number of deserving and competent officers including Veenu Gupta, Subodh Agarwal, and Rajeshwar Singh.

Even though Arya's appointment as CS in November 2020 was celebrated by retired SC officers and walls of Jaipur were plastered with congratulatory posters and messages from SC power brokers and hoodlums expressing gratitude to Gehlot for having appointed the first CS from their community, the CM was hounded by defeat and losing whatever reputation he was left with when the Congress Party, barely a month later in December 2020, suffered a punishing blow from voters in the elections to Panchayat Samiti constituencies and Zila Parishads.

And yet again, he has done what even an amateur politician, in the given situation, would have shunned to do. So Gehlot's large-scale latest round of transfer and posting has compelled officials and politicians alike to conclude that he has reached his wit's end because he keeps repeating the same process hoping to get a different result.

(By M K Shukla & Rakesh Ranjan)

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Choice of CS stares at Bihar

New Delhi (05.01.2021): What are the options of Susashan Babu to bridge the huge gaps in administration? Who would be his CS to continue and retain his grip and control over Bihar in the changed political equation in the state?

Even as these questions hang in the balance, speculations are rife in Patna whether CS Deepak Kumar, 1984 batch, may be made another adviser to the CM like his predecessor Anjani Kumar Singh. What's feeding the rumor mills is the long-standing rapport between Deepak Kumar and CM Nitish Kumar that resulted in two extensions of six months each for the former who is now scheduled to retire on February 28, 2021.

Even as the CMO gets crowded - already there are two deputy CMs and a host of officials to assist them to propagandize their achievements, huge administrative gaps are seen appearing in the course of 2021.

To begin with, two senior-most officers from the 1985 batch, Development Commissioner Arun Kumar Singh and chairman-cum-member of the Board of Revenue Tripurari Sharan, are due to retire on August 31 and June 30 respectively; and hence neither of them may be picked up for the CS post.

What may make the selection of a new CS more tricky, not only because of the new political reality of the state where the BJP is the big brother but also because there are as many as 28 state cadre IAS officers who are scheduled to retire this year limiting the choice of officers. Their scheduled retirement means that the government perforce may have to pick up from the list of officers from the 1987 batch (if officers from the 1986 batch are not available), who may be left with at least two years of service and who may have completed 25 years of service.

Among the 28 officers scheduled to retire this year are six in CS's rank, one in secretary's rank, 11 in special secretary's rank, and 10 are JS.

Prominent among the CS rank officers retiring this year are officers posted on central deputation: Current Food and Public Distribution Secretary Ravikant (June 30), Union Sports Secretary Ravi Mittal (September 30), and special secretary to President of India ELSN Bala Prasad (June 30)

A number of other senior IAS officers serving in the state government are also scheduled to retire over the next four months: director statistics Rajeshwar Prasad Singh on January 31, urban development and housing special secretary Abhay Raj on January 31, home special secretary Ishwar Chandra Sinha on February 28, the board of revenue secretary Surendra Jha on February 28; Darbhanga divisional commissioner Radheshyam Sah on March 31; and cane commissioner Arshad Aziz on April 30.

The troubled state is said to have been suffering from huge administrative gaps for a long time. This is reflected in the availability of merely 200 IAS officers against the state's allocation of 342. Even from the available 200, only 168 are said to be working in the state. Of the remaining 32, some are on central deputation and some on the interstate. And even among the 168 serving in the state, 12 from the 2019 batch are on probation.

(By MK Shukla & Rakesh Ranjan)

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Young women IPS officers show how to bring harmony to Nagaland

New Delhi (19.02.2021): Two young women IPS officers have proven themselves as the best interlocutors between the people of Nagaland and the GoI. Their compassionate, materially helpful, and practical approach to solving a plethora of problems of the Naga people in their areas of operation (AoP) has earned them the confidence and gratitude of the people. Their dedication to the wellbeing of the people, from the children to the aged and the women, in particular, couldn't but have convinced them that Bharatvarsha cares for them, indeed does really care for them.

It all began with Vrinda Shukla (IPS:2014:NL) who won the hearts and minds of the people at large in the Mon and Phek districts through her outreach and communication initiative to mitigate the social and economic distress of these isolated districts located in the far-eastern region of the country. When she finally shifted on the inter cadre deputation to UP to be with her husband in 2019, she had already left the trail for another young officer Pritpal Kaur Batra (IPS:2016:NL) to follow.

In the newly-created district of Noklak where she moved from Tuensang, Pritpal has been working 24x7 to move people towards freedom from drug abuse, towards self-development by running coaching courses for the young to prepare them for UPSC, PCS, and other Class 1 services in the police and paramilitary forces as well as banking and other services.

For this purpose, she is said to have turned the conference hall of the SP’s office into a classroom. She has also roped in some officers of the state civil services and an Assam Rifles doctor to train about 30 students, some of whom are employed, from 6 am - 10 am thrice a week.

Her efforts are beginning to yield results. Seven of her students have reportedly cleared the prelims of the state civil services exam this year.

