Inside Track

Deputy stays onThe rule says that the tenure of the private secretary to a minister is co-terminus with that of the boss. So when Sushma ...

Deputy stays on

The rule says that the tenure of the private secretary to a minister is co-terminus with that of the boss. So when Sushma Swaraj resigned as Minister of Information amp; Broadcasting and Communication to take up the chief ministership of Delhi, it was assumed that her PS Anshu Prakash would too revert to his parent cadre. Prakash, however, continues to rule the roost even in Swaraj8217;s absence and holds back files from his two ministers of state M.A. Naqvi in the Iamp;B ministry and K. Purkayastha in Communication who in the absence of a full minister should normally be in charge. Both BJP junior ministers have complained about the PS8217;s behaviour. But since Swaraj clearly has an understanding with the party high command that if the BJP doesn8217;t win the Delhi assembly elections she will get back her ministerial portfolios, this unorthodox state of affairs may well continue.

Real boss8217;s approval

Despite being pulled up by the Prime Minister for trying to sneak in the RSS agenda at theState Education Ministers8217; Conference, HRD minister Murli Manohar Joshi is unrepentant. He has the total backing of the RSS joint general secretary K.C. Sudershan. It is Sudershan who is the virtual boss of the Sangh parivar since the number one and number two in the hierarchy Raju Bhaiya and H.V. Seshadiri are in poor health. The RSS is getting restless at the Vajpayee Government8217;s inability to implement the Sangh parivar8217;s agenda whether on education, economy or eradicating corruption. In fact, the invitation to a lightweight like former CBI director Joginder Singh to address the RSS gathering in Nagpur on Vijaya Dashmi day, was an indicator of its unhappiness over the CBI8217;s performance even under a BJP government.

Cronyism in education

Murli Manohar Joshi has been filling up posts in various educational institutions with people who share his RSS ideology or have connections with his alma mater, Allahabad University. He now wants to elevate the Chairman of the Central Board of Secondary EducationCBSE B.P. Khandelwal to head the powerful National Institute of Education and Planning and Administration NIEPA. Considering the falling standards of the once prestigious CBSE board during Khandelwal8217;s tenure, a demotion rather than a promotion would be more in order.

Incidentally, the HRD ministry this year distributed a most extravagant Diwali gift in spite of the financial crunch in the primary and higher education sector. HMT watches to commemorate 50 years of Independence, were gifted by Joshi to over a 1,000 recipients even though officially the celebrations ended in August, two months before Diwali.

Taming the bureaucracy

Canny civil servants have learnt the art of throwing the rule book at the politician, so as to avoid carrying out their instructions. Even a former IAS officer like Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha finds it near impossible to buck the bureaucratic establishment in his ministry. Brajesh Mishra, the PM8217;s principal secretary though an outsider in the bureaucracy heretired from the service long back and is now more of a politician is an exception. Mishra has been successful in getting the mandarins in the Ministry of External Affairs to do his bidding.

Mishra8217;s trick is installing a pliant foreign secretary, which is why K. Raghunath is almost certain to get another extension next month. The retiring and academically inclined Raghunath is no match for the savvy Pakistani diplomats in presenting India8217;s case in the media. When a BBC TV correspondent asked Raghunath for his comments on the recent Indo-Pak talks, Raghunath declined to speak in front of the cameras pleading that his TV presence was not inspiring. His Pakistani counterpart on the other hand waxed eloquent on the same channel. Such self-effacing behaviour suits Mishra who prefers to hog the limelight himself!

Special interest

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The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has decided to upgrade 75 posts in Group A category of the Indian Information Service and the proposal is being cleared withremarkable speed thanks to the special interest taken by the Cabinet Secretary, Prabhat Kumar. The Cabinet Secretary even suggested that the Indian Information Service association make a representation putting forward this demand. The move will result in major stagnation for those junior IIS officers in Group B. Kumar8217;s interest in the matter is perhaps because one of the beneficiaries of the upgradation will be his daughter Priya Kumar, a junior officer in the IIS. Promotions in Priya8217;s batch have been held up for two years thanks to a court stay.

Job hunting

After his stormy departure from TISCO, the ebullient Russy Mody has not had much luck in subsequent ventures, whether as head of the ailing Indian Airlines or as a parliamentary candidate from Jamshedpur. Mody now hopes to become Governor of West Bengal and has met both the Prime Minister and the Trinamool Congress supremo Mamta Banerjee to plead his case. Banerjee is keen on Mody since she wants someone who is familiar with her home stateand who is strong enough to stand up to Chief Minister Jyoti Basu. The snag is that Home Minister L.K. Advani is backing an old BJP friend, industrialist Viren Shah for the post.