Report card

The rating system introduced last year to assess the performance of senior babus will now be made public.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is convinced that this would be a huge step towards ensuring greater transparency and will bring greater efficiency in government functioning.
For the babus, essentially secretaries of some 62 Central departments, this is a time of some anxiety, since how they fare in the ratings will largely determine their eligibility for financial incentives which, sources say, may eventually be to the tune of 40 per cent of a secretary’s basic salary. And, some say, it may even determine in some cases post-retirement careers. According to sources, there are five ratings, ranging from “excellent” to “poor”. While babus rated “excellent” or “very good” for two progressive years may have reason to smile, those with lower ratings may find their careers grinding to a halt. Do we sense some uncomfortable squirming in certain quarters?
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Secret keepersWho can keep a secret? Apparently only a joint secretary can declare a document as “secret”; an undersecretary can merely term a document “confidential”. These nuances of babudom have been enumerated to the public by the department of personnel and training (DoPT) in response to an RTI query. Curiously, the considered view of the DoPT is not shared by the ministry of home affairs, for whom sharing any information, including the above, would seemingly jeopardise national security.
This reluctance to share could, perhaps, be the reason why it took a Delhi court to order Delhi Police (which functions under the home ministry) to supply suspended IAS officer Ravi Inder Singh some “secret” documents annexed with the chargesheet against him. Mr Singh is facing, among other allegations, the charge of leaking “secret” documents. Ironically, the court ordered the police to share the documents with the accused even if they are marked “secret”. That’s what some call an open-and-shut case!
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Home lobbySpeculation is running high in bureaucratic circles in Chandigarh on who’ll be the next home secretary after the current incumbent Ram Niwas’ tenure ends on September 24. Given that the top positions in the Union Territory (UT) administration are filled by officers from Haryana and Punjab, the runup to such appointments usually sees hectic lobbying.
According to sources, the Haryana government forwarded the names of three officials to the UT administration more than a month ago but no decision has been taken so far. Among the contenders from Haryana are R.R. Jowell, P.K. Das and Anil Kumar, the first two being 1986 batch IAS officers. Thankfully, a move to seek fresh candidates has been dropped as it would have only delayed the process.

Source: The Asian Age