Besides, being a trained dentist, she personally services people with dental problems that happen to be quite widespread all over the NE states (Nagaland being no exception) because of the traditional and common habit of chewing betel nut.

If efforts of Vrinda and Pritpal, one from Ambala and another from Yamunanagar, are taken forward with certain innovative measures like creating a climate-specific unit of ICAR (of course, there is an ICAR unit in Jorhat not too far away from Mon and Mokukchung but the hills have a different climate) to develop horticulture, floriculture, apiculture, pisciculture, organic poultry and piggery in addition to the promotion of tourism, one can be sure that the simple but brave and intelligent people of Nagaland will overcome their feeling of isolation and develop a healthy attachment with the Union of India.

Military thinkers have been calling for such measures for a long time. But the problem of New Delhi's civil servants and political leaders is that they have invested very little in understanding the problems caused by geography and attendant history, much less in smartly resolving the daily problems, of the hill people of Northeast, despite the creation of an exclusive NE Ministry. Hence the Act East policy hasn't acquired the momentum it could have since its unveiling by late PM PV Narsimha Rao, whom Vinay Sitapati has called "Half Lion".

(By MK Shukla & Rakesh Ranjan)

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Visually challenged IAS officer’s case; Ex-CS faces contempt for violating esprit de corps

The lack of esprit de corps has been not only undermining the efficiency and unity of All-India Services but is also tarnishing their image - perhaps beyond redemption.

The latest case of a vicious internecine conflict shows how far an IAS officer can go to harm the interest of a fellow IAS officer-  who is visually impaired and thus facing a lot of other challenges that every 'Divyang' faces. And the case shows even the courts are not liking the prevalence of pettiness among the IAS officers towards their brother/sister officers.

Last week, the Punjab and Haryana High Court lashed out at former Haryana chief secretary Keshni Anand Arora (Retd IAS:1983:HY) for her “attempt to play fraud to circumvent the judicial order passed by the apex court,” and issued her a notice asking her why contempt of court proceedings should not be initiated against her.

The 'fraud' that the HC referred to related to Arora's willful manipulation of the SC order directing the state government to post a visually-challenged IAS officer, Ravi Prakash Gupta (IAS:2007:HY), as deputy commissioner to enable him to earn field experience.

What Arora and the state government did was to initially post Gupta as DC but did not allow him to continue beyond a few months. To all intents and purposes, it amounted to gaming the SC order by low cunning, never mind the lack of empathy it reflected on the part of Arora for a physically-challenged brother officer.

The P&H HC was quick to see through the manipulation when admitting Gupta's contempt petition against the state of Haryana.

Since Arora as CS had signed the order transferring Gupta from his barely five-month stint as DC Fatehabad in violation of another SC directive mandating an IAS officer's posting of at least two years in a field area, there does not seem to be a chance for her escape from HC music.

“Though on the face of it, the posting of the petitioner as DC appears to be in compliance with the order of apex court, thereafter not allowing the petitioner to continue in the same post for minimum two years is deliberate attempt to outreach the order of the apex court ….We feel it appropriate to issue a notice to the author of the order dated May 18, 2020, Keshni Anand Arora, the then chief secretary, Haryana, and to seek an explanation why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against her for the aforesaid deliberate act,” said the division bench of HC comprising Justice S N Satyanarayana and Justice Rajesh Bhardwaj.

The notice issued to Arora directs her to file her response by January 06, 2020.

Gupta's case is interesting in many ways for serving IAS officers:

It demonstrates that the seeping and all-pervasive lack of esprit de corps not only corrodes their morale  and demeans the service but also invites legal censure;

It also demonstrates that, when in the position of transfer and posting of fellow officers, they must abide by the rules whatsoever the situation.

It couldn't be Arora's case that she was unaware of, or ignorant about, the SC's direction in the case of T S R Subramaniyam and others versus Union of India, where it was clearly laid down that the postings of IAS officers to any place should not be disturbed for a period of two years.

What makes Gupta's trail of struggle to get his due interesting and an eye-opener for IAS and other AIS officers is the sordid tale of criminal negligence of rules and procedures as established by law.

What constrained Gupta to knock at the door of the P&H HC was that he was denied fieldwork as DC even while all his juniors were entrusted with the responsibility. Indeed, his first successful petition to the P&H HC on December 5, 2018 (which made the HC upheld his plea and direct the state government to give him a field posting) should have prompted the state government to rectify its decision in case it was a matter of oversight or indiscretion.

But since the decision was deliberate and inspired by malice, so even when the SC dismissed on August 6, 2019, the state government's petition against the HC order, the Haryana government persisted with its remarkable obstinacy verging on obduracy to deny justice to Gupta. It's reflected in the stark time gap between the SC order of August 6, 2019, and its implementation only on December 28, 2019, when Gupta was made the Fatehabad DC. What further exposed the deep-seated malice of the state government against Gupta was the low cunning displayed in his transfer on May 18, 2020, merely five months after his posting as DC.

Officers say that since Arora came from a distinguished family -her elder sisters Meenakshi Anand Chaudhary and Urvashi Gulati also retired as chief secretaries of Haryana, she should have known better before handling the case of Gupta as she did.

