New Delhi, July 24
It is jobs for the old boy’s club. You can draw a full salary and have a government car, house and a full complement of official paraphernalia which in some cases involves commissions which have not even met for two years such as the Competition Commission. Some government officials and judges believe that a job in the government is forever.
Consider the following.
(1) There are about 100 secretary-level posts in the Government of India and as many as 100 retired secretaries reemployed by the Government of India in sundry jobs.
(2) The same is true with retired judges, 30 of whom occupy post retirement jobs in Delhi.
(3) The Competition Commission which has retired IAS official V.K. Dhall as a member has been without any work for the past two years. The original purpose of the Competition Commission was to replace the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices (MRTP) Commission. But, guess what, the MRTP Commission also continues though no one knows what it does.
(4) The members of the National
Commission for Safai Karamcharis have just won a successful battle to figure in the
Warrant of Precedence.
All this, while the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, has repeatedly said that the size of the government must reduce by at least 20 per cent through VRS. The government has also transferred regulatory functions in telecom, power, insurance and pensions.
These regulators are supposed to act independently and transfer of these functions should have reduced the number of officials in these ministries. Nothing of this sort has happened. On the contrary there has been a proliferation of officials in these ministries. A.K. Basu, retired Power Secretary, Pradip Baijal, retired Telecom Secretary, and C.S. Rao, retired Expenditure Secretary, have been appointed as regulators in the power, telecom and insurance sectors, respectively.
Some retired officials are so durable that, despite being prime accused in CBI cases, they manage to find reemployment jobs for up to ten years hopping from commission to
commission. Others benefit by being close to the government in office and are rewarded by sinecures post-retirement jobs.
As sources point out, diplomatic assignments are always aplenty; such as the brother of a serving minister who retired as Foreign Secretary and is now serving as an ambassador.
Says a senior official in the Department of Personnel “the worst aspect of the jobs for the boys is that it is completely ad hoc. Pliable or well connected officials are appointed.
Around six months before they retire senior officials plot and move heaven and earth to find a sinecure for life while we make pious
promises to reduce the size of the government in the era of liberalisation.’’
He cites the case of the Department of Company Affairs which has finalised a proposal to set up a National Advisory Commission on Company Affairs and another body, both with 70 odd members.
Another senior official says “one can perhaps concede the point that some of these bodies are needed but, why not post serving officials who will be more accountable”.
— The writer is an anchor with SAB TV.
