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In a major move aimed at bringing domain expertise to policy making, the government has decided to open its doors for private sector specialists in select departments, a senior personnel ministry official told PTI. A proposal is being worked out to induct 50 such specialists from the private sector in government departments at the level of director and joint secretary, he said. Many of these posts are manned by civil service officials. A presentation giving details of the proposal was shown to Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> recently by the personnel ministry, the official said. Private sector talent can be brought in on fixed- term contracts to supplement the government's effort of providing good and effective governance, he said. About 48 lakh employees work in various central government departments. Over 4.2 lakh posts were vacant as on March 1, 2015, according to latest data. The move to induct private sector specialists comes following a suggestion from the government's policy think tank Niti Aayog. "Today, rising complexity of the economy has meant that policy making is a specialised activity. Therefore, it is essential that specialists be inducted into the system through lateral entry. "Such entry will also have the beneficial side effect of bringing competition to the established career bureaucracy," a draft agenda report on civil services reform by the Aayog had said. In areas requiring specialised knowledge, it is important to develop expertise among internal staff and induct lateral entry, the report said. "This specialisation by the internal staff needs to be complemented by lateral entry of highly specialised staff on fixed-term contracts. Specialists could be brought on three to five year contracts. Such a system will bring top talent and energy into the government and will lend new dynamism to the ministries," it said. The government has already been appointing private persons in some departments. Last month, an ayurveda physician, 'Vaidya' Rajesh Kotecha, was appointed as special secretary in <keyword id="2687455" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="AYUSH-Ministry">Ayush Ministry</keyword>. Usually a senior bureaucrat, preferably an IAS officer, is appointed to such a post. Last year, former IAS officer and renowned sanitation specialist <keyword id="3245163" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Parameswaran-Iyer">Parameswaran Iyer</keyword> was appointed secretary, Ministry of Drinking Water and Sanitation. Iyer, who had taken voluntary retirement from <keyword id="106848" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-Administrative-Service">Indian Administrative Service</keyword> (IAS), was appointed on contract basis for two years. The Centre recently also opened banking sector and central public sector enterprises for private sector specialists.

Government to open lateral entry door for private sector specialists

The appointment of ex-IAS officer and World Bank expert <keyword id="3245163" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Parameswaran-Iyer">Parameswaran Iyer</keyword> as secretary in the ministry of drinking water and sanitation, which pilots the <keyword id="6361202" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Swachh-Bharat">Swachh Bharat</keyword> Mission, may be seen as unconventional but lateral entry of private-sector technocrats has for long been the norm in key government positions requiring a certain skill. 
 Iyer joins the league of experts technocrats like Mantosh Sondhi, a Bokaro Steel import who went on to become steel secretary in seventies; Lovraj who was brought from Burmah Shell and was petroleum secretary between 1981and 1983; BEST's R V Shahi who was hired as power secretary by then power minister Suresh Prabhu; economist Montek Singh Ahluwalia who was hand-picked by then PM Manmohan Singh to serve as deputy chairman of Planning Commission; economist Raghuram Rajan who is now RBI governor; chief economic adviser to government of India Arvind Subramanian who comes from Peterson Institute for International Economics; and Infosys <keyword id="44604" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Nandan-Nilekani">Nandan Nilekani</keyword> who piloted the Unique Identification Authority of India, to name a few. 
 
Even though lateral recruitment of private sector experts and technocrats in top secretary-level government posts, especially those demanding a given set of skills and expertise, has been upheld by the Second Administrative Reforms Commission as well as in the 7th Pay Commission report, the regular refrain form the civil services associations is that it saps the morale of IAS officers. 
 
"But, ultimately , it is up to the government and UPSC to decide who to hire...if a certain private-sector candidate is very good and has the right type of qualification and skills for that post, they have every right to recruit him," Former cabinet secretary Naresh Chandra said. However, the general feeling is that lateral recruitment should be an exception rather than the rule.The government, incidentally , is on board with this. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

