Lokayukta Hedge bats for separate Goa cadre for IAS

KARNATAKA Lokayukta and member of Jan Lokpal Bill Joint Drafting Committee N Santosh Hedge has batted for a separate IAS cadre only for Goa. In a public meeting at Panaji, Hedge who is back in news after Anna Hazare’s agitation against corruption, expressed surprise how Goa had failed to get a separate IAS cadre even after so many years of attaining the statehood.

IAS officers from Goa like those in Delhi, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh fall under AGMU cadre.

Meanwhile, Hedge on Monday described the nexus between politicians and bureaucrats as the root cause of high-level corruption. According to local media reports in Goa, Hedge made a strong plea for bringing politicians and bureaucrats under the jurisdiction of the proposed Lokpal. He was delivering a lecture on good governance.

Telephone Tapping: Cabinet Secretary issues clarifications

Cabinet secretary has issued a clarification saying that proposed stricter norm for telephone tapping reiterates the established legal position and this “should not be seen in terms of conflicts between individuals or interest groups.” The clarification was issued in the backdrop of adverse media reports on the issue. The cabinet secretary-led group recently recommended either to remove the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) from the list of authorized agencies of telephone interception or to specify stipulations regarding the extent of surveillance allowed to CBDT.

Action and Appointments

Former Mumbai municipal commissioner and 1978 batch IAS Jairaj Phatak has been appointed as member secretary of the Rest of Maharashtra Statutory Development Board (ROMSDB), considered to be an insignificant post. Phatak, named an accused by the CBI in the Adarsh case, was till recently the chairman and managing director of Rural Electrification Corporation Limited.