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Customer is King or a slave of destiny: Developers keep exploiting RERA's structural flaws

New Delhi (26.12.2020): Several RERA compliant projects have turned into big headaches, or even unending nightmares, for needy home-buyers.

What goes in the name of RERA compliance is just the routine filing, and uploading on the state RERA portals, of details including the sanctioned map, site layout plan, schedule for project completion, regular progress updates, escrow account, and many more elaborate procedural formalities.

However, the expansive documentation and disclosure of vital figures, facts, data, and information in the public domain never ever disclose the actual on-ground compliances so that the home-buyers are clueless about the risk factors involved in a housing project.

This keeps the house buyers in the dark and hence vulnerable to manipulations.

Since there is no monitoring done by RERA authorities to ensure that the developers abide by their circuitously written pledges in actual terms, the unmitigated sufferings of consumers continue to multiply.

The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016 was enacted to regulate contracts between buyers and sellers and ensure consumer protection and standardization of property transactions with well-defined documented procedures. The Act aimed at uniform standards in the real estate sector with the establishment of real estate regulatory authorities in states and union territories.

However, RERA rules have loopholes that developers have been smartly exploiting with the help of their lawyers and their connections with the officialdom.

Once the preliminary paper formalities are done, developers never stick to project completion schedules and fill up evasive quarterly progress reports with sketchy details and perfunctory pictures.  The so-called escrow account – requiring utilization of 70% project funds on construction – does exist but in name only. In the absence of any effective mechanism to prevent the diversion of escrow funds, it is reported from several states that developers have been gaming the system to siphon off funds in many cases.  

This has given a bad name to the government which thought that the RERA would resolve some, if not all, problems of the real estate sector.

In the absence of any effective mechanism to implement RERA rules and regulations, developers are least bothered about filing genuine quarterly project updates; ensuring deliverance of facilities and amenities flaunted in their brochures; maintaining the quality of construction; and most importantly complying with RERA orders.

The cavalier attitude of RE developers most often stems from the fact that authorities seldom impose penalties under Section 63 of the RERA Act, and feel helpless in prevailing upon district collectors to get recovery certificates (RCs) executed as arrears of land revenue.

Most RERA authorities are indiscreetly liberal in granting an extension of project completion timelines and the COVID-19 crisis has provided them with the God-sent excuse to let developers walk away with six to nine months’ blanket extension. Thus, while they stand further insulated against any payment obligations towards interest, compensation, and the penalty for delay, the force majeure clause invoked in the wake of the pandemic has made the wait for project delivery even more tortuously long and elusive for property buyers.

Intriguingly, the mandatory disclosures made by developers on RERA portals miss out on some vital facts which can equip homebuyers to figure out the real picture. Take for instance;

Loan liability of a housing project towards banks The amount due to the development authority against land procurement These loopholes need to be fixed in the larger interests of home buyers and keeping the economy on an even keel to achieve the GDP target of $ five trillion by 2025.

It may be noted that in an open market economy, the consumer is treated like a king. But in the country’s real estate sector, consumers are still treated like slaves of vested interests formed by a deeply-entrenched nexus of builders, banks, babus, and netas. Except for some landmark initiatives of the Supreme Court in rescuing homebuyers in stuck projects, there is still no end to the saga of their suffering.

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Farmers' stir: Sabotage from within or without?

New Delhi (14.12.2020): Everyone loves to fish in troubled waters. And why not? The catch is always easy and abundant. So the NDA government may be missing the point in blaming the opposition for the continuing agitation of farmers of Punjab, Haryana, western UP, and possibly of some parts of Rajasthan. And there is no gain in saying that the agitation is infiltrated by leftists and Khalistanis. That will always be the case. Where there is an opportunity, there will be opportunists. Everyone loves to fish in troubled waters.

The question is who troubled the waters?

Did the agencies tell the PM and the HM that the Punjab, Haryana, and western UP farmers were convinced by their migrant Bihari workers that the removal of the MSP - the system doesn't exist in Bihar and most other states - would turn them into hapless pawns into the hands of corporate sharks. In Bihar, a middle farmer, who may be producing more than his requirements, has to beg the local merchants to dispose of his surplus produce. And the poor farmers always get a distressed price but the local merchants and everyone in the supply chain beyond gets a neat commission without investing a penny, or doing labor, or risking one's investment.

Did the agencies tell the PM and the HM that Bihari migrant workers also convinced the small farmers of the troubled three areas that once the contract act comes into existence, they may not be able to take land on lease or contract from absentee or disinterested landholders because they would be elbowed out by companies? In Bihar's countryside, moneyed people have been taking the larger plots of disinterested farmers on a lease or sharecropping basis, leaving out only small plots of land for small, marginal, and landless peasants.

Taking land on a lease or sharecropping basis has become one of the major means of sustenance for small, marginal, and landless peasants in the troubled areas as many landholders and their children move out of agriculture in search of better income and professional career.

