M A I N   N E W S

VRS for Central Govt staff soon
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 2
The Minister of State for Personnel, Mr Arun Shourie, today informed the Rajya Sabha that the Government would soon come out with a voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) for the Central Government employees to reduce the existing staff strength as recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission.

During question hour, the minister said 10 per cent of the total staff in the Central Government would be reduced by 2005.

He said action had been initiated by the government to evolve a revised VRS for the surplus personnel keeping in view the recommendations of the expenditure reforms commission as it was felt that the size of bureaucracy had overgrown over a period of time and was having an adverse impact on its efficacy.

Mr Shourie said the new scheme would take care of the number of years gone and the number of years left in the service of government employees.

TN cocks a snook at Centre
Ravi Bhatia
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 2
The Union Home Ministry has landed in piquant situation with the Tamil Nadu government refusing to relieve four senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officers, including the former Director General of Police, whose services were requisitioned by it recently.

The entire episode now has assumed political hue with the state government insisting that the Union Home Ministry was only trying to “punish” the three state government police officers for their alleged role in the arrest of the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and the Union Home Ministry accusing the state government of harassing the former Director-General of the state police by not relieving him to take up his new posting as DG of the National Security Guards.

The four IPS officers whose services were requisitioned by the Union Home Ministry include Mr R. Rajagopalan, former Director-General of Tamil Nadu Police who was removed from the post soon after J. Jayalalitha took over as the Chief Minister.

Mr Rajagopalan subsequently was appointed Director-General of the National Security Guards (NSG) to succeed Mr Nikhil Kumar who retired on August 1. Mr Rajagopalan at present is the Director-General of the Police Training College, a low profile posting in Tamil Nadu.

He is considered to be close to the former DMK Chief Minister, whose party is a constituent of the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) at the Centre.

As a result, the government was forced to give temporary concurrent charge of the prestigious National Security Guards to Mr Gurbachan Jagat, Director-General of the Border Security Force (BSF) till the new incumbent was able to take over.

Incidentally, the name of Mr Rajagopalan was cleared to succeed Mr Nikhil Kumar well in advance and made public a fortnight ago.

The other three officers are Mr K. Muthukarupam, Police Commissioner of Chennai, Mr S. George, Joint Police Commissioner, Chennai and Mr Christopher Nelson, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Chennai. All three reportedly were involved in the pre-dawn arrest of Mr Karunanidhi from his residence on June 30.