:: Dilip Cherian

A RAW deal?

By Dilip Cherian

Sep 20 : The cloak-and-dagger outfit of the nation, also known as the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), is in the limelight for the wrong reason. There is discontent within the ranks and it seems to stem from the recent promotion of a junior IPS (Indian Police Service) officer who superseded seven additional secretaries from RAW’s internal cadre, Research and Analysis Service (RAS), in the process. Murmurs emanating from within the spy agency’s headquarters suggest that these additional secretaries have gone on leave to protest the move.

The trouble apparently began when the government cleared A.B. Mathur, a 1975 batch IPS officer from Manipur cadre, for promotion as special director-general and posted him in RAW as special secretary. According to sources, Mr Mathur’s promotion puts him in line for the position of RAW chief when the current incumbent K.C. Verma completes his tenure. Incidentally, Mr Verma, himself an IPS officer, had a long stint spanning nearly three decades, not in RAW but in the Intelligence Bureau. He was chosen over P.V. Kumar, the senior-most officer of RAS at that time.

Naturally, the seven miffed additional secretaries conveyed their disappointment to their boss Mr Verma and Cabinet Secretary K.M. Chandrasekhar. According to insiders, the security establishment claims that Mr Mathur’s post was upgraded as some of his IPS batchmates who were junior to him had been promoted. But this explanation clearly failed to appease the superseded spooks.

Although RAW has termed the "revolt" as "perceived injustice" and agreed to rectify the perception, the Cabinet Secretary has been prompted to issue a Departmental Promotional Committee process by next week in response to the mass protest leave by the senior officers.

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Tourism blues

Even as various states launch tourism promotion campaigns, the Union tourism ministry is concerned about some states dragging their feet over implementing tourist infrastructure projects. Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation (MTDC), for one, has launched a month-long campaign in Mumbai to draw tourists to the state, according to Vijay Chavan, general manager of MTDC. Babus in tourism departments in states like Goa, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh too are busy making plans to promote tourism.

But the tourism ministry in Delhi has a different agenda. Tourism secretary Sujit Banerjee has recently written to chief secretaries of all states expressing concern over the slow pace of centrally-funded tourism projects. At a discussion of several key projects, Mr Banerjee and other top babus warned that the ministry would scrap tourism projects for states that have not implemented them despite getting funding and land for the same for more than a year now. Will this blunt warning have any impact on the babus? Only time will tell.