Already struck by the law of diminishing returns on their produce, farmers across caste and class were thus convinced that what has been happening in Bihar would replicate in Punjab, Haryana, and western UP if the laws were not repealed. Marketers of several dystopian ideologies, smelling the opportunity, jumped in. Ambani and Adani were branded as the chief architects behind the three laws. And women activists of the hammer and sickle gangs were roped in to sing the song of death for the PM and the HM.

As the waves built and tides formed, wishful thinking - that it can be controlled by blocking the entry points of farmers to Haryana and Delhi - continued to paralyze the central administration. It wasn't till the tides hit the borders of Delhi and farmers pitched their camps there that NDA leaders woke up to the moral and existential threat and started to work out the plans to reach out to farm leaders.

The plans helped. What helped more was the admission of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and others in a meeting with a delegation of agitating leaders that the government indeed faulted in not consulting farmers and their organizations before drafting the laws and even when the three controversial farm laws  were all set to be tabled in Parliament for passage.

That admission was a first good step in the direction of reconciliation and harmony. Fortunately, it was followed with commitments to legalize the MSP system and remove the anomalies in the three laws that had fueled the fear of an existential crisis among the farmers. A lot more needs to be done. Farmers should be given a deal that they can't reject. This is urgent to overcome the insistence of farmers on first repealing the laws before the negotiations could move on a meaningful trajectory.

What's the deal the farmers should be given that they can't reject? Let the government formulate it or ask the farmers to formulate it for them.

PM Naren Modi is right: we can't survive in the 21st century with the laws of the 20th century. Well, charity begins at home. It is apparent that we also can't survive with the bureaucratic practices, traditions, and structures of the 20th century. And the most debilitating and paralyzing manifestation of these is the steady evolution since July 1965 (when for the first time the post of principal secretary to the PM was created) of the PMO itself where all the powers of the state are vested.

In view of the grand failure of this august and formidable institution to anticipate the trouble that its duly-approved farm laws triggered, it may be worthwhile to investigate and fix its responsibility for the acutely embarrassing and credibility-destroying episode. Considering the PM has been insisting that the wording of laws should be such that they are easy to understand, it will be interesting to find out the officials and agencies that filled those acts with bureaucratese and ancient legalese verbose that only aided and abetted suspicion and distrust.

Even though the PM might have intended well (never mind the fact that all roads to hell are always paved with noble intents), it is senseless and self-defeating - like many BJP leaders are seen nitpicking about the opposition role - to keep harping on the same points that farmers have not only rejected but are fast turning into the most fertile base for breeding rumors being planted by the left-liberal gangs.

As rumors surge and provocative slogans made, even the association of retired officers, who hit headlines from time to time, has found an opportunity to be in news again by declaring their support for farmers. Undoubtedly, farmers would have greatly appreciated if these officers had contributed their one month's pension amount to their struggle or at least spent a night with them on roads in these cold winter months.

Who may win the final battle of the evolving narrative?

A good fighter knows only too well how to duck a blow and use the rival's own strength against him. Amit Shah and his team have been seen already moving in the direction of upending the opposition's campaign by displaying the moral courage of admitting their faults. One more forward movement is required - that's of stepping back. Sometimes, even at the cost of looking weak and cowardly (remember Krishna the Ranchhod and Shivaji the 'Mountain Rat'), one has to do wise things. Such is the dynamics of wisdom. So let farmers get what they want since NDA can't afford to lose their empathy and goodwill. And that may be the final stroke to end a tragic development on a happy note.

(By M K Shukla and Rakesh Ranjan)

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Arya's appointment as Raj CS help Gehlot spite his rivals?

The pink city turned pink in the last few days as the All-India Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation, known more by its acronym BAMCEF, went overboard in its excitement to congratulate CM Ashok Gehlot and his administration for having appointed Niranjan Arya (IAS:1989:RJ) as the new Chief Secretary of the state, superseding 10 officers in the process.

Overnight, hoardings and banners were plastered all over Jaipur congratulating and complimenting Arya as if he were a political personality whose victory like appointment deserved to be celebrated in public spaces.

While this may show that Arya's selection as CS, like all other selections of officers for crucial posts all over the country, may have stemmed from the politics in the state, it is pointed out that Arya's 'most meritorious services' as the state's finance secretary earlier in not releasing funds for Sachin Pilot headed PWD and Panchayati Raj Institutions had made a deep impact on Gehlot. And, therefore, when Gehlot was driven by the Central government to pick and choose a new CS instead of extending the tenure of the previous CS, his choice zoomed in on Arya.

In state politics, Gehlot has been known for his partiality towards the Arya family. When Kuldeep's wife Sangeeta Arya contested the last Vidhan Sabha elections on a Congress ticket and lost her deposit, the CM made her a member of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC). No one could do a damn then.

Arya's appointment as CS has also enabled Gehlot to spite his old political rival CP Joshi in the state politics, who is currently the assembly speaker. Joshi's close relative and seniormost IAS officer Usha Sharma, wife of CP's brother in law and retired IAS officer BN Sharma, was elbowed out along with 09 other senior officers to signal everyone that Gehlot's desires rule the roost.

