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Journalism of Courage
Wary of a large number of former bureaucrats seeking permission to join the private sector at huge salaries immediately after retirement,the Centre is proposing to increase the mandatory cooling period of one year to three years from the date of retirement.
The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) is expected to move a note before the Cabinet soon on the issue,underlining that the unusually high number of applications from bureaucrats seeking clearance to join the private sector immediately after retirement has raised ethical and legal issues.
According to sources,the ministry receives 10 to 12 applications daily from retired officers seeking waiver of the waiting period of one year required before they can take up such employment.
V Narayansamy,the Minister of State looking after DoPT,wrote a strongly-worded note last week seeking that the proposal be put on the fast-track after he found that an officer of the Indian Revenue Service,who retired six months back and had applied for waiver of the one-year cooling period,was being offered an astounding Rs 1 crore per month. The offer included two separate Rs 30 lakh packages from two prominent industrial groups,including a Chennai-based firm,along with other perks like J-class travel and Rs 20,000 to attend a single board meeting.
Along with the former IRS officers application that was rejected,Narayansamy also turned down another request from a former senior official of the Urban Development Ministry who had retired four months back and sought permission to join a construction company. Wary of the possible implications,the DoPT reportedly conducted inquiries to find out if these officers had dealings with these companies when they served in the government,but could find little.
What seems to have put the government on alert is the alleged involvement of former TRAI chairperson Pradeep Baijal in the 2G spectrum scandal. Baijal had joined a firm owned by controversial PR consultant Neera Radia immediately after his retirement.
Till January 1,2007,the mandatory cooling period was two years. The All India Service rules now say a pensioner shall not accept any commercial employment before the expiry of one year from the date of retirement,except with previous sanction of the central government.
Among those who have sought such exemption are Ashok Mohan Chakraborty,the former West Bengal chief secretary who joined the Essar Group as resident director within five months of his retirement last year; P V Bhide,the former revenue secretary who retired in January 2010 and joined five companies,including GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals,NOCIL and L&T Finance,after he received the waiver. The Naveen Jindal group is one of the largest private companies employing former government employees,including V S Jain,the former CMD of SAIL,a direct business rival of Jindal Steel.
