Red Book to RedPad: Chinese babus given device twice as costly as iPad

IF Indian officers at the level of a joint secretary and above are happy that they are entitled to have iPad at office expenses, here is the shocker. Chinese bureaucrats, read Communist Party members, are now given RedPad, an Android tablet which is twice as costly as the comparable version of the iPad. Priced at 9,999 yuan, or about Rs 80,000 it has pre-loaded applications that can verify identification cards and monitor media and public sector firms.

At Weibo, a Twitter-like micro-blogging site popular in China, there has been a huge buzz about Chinese babus getting the RedPad. Should Chinese taxpayers’ money be spent to load the country’s bureaucrats with such expensive devices? This is one of the major discussion points by micro-bloggers. Many say RedPad is a symbol of privilege, or a luxury designed to fleece taxpayers.

Even the western media has run a number of stories on the subject. One report says how the RedPad has apps that allow users to check the validity of a journalist’s government accreditation. Another newspaper begins a piece by narrating the transition from Mao’s Little Red Book to the current RedPad.

Action and Appointments

a) PK Misra, a 1976 batch UP cadre IAS who has recently been appointed as DoPT secretary, will continue to hold the additional charge of the ministry of steel for one more month or till a replacement is found.

b) Atul Kumar Mathur, a 1980 batch IPS officer and director of North East Police Academy, has been granted the higher grade of ADG in the pay scale of Rs 67,000---79,000.

c) The ACC has approved the extension of the Central deputation tenure of MS Rao, a 1987 batch Assam cadre IAS for three months. Rao is the Development Commissioner of Visakhapatnam SEZ at the level of a joint secretary.