Consequently, there are rumblings in the ruling Congress party. Already, some leaders have taken the matter to the high command which may end up doing nothing because the core of its politics pivots around appeasement.

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Indian graduate students win international debate award

Team India emerged as proud winners of the International Rotary- Rotaract debate held on October 18, 2020. The virtual competition had participants from 13 countries including Germany, Italy, and the United States of America, and followed after an elaborate elimination process held at both the regional and national levels. The team representing India, consisting of a B.Com Sociology (Honours) student of  Jesus and Mary College, Delhi, Ms. Pramiti Singh, and her teammate N Ishani, had previously placed first in both the regional and national levels of the debate competition. The duo tackled a wide array of debates on issues of social, economic and political relevance, finally advancing to compete at the global level. Having spent more than a month preparing and competing in the various rounds, the two finally won the debate on whether referendums are essential for global peace and development. Pramiti Singh, ~who has just completed her studies at the ~ A FINAL YEAR STUDENT the University of Delhi, said: “I believe that the opportunity to represent India and speak on such pertinent issues on a global platform has been a truly rewarding experience. I hope that this is the first of many.” Award winning motivational reports on emerging women leaders.

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AI&ML: Women making a niche

The Department of Science & Technology (DST) Govt of India has honored the youngest woman entrepreneur Abhishree Arora (IIT Delhi) with a  Bronze Award under an IIT Delhi initiative to help women from college going students to middle-aged housewives to embrace entrepreneurship as a viable, fulfilling career option.

The initiative is known as Women Entrepreneurship and Empowerment (WEE) 5 is supported and sponsored by the DST.

Ms. Arora started her own startup company in the Ed-tech space on intelligent adaptive learning solutions using AI & ML to improve the learning outcomes in K-12 segments and reduce dropout rates.

She was among the 11 women who were honored and awarded by the DST and were given cash awards totaling Rs. 25 lakhs.

Some of the others are Ms. Priyanka Prabhakar whose STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math based) toys and board games to engage young minds during the COVID 19 lockdown translated into sales of Rs. 40 Lakh for her products; Ms. Meghna Gandhi for working with underprivileged women in Vadodara and creating natural textiles and COVID 19 related accessories, recording sales of Rs. 25 Lakh; and Ms. Snehal Verma who worked with the fishermen of Chhattisgarh, Telangana, and AP and helped them improve their yield of fishes during the COVID 19 outbreak by helping them deploy their Internet Of Things (IoT) machine that helps improve water quality and fish harvest.

Ms. Kalpana Arora, a Ph.D. in wastewater management from IIT Delhi, won a Silver award for her products like sanitizers from wastewater. The second silver winner was Ms. Shivani Gupta (Ph.D.), who has developed a patent-applied wound-healing technology that is now under clinical trial at AIIMS (New Delhi). The product has already received acclaim from doctors from various hospitals, and pre-orders for the products have already been booked.

The bronze award winners were Ms. Neeta Doshi (Ph.D.) for creating a machine to convert air particles to rain, Ms. Rashi Verma who is working in the field of AR for farmers, Ms. Momy Saikia working in the field of domestic waste management, and Ms. Abhishree Arora  (the youngest entrepreneur from IIT Delhi) who is working on simplifying mathematics for kids.

Awards were also given to two promising stars Ms. Nitika Sonkhiya and Ms. Ritika Amit Kumar for demonstrating extraordinary entrepreneurial skills and creating business models that generated revenues even during the COVID 19 lockdown period.

The awardees were coached and mentored by experts from various fields, while participants came from 16 states.

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NBCC caught in a quagmire: SC, Amrapali and a curious extension case of ED

NBCC India Limited, a state-owned construction giant, is a house divided on the issue of extending the services of its Executive Director (Engineering) R K Aggarwal beyond his scheduled retirement on 30 November 2020.  

While a section of the top management team favors the idea of Aggarwal's extension on the plea that such a move may help uninterrupted and expeditious implementation of the Supreme Court direction on completing the 44,000 stalled flats under Amrapali housing projects where a huge amount of investors' money is locked, a large number of officers are opposed to the idea and they have made their angst and reservation known to the management in a letter from their union.

Officers have argued that the SC has in no way mandated the continuation of services of Aggarwal even after retirement, that its direction was limited to entrusting the NBCC with the task to complete the pending and stalled projects and so, the NBCC was free to appoint a successor to Aggarwal on retirement by sticking to the due process of selection and by notifying the SC about its succession plan.

It is pointed out that the policy of extension or reappointment is bad in principle and worst in execution. It's bad in principle because it is based on the premise that the person being given extension or reappointment is irreplaceable. In real life, this is an untenable proposition. The execution of this fallacious principle leads to favoritism and denial of the well-deserved opportunities to competent persons down the hierarchical ladder. It also degrades work culture and demoralization.

NBCC officers say the extant government guidelines on the extension/reappointment issue are crystal clear and don't support this pernicious practice except in critical and exigent situations.

