Author: Virendra Kapoor
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: June 20, 2004
Under the new dispensation in New
Delhi, it pays to have a 10 Janpath connection. B. L. Joshi, a little
know promotee IPS officer living I quiet retirement in Jaipur, was made
the Lt Governor of Delhi owing to his old connections with the 10 Janpath
Parivar. Apparently as the security officer of the late Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi he had established a rapport with Sonia and her children,
which now stood him in good stead. He also owed his several postings
in junior positions in Indian missions abroad to his proximity to the Gandhis.
So insignificant was the career profile of Joshi that none of his peers
seemed to be able to put a face on his name when they first heard of his
appointment as the Lt Governor of Delhi.
But it was the abrupt decision to
replace Kamal Pandey as the Union Cabinet Secretary, which seemed to have
taken the entire Babudom by surprise. For the Manmohan Singh Government
had acted with grace insofar as it did not penalize covenanted officers
merely because they happened to occupy high positions in the NDA Government.
By all accounts, Pandey was one of the best officers available for the
Cabinet Secretary's post. Not only was he known for his unimpeachable
integrity, but what was more, he had never ever in his long career harboured
any political agenda of his own on cultivated political connections.
Indeed there are stories galore, how he aid no to his bosses whenever a
favour sought of him did not square with his sense of propriety.
The decision to replace Pandey was
all the more surprising since was due to retire in November this year.
There was further consternation in the official circles when the name of
this replacement became known. For Bal Krishna Chaturvedi, a 1966 batch
UP cadre IAS
A little bird tells us that once
it was decided to replace Panday, presumable on wholly unfounded ground
that he was close to his former boss, L. K. Advani, now the Leader of the
Opposition in Parliament, the list of senior babus was scanned for his
replacement. Chaturvedi selected himself because (a) he was senior
enough to fill the slot, (B) he had known the 10 Janpath parivar from his
days as a district officer in UP when the late Rajiv Gandhi first entered
electoral politics n the early 80s and (c) he enjoyed a clean reputation.
However, his 10 Janpath connection was a clincher, insist those who have
followed his career from the days he was a junior officer in UP.
Who will Sonia-led NAC report to?
Union Law Minister Hansraj Bharadwaj,
characteristically spoke out of turn but what he said was very much on
the cards. Bhardwaj told a correspondent that Sonia Gandhi as the
Chairperson of the National Advisory council, set up to monitor the implementation
of the Common Minimum Programme of the ruling alliance, could summon secret
files. The Government order No.631\21\2004 dated 31 may 2004, issued by
the Cabinet Secretariat entrusts the committee not only with the monitoring
of the CMP but also tasks it to "provide inputs for the formulation of
policy and to provide support to the Government in its legislative business".
How the NAC would discharge its functions without enjoying unfettered access
to official files and other information's beyond anyone's comprehension.
A casual reading of the said order
would be enough to persuade anyone that it was a superior body, which could
call for official files and summon senior officers. The council,
says the order, "may invite such person or persons, as it may deem fit,
to participate I its deliberations". In other words, senior ministers,
including presumably the prime minister himself, and of course, babus could
be asked to report to it. Further, the Council will have its own
"secretariat and the necessary complement of officers and staff who shall
be responsible to the Chairperson", the said order says. Significantly,
the order does not say that the Chairperson of the NAC will be directly
responsible to the PM and will report to him the result of its deliberations,
the usual practice followed I the case of other committees and councils.