Parameswaran Iyer, new Swachh head joins long list 'outsiders' in the government

Union <keyword id="6356374" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="health-minister" source="Orion">Health Minister</keyword> Mansukh Mandaviya is scheduled to hold a virtual meeting with the Indian Medical Association (IMA) on Monday. The IMA informed that Mandaviya will hold the meeting via video conferencing at 4 pm regarding the <keyword id="15884888" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="covid-19-situation-and-preparedness" source="Orion">Covid-19 situation and preparedness</keyword>. On Saturday, Mandaviya said that the government has been working to control the <keyword id="8913021" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="spread-of-covid-19" source="Orion">spread of Covid-19</keyword> and urged the people to wear masks and follow covid appropriate behaviour. "We are working on alert mode to control the spread of Covid-19 and are conducting environmental, sewage and human surveillance. Virus RNA was found in the sewage samples in Delhi and Mumbai," Mandaviya had said. He further urged the people to wear masks, avoid crowded places and follow Covid-appropriate behaviour. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Saturday decided to hold mock drills at all health facilities across the country on December 27 in the wake of the COVID alarm due to a surge in infection in many countries. This is to ensure readiness in the availability of oxygen support, and ICU beds among other preparedness measures in case of a surge of COVID cases in India. According to the Ministry, the objective of the exercise is to ensure the operational readiness of these health facilities for the management of COVID. Detailing the focus on the parameters during the mock drills, it said that the main focus will be on the bed capacities including isolation, oxygen-supported and ICU beds at the health facilities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also chaired a high-level meeting on Thursday (December 22) to assess the COVID-19 situation in the country and cautioned against complacency while laying stress on testing and strengthening the surveillance measures, especially at international airports. He emphasized COVID-appropriate behavior at all times, especially in view of the upcoming festive season, including wearing masks in crowded public places. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Union Health Miniter Mansukh Mandaviya and NITI Aayog Chief Executive Officer Parameswaran Iyer were among others who participated in the meeting. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/bsip-study-mangroves-shrinking-in-india-due-to-climate-change/articleshow/96511070.cms">BSIP Study: Mangroves shrinking in India due to climate change</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/pm-modi-tells-people-to-be-vigilant-as-covid-cases-were-rising-in-many-countries/articleshow/96493073.cms">PM Modi tells people to be vigilant as Covid cases were rising in many countries</a>

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to hold meeting with Indian Medical Association today

(Eds: With more inputs) New Delhi, Feb 13 () Senior IAS officer Debasish Panda was on Thursday appointed as the new finance secretary as part of a top level bureaucratic reshuffle effected by the Centre. Panda, a 1987-batch IAS officer of the Uttar Pradesh cadre, is at present special secretary, department of financial services. The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved his appointment as secretary, department of financial services, in place of Rajiv Kumar, who superannuates this month-end, a personnel ministry order said. Besides him, Pawan Kumar Agarwal, chief executive officer, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), has been appointed secretary, department of consumer affairs. Saraswati Prasad, a 1985-batch IAS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre, will be secretary, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes. He is at present special secretary and financial adviser, ministry of steel. Usha Sharma, Director General, Archaeological Survey of India, has been appointed secretary, department of youth affairs. Senior civil servant Raj Kumar will be secretary, department of defence production. Kumar, a 1987-batch IAS officer of Gujarat cadre, is currently Director General, Employees' State Insurance Corporation. Rajeev Ranjan has been appointed as secretary, department of fisheries. Ranjan is currently special secretary, GST council secretariat. He has been appointed as the fisheries secretary in place of Rajni Sekhri Sibal, who retires on February 29. The tenure of Parameswaran Iyer, secretary, department of drinking water and sanitation, has been extended by one more year. The ACC has approved extension for a further period of one year beyond April 30, 2020, i.e. up to April 30, 2021, in Iyer's tenure, the order said. AKV AKV SMNSMN