Yet Aggarwal's extension/reappointment is being pushed by influence peddlers for the last couple of months as reported in this section on September 07, 2020.

In any case; SC judgment and NBCC's involvement has sparked off rays of hope for poor Amrapali homebuyers and that should achieve its goal.  

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AP CM: Failure of unbridled power.

Yeduguri Sadinti Jaganmohan Reddy's march to state power was tumultuous. His crowning as chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, though, is turning out to be more tumultuous for the state. Despite winning 151 out of 175 seats in the state assembly election of 2019, he is set out on a self-destructive spree that has huge consequences for the state and its people and their livelihood.

First, to spite former TDP CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu who is as good or bad as any other politician, he stopped and terminated all work on the new capital Amravati. This thoughtless vengeful act discredited him, the state, and the country in the eyes of international investors. So much so that even after global supply chains started shifting from the People's Republic of China (PRC), none has moved to AP.

What's more disturbing is the fallout of the AP CM's vengeful misdeed: despite the best efforts of the central government in the last one year, not many international companies see India and its states as a favorable destination. According to some reports, out of 500 companies that have moved base from PRC, only three are said to have come to India.

Catastrophic temperaments of CMs like Jagan and a few others including Mamta have already cast their perilous shadow over the Central government's overtures for stepping up domestic and foreign investments.

Now, instead of addressing the issues of rising unemployment and deceleration in the state economy, Jagan has preferred to pick up a straight fight with the judiciary by making the charge of 'impropriety' against next-in-line Supreme Court Chief Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana. The charge was contained in a six-page letter addressed to the CJI SA Bobde and dated October 06.

Why did Jagan choose October 06 as the critical date for launching his vengeful letter against Ramana, and whose content he also revealed at a presser later?

It could be that his astrologers might have advised him about the suitability of the date by working out its alignment with his Rajyoga stars. Empirically, however, there was another factor weighing on the AP CM's decision-making ability. On Saturday, October 03, the Telangana High Court directed the Special CBI Court, Hyderabad, to restart the hearing (postponed since February 2020) in the alleged disproportionate assets cases against Jagan Reddy and several others including YSRC MP V Vijayasai Reddy, MLA Dharmana Prasada Rao, P Sabitha Indra Reddy, who is now the Education Minister of Telangana, and several senior IAS officers and industrialists.

This might have frightened the AP CM and shut his eyes towards reality. Justice Ramana was nowhere on the scene.

The provocation for the Telangana HC direction to the CBI on October 03 followed a recent SC order in Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay and others vs Union of India and others case.

Accordingly, the Telangana High Court issued orders directing the Metropolitan sessions judge at Hyderabad, special judge for the trial of cases against MPs and MLAs, special judges under the Prevention of Corruption Act for speedy trial of cases of embezzlement of scholarship amounts in the Social Welfare Department at Hyderabad and Principal CBI Judge and Principal ACB Judge at Hyderabad to take up the hearing of the cases pending before their courts against the MPs and MLAs on a day-to-day basis.

The AP CM has been particularly cheesed off by the court's provision of his personal appearance. He has been trying to get off this hook by filing petitions several times in the CBI courts as well as the Telangana HC but had got no relief.

Now his battle against the judiciary has landed him in an unintended terrible conflict with the Bar Council of India and the SC Advocates on Record, who have demanded his sacking for the deliberate contempt. As if this was not enough to signal him to extricate himself from the clutches of the judicial system, his supporters compounded his problem by calling up BCI members and threatening them.

Clearly, the AP CM has no idea of the world he is living in. Unless he learns faster, the unbridled power that the people of Andhra gave him would sink him quickly in the seas off Vizag.

[indianmandarin]

RERA, unscrupulous Developers & poor-homebuyers: High on hype, low on substance?

The second-largest employment generator in India after agriculture, the real estate sector has a vital role to play in the growth of the Indian economy as it contributes around 6 percent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) each year. The sector embarked upon the journey of rapid transformation by embracing professional standards and evolving into an organized mode thanks to the implementation of RERA – Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act 2016.

RERA aims to usher in ethical practices in the real estate sector, bringing immense relief to millions of property buyers who are largely taken for a ride by unscrupulous developers. It can be described as a crucial reform measure in the hitherto unorganized real estate sector as it establishes a Real Estate Regulatory Authority that has jurisdiction over both residential and commercial real estate transactions.

RERA claims to protect the interests of consumers by promoting transparency, fair play, and accountability in real estate transactions. With the targeted execution of projects and a uniform regulatory environment for speedy adjudication of disputes, it is supposed to pave the way for the sustained growth of the real estate sector.

Has RERA brought much-needed transparency or simply added to bureaucratic layers over the past four years?

What looks definite is the market sentiment and the faith of homebuyers is still tragically low. The introduction of the RERA, along with GST, did try to improve the situation. However, buying a property still turns out to be a nightmarish experience for consumers, given the ambiguities and complexities surrounding the real estate sector and ineffective implementation of the regulation. More often than not, it is found that a real estate consumer lands into trouble while buying a property, be it for end-use or investment purpose.

