Privileged babus of Telangana

The formation of Telangana has been a boon to junior bureaucrats and Group 1 officials. They have risen to higher positions faster than when Andhra Pradesh was not divided.

Following the reorganisation of districts, many junior IAS officials, some from them 2012 batch, have been posted as collectors. The seniormost appointee was Adilabad collector Jyothi Buddha Prakash from 2002 batch, and there were six others from the 2011 and 2010 batches. The juniormost were from the 2012 batch.

In the old days they recall, it used to take nine to 10 years for officers to become collectors and six years of IPS officers to become superintendent of police in the districts. But due to the increase in districts the need arose to appoint more IAS officials as collectors has arisen. Good for the young babus but their lack of experience in some cases may be of worry to the Telangana government.

CBI gets cyber-savvy The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is handling several high-profile cases like 2G, coal and chit-fund scams is now bolstering its capabilities to investigate financial crimes. The department of personnel and training (DoPT), which acts as a nodal authority for the agency, has reportedly approved a proposal to set up a special Centralised Technology Vertical (CTV) at a cost of Rs 100 crores.

Sources say that the idea was proposed by CBI director Anil Sinha, who last year had urged the government for “real time support to investigations” with access to data warehouses and help from professionals in digital forensic analysis, forensic accounting and fraud examination. It would help the agency in fast and timely conclusion of its investigations. At present, the CBI takes help of officers from other services like Indian Revenue Service, besides independent experts and professionals to investigate financial crimes.

Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a conference on asset recovery in November last, had also said that a “Centralised Technology Vertical to focus on combating new age crimes like cybercrimes, is also being planned” by the government. Now that CTV has come to pass, it may even help the agency, often derided for its long winding and occasionally fruitless probes, to refurbish its reputation.

Karnataka: From Babus to netas Elections to the Karnataka Legislative Assembly are nearly 18 months away, but several retired bureaucrats have announced a plunge into active politics, ostensibly to continue their “public service”. In less than a week, two retired IAS officers — K. Shivaram and C. Somashekar — joined the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Mr Shivaram, who unlike officers of his ilk has acted in 10 Kannada films, joined the Congress in 2013 soon after retirement, but within six months, moved to JD(S) where he unsuccessfully contested the 2014 general elections.

Mr Somashekar, a close aide of BJP chief B.S. Yeddyurappa, is also culturally “active” in his community’s organisations.

Bureaucrats entering politics is not new in Karnataka. After retirement, many senior IAS and IPS officers have opted to join national or regional parties. Former IPS officer K.C. Ramamurthy recently became a Rajya Sabha MP. Former IAS officers Ashok Kumar Manoli and S. Puttaswamy joined the Congress just before the 2013 elections. In the same league are former BBMP commissioner S. Subrahmanya, former police officers G. Shankarnarayana, Subhash Bharani, and Shankar M. Bidari. Former top police officers H.T. Sangliana and P. Kodandaramaiah have won parliamentary elections. In all, the hop from administration to lawmaking seems to be becoming increasingly popular with babus.