Bureaucratic reshuffle: Debasish Panda appointed finance secretary

The current BJP-led administration takes its <keyword id="68945" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Toilets">toilets</keyword> seriously. In its quest to eliminate public defecation by 2019, the <keyword id="26362" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Government">government</keyword> claims to have constructed <a href="http://sbm.gov.in/sbmdashboard/IHHL.aspx">70.5 million household toilets </a>- around 83% of its intended target - under the <keyword id="2312336" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swachh-Bharat-Mission">Swachh Bharat Mission</keyword> - in villages. It has also constructed <a href="http://www.swachhbharaturban.in/sbm/home/#/SBM">4.6 million toilets</a> in urban areas. The program was launched in October 2014. Earlier this month, Parameswaran Iyer, the secretary of the Water and Sanitation ministry, said that the number of rural Indians defecating in the open had fallen from 550 million when the mission was launched, <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Politics/Fn5P83dnUwSD7T6mHXakuJ/Rural-India-will-reach-100-toilet-coverage-by-December-2018.html">to 200 million</a> by early 2018. This information was based on “government surveys”, which count on a random sample of participants to answer questions with utmost honesty. In February, a video of Janardan Mishra, a <keyword id="14666" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="BJP">BJP</keyword> member of Parliament from Madhya Pradesh, was seen <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/india-news/watch-bjp-mp-unclogs-toilet-with-bare-hands-promotes-pm-narendra-modis-swachh-bharat-mission/1070526/">unclogging a toilet with his bare hands</a> went viral online. Like most political parties do ahead of an election, the BJP seems to be raking in the grandstanding and declaring its achievements. However, yesterday, as part of its campaign in Karnataka, it chose a rather questionable statistic to boast. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 If the facts are right, over the course of the BJP-led government’s tenure, 70% more toilets were constructed but with 6 times the total funding that the <keyword id="1575" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Congress">Congress</keyword>-led government had. The Congress responded accordingly, pointing out that it had built each toilet at a fraction of the amount it cost the BJP. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Surprisingly, the original tweet by the BJP is still up, perhaps because deleting the tweet would have been an admission that it was an error to begin with. But it seems that the government does not make mistakes. The medium is the message Social media is all about brevity and soundbites. Statistics are cherry-picked. Opinions are made to sound definitive. The more eyebrow raising the claim, the greater the reach. The truth is what an organisation can get its supporters to believe. The ruling party at the Centre has been quite effective at harnessing social media to disseminate information to the Indian public as part of a concerted effort at winning an ideological war against the Opposition parties. In anticipation of the upcoming elections in Karnataka, both the BJP and Congress have dedicated social media teams working round the clock on outreach and on highlighting the work their respective rivals have not done. Inevitably, social media platforms have turned into becoming battlegrounds where barbs and ad hominem remarks are traded at the drop of a hat . Until very recently, the world faced a legitimate threat of nuclear war as a result of a Twitter spat between the leader of a world superpower and a rogue nation. Back at home, India’s two national parties - the protectors and enforcers of the country’s democracy, our leaders in these troubling times marked by rising public debt, toxic air, farmer suicides and communal violence - are currently squabbling over toilet statistics. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 So, now the BJP is trying to reframe the tweet as evidence of its generosity and portray the Siddaramaiah government as corrupt and inefficient. However, the BJP does not finance the construction of toilets with its own funds but with the taxes each and every Indian pays as Swachh Bharat cess - which totalled <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/25-of-swachh-bharat-cess-hasnt-reached-dedicated-fund/articleshow/62259934.cms">₹164 billion</a> in 2016 and 2017. In all fairness, the president of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi, is no stranger to the mathematical gaffe. In December 2017, he posted a table from his Twitter account that contained information about the rise in prices of essential items like cooking gas, tomatoes, onions and pulses from 2014 to 2017 under the BJP regime. However, he overstated each price rise by <a href="https://www.moneycontrol.com/news/india/rahul-gandhi-goofs-up-basic-math-in-a-tweet-corrects-it-later-2454791.html">100 percentage points</a>. The BJP fired back by referring to him as an<a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/bjp-calls-rahul-immature-shehzada-for-math-blooper-117120700171_1.html"> “immature prince”.</a> Gandhi later deleted the tweet and uploaded a revised table, but not without thanking the BJP for pointing out his mistake. Development, not division As campaigning for the state elections in Karnataka enters its final phases, the barbs and finger-pointing will likely escalate. As is usually the case, development has become the focal issue of each party’s campaign. The BJP was rather straightforward about its three aims- development, development and more development. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 Soon after it posted the tweet above, the BJP’s social media team retweeted another development-related tweet from its Karnataka unit. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 It seems that the BJP is the only party comfortable with proffering development data. Oh, the irony. Maybe it would have paid for the BJP to concentrate on the mathematical process of division instead of the kind that involves polarisation.

You Searched For "Parameswaran Iyer" and got 5 results

Government to open lateral entry door for private sector specialists

BI India Bureau

Parameswaran Iyer, new Swachh head joins long list 'outsiders' in the government

BI India Bureau

Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya to hold meeting with Indian Medical Association today

ANI

Bureaucratic reshuffle: Debasish Panda appointed finance secretary

PTI

The top two political parties in India are bickering over who’s better at building toilets

Dilsher Dhillon

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