As the process of urbanization and industrial growth gains momentum necessitating the availability of real estate on a big scale, the very process of property purchase has become a highly contentious issue, involving development authorities, real estate companies, and property buyers in protracted legal battles.

Eventually, the end-users are taking the final hit because they invest their hard-earned money, apart from taking loans. They have to pay their current rental, besides the EMI against the loans borrowed, which add to their trauma. With the elusive promise of delivery, non-adherence of any time frame on completion of construction, insufficient details available on the track record of the developer, the real estate investment often turns into a non-performing asset.

Going by the increasing incidents in which home-buyers of real estate today have had no way out but to repeatedly knock on the doors of the judiciary, one can imagine the extent to which people have been exploited by developers.

Buyers put their life savings into buying a house but its possession turns out to be a distant dream. The allurement to make more on devious grounds has led us to the juncture wherein a majority of developers are looked upon with suspicion. A lot of effort will have to be put in to clear the pond which can commence only after RERA orders are implemented in letter and spirit, which, sadly, does not prevail on the ground. Clearly, as proof of the pudding lies in the eating, the real impact of RERA lies in its execution on which point it has not fared well across the country. RERA has, by and large, failed to ensure that malpractices in the sector are curbed and all processes are streamlined.

Though RERA was enacted by Parliament to bring cheer to homebuyers, and pave the way for protection from unscrupulous activities, the legal tussles between property buyers and developers due to delay and default in project completion have not come down but rather increased post-RERA establishment.

Despite punitive provisions against errant developers, the Act has largely failed to ensure ethical practices, adherence to quality control measures, timely completion of projects, clear titles, and transparent documentation, strengthening the trust and confidence of investors which in turn would have resulted in market buoyancy. The law is yet to forge a bond of trust between developers and consumers and instill confidence among investors. Against the backdrop of only a few focused and dedicated players following good practices, the regulation has not helped curb manipulations and abuse of law.

The implementation of RERA has definitely been a challenge given its inability to overcome bureaucratic hurdles. In fact, RERA has not led to an image makeover of the real estate sector on the back of much-needed transparency and professionalism. Currently, the delivery of real estate projects is a mirage in India, with RERA holding an abysmal record on the front of execution of its own orders and actual deliverance of justice to property buyers.

[indianmandarin]

A case of communication gap or usual sloppiness

A crucial gap in communication has been nagging and disturbing senior government officials.

While it was decided in February/March to turn rotting cereals and grains in the state-owned stocks and godowns into biofuel for mixing with fossil fuels to reduce the country's dependence on the latter and save on huge imports bill, the implementation of the idea and plan has been inordinately delayed because the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoP&NG) could not sort out the issue of pricing of biofuels.

It is stated that this task of fixing the biofuel prices was not a difficult one. It merely required consultations between MoP&NG officials and oil marketing PSUs executives. A few rounds of consultations would have cleared the path for devising the price-mechanism and fixing biofuel prices at a profitable level for oil marketing PSUs. This would have also opened the path for FCI to dispose of off its rotten grains to distillers. In the process, both FCI and distillers, too, would have made profits, besides employing people in these hard days.

The concern among senior officials is that such a good idea and plan was stuck in the MoP&NG for no rhyme or reason till mid-October until the top authority on 13 October expressed displeasure over the inordinate delay.  

Officials aware of the nitty-gritty of the issue are not willing to accept the 'excuse' of change of guard at the secretary level in the Ministry of P&NG. It is pointed out that in the three-month period between March-June, the issue could have been easily resolved. "No rocket science was involved".

Officials have been, therefore, wondering whether the whole episode was one of 'communication gap' or 'usual sloppiness' that marks out Indians from others.

[indianmandarin]

Apparently, ACC knocks down the 360-degree panel recommendation, rekindles hope

The 360-degree method of empanelment of officers, which opened the window for retired officers to influence the careers of some of the best serving officers, is once again in focus, thanks to the bold decision taken by the ACC to not necessarily act on the advice of the 360-degree committees, and going to the extent of rejecting their advice as and when required.

In this regard, UT cadre officers cite the case of G Narendra Kumar (IAS:1989:UT) whose name finally appeared in the list of the review empanelment order issued on 22.09.2020, though Kumar's name didn't figure in the first list (Empanelment for holding Additional Secretary level post in Govt of India)made public on 19.07.2018. It is pointed out that Kumar is known as a no-nonsense officer but suffers from the 'disability' to network and hence had to suffer the humiliation and trauma of not figuring in the first list.

Several UT cadre officers told Indianmandarins that Kumar was always considered among the best lot of officers. However, because of his honorable conduct, a web was created to discredit him and block his growth in administration. Subsequently, the web was discovered to be fabricated by a tissue of lies. But the damage to Kumar's career was already done. Though the NaMo administration sends a message, at least in this case, that fairness may be delayed for a while but may not be denied in perpetuity.

Look at the way Kumar was hounded.

In the third week of September 2017, the CBI booked G Narendra Kumar, then Chairman of the Puducherry Centralised Admission Committee, and 12 others in connection with the alleged irregularities in the admission procedure for postgraduate medical courses in private institutions. CM V Narayanasamy had then on 21.09.2017 told reporters in a veiled reference to the then Lt Governor that some people at the top were 'preoccupied with victimizing' officers of the UT of Puducherry.

The CM had also asserted that the booked officers had not violated any rules or procedures as separate committees, appointed by the Madras High Court, were on job to fix fees, and monitor the admission process in the medical colleges and the Medical Council of India (MCI) supervised the admissions.

The bottom line is: Will the government continue to indulge retired officers, many of whom - as many as 140 -have formed a group and keep issuing unsolicited statements against the BJP governments because of their past association with the Congress-UPA governments as well as with some foreign-funded NGOs associated with "breaking India forces." Why not check the administrative and political antecedents of retired officers before soliciting their dated and expired advice on the performance records of serving officers? Why not indeed?

[indianmandarin]

Headless departments' list growing

The list of headless departments/organizations has been expanding of late. One may call it a usual sloppiness in filling the vacancies or a deliberate decision but it can not be given a discount on the pretext of COVId impact.

By any means, this sort of drift is never conducive to governance or fostering quality administration, much less for the image of the government.

The Public Enterprises Selection Board (PESB) has been headless for more than a month; National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) for over seven months; Central Information Commissioner (CIC) for a long time; and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) for over a month.

The Doordarshan (DD) has been headless after Ms. Supriya Sahu (IAS:1991:TN) repatriated to her cadre state in early this year. The same is the fate of All India Radio, Prasar Bharti, and Satyajeet Ray Film Institute.

At least six ministries & departments are awaiting regular secretaries. National Security Guard (NSG) fell vacant a few days back whereas the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) is running headless for over a year. Dozens of Board level positions in various Central PSUs are lying vacant amid no signs of hope very soon. If some well-placed sources are to be believed over four hundred posts of the independent directors are lying vacant some of them do not have even a single Independent Director.

[indianmandarin]

PM Modi's SWAMITVA scheme: Nobody can eye your land now

‘Nobody can eye your land now’ told PM Modi to the beneficiaries of SVAMITVA scheme. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched the physical distribution of property cards under the ‘SVAMITVA’ (Survey of Villages and Mapping with Improvised Technology in Village Areasscheme) via video conferencing. This scheme will pave the way for villagers to use the property as a financial asset for taking loans and other financial benefits.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has said the launch will enable around one lakh property holders to download their property cards through an SMS link sent on their mobile phones, and this would be followed by the physical distribution of property cards by respective state governments.

These beneficiaries are from 763 villages across six States, including 346 from Uttar Pradesh, 221 from Haryana, 100 from Maharashtra, 44 from Madhya Pradesh, 50 from Uttarakhand and two from Karnataka.

Taking on the opposition, Modi said that those who do not want farmers to become self-reliant are having problems with the reforms in the agricultural sector. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has has strongly underlined that ‘Nobody can eye your land now’ told PM Modi to the beneficiaries of SVAMITVA scheme.

[indianmandarin]

Railway Board posts 15 officers as DRM.

The Railway Board on Monday (12.10.20) effected a major reshuffling of the senior officers as Divisional Railway Manager:

Joginder Singh Lakra (IRSE) posted as DRM, North East Frontier Railway, vice Ram Bahadur Rai (IRSE).

A.G Srinivas (IRSE) posted as DRM, Southern Railway, vice US Rao (IRSME).

Ashish Bansal (IRSE) posted as DRM, East Central Railway, vice Anil Kumar Mishra (IRSSE).

Rahul Agarwal (IRTS) posted as DRM, Western Railway, vice Aparna Garg (IRAS);

Amit Gupta (IRSME) posted as DRM, Western Railway, vice Devendra Kumar (IRTS).

R. Mukund (IRSME) posted as DRM, on the Railway itself, vice Shirish Kumar Sinha (IRSEE).

Mohit Chandra (IRSEE) posted as DRM, North Central Railway, vice Amitabh (IRSME).

Sanjoy Kumar Saha (IRSEE) posted as DRM, Eastern Railway, vice Ishaq Khan (IRSEE).

Rajesh Kumar Pandey (IRSSE) posted as DRM, East-central Railway, vice Pankaj Saxena (IRSE).

Maninder Uppal (IRSSE) posted as DRM, South East Central Railway, vice Shobhana Bandopadhyay (IRSSE).

Gitika Pandey (IRAS) posted as DRM, North Westerner railway, vice Ashutosh Pant (IRSEE).

Bijaya K. Mishra (IRAS) posted as DRM, Northeast Frontier Railway, vice Ashish Sharma (IRSME).

Risha Khare (IRAS) posted as DRM, Central Railway, vice Somesh Kumar (IRSEE).

Trilok Kothari (IRSS) posted as DRM, Southern Railway, vice P. S. Shami (IRSS)

Ashutosh Pant (IRSEE) posted as DRM, North Eastern Railway, vice Dinesh Kumar Singh (IRSE).