Whispers Forum

With reference to A K Agnihotri's comments on reduction in fuel consumption, it is stated that there is an urgent need on the part of the Government of India to end rampant misuse of vehicles at the exchequer's cost by the Minister's and Bureaucrats. Nobody should be allowed to have more than one vehicle at their disposal and they should also pay through their pocket fuel spent by them for their personal purposes, as per the extant rules. These days the Staff Car rules are not strictly being followed. The Public Sector Undertakings and other offices of the Government of India are also rampantly being exploited by the Ministries/Departments for personal purposes. There are also black sheep officers who on one hand are taking Transport Allowance with their monthly salary but at the same time are taking vehicle facilities for commuting from residence to office and back. You can see official vehicles parked in front of the residences of all Joint Secretary level officials on Holidays for their personal use. If some drastic action is taken by both the Central and State Government, then only our fuel burden can be reduced , traffic jams reduced and pollution controlled.
Anurag

All future payments for gas have to be made in Rouble. Rouble is not a tradable currency. Now each country is negotiating separately for trade in each other’s currency, basically a barter trade. India with Russia; India with Iran; India with Venezuela. The USA is getting marginalized in this. Meanwhile, Rouble which had dropped to 150 against $ in early March, is now back at 100 crude prices have jumped as a result too. India must curtail indiscriminate use of fuels by gas guzzlers lest poor pay for profligacy of the rich.
A K Agnihotri

Debate
The country currently has several agencies to deal with economic offences. We shall have to make several changes if we want a single agency to deal with economic crimes. That agency must have officers, staff and competence to deal with and investigate different types of crimes. A CDS like agency is a good idea. If it materializes, the probes against economic offences will be faster and better. But it is necessary that the agency is not used by ruling dispensation for the achievement of its goals. The question is whether it will be allowed to function as an independent and fair agency.
Kamal Shukla
No harm in providing copy
There is no harm in providing a physical copy especially when one is filling to pay a fee for it.
Subhash Srivastava

Debate
Synergy can easily be made as they are already under the same ministry, same Secretary and same Minister. Why is more synergy required? It will interfere in the functioning of each other resulting in mess.
Priyanka
CSSS & CSS worst affected by way of court cases
Very well said, Samir. We have great hopes with the present establishment that apart from IAS, other services should also be recognised and allowed to prosper. But so far a miniscule only had been done. More reforms and adjustments with alacrity needed to boost the morale of officers and staff. CSSS and CSS are worst affected by way of court cases. Govt should work in tandem and resolve the issues amicably. Only IAS is the mantra that attitude should change for the betterment of the services. Even though it's agreed IAS is above all, that may not be the sole reason to deny others the opportunity to climb. Merit should be the only way forward. Hope some good things happen in future
Ramesh

Debate
If it has to be headed by one then what is the need for different agencies? The purpose of each agency is different. The power of each agency is different. The jurisdiction of each agency is different. CBI cannot probe until a concerned state or court allows it. The NIA can investigate without any permission. Can a Director of each agency have the morals to work to report every day to CDS like head?
P Agarwal
Improvement of services comes to a naught
All talks about improving the civil services come to a naught if the existing gaps and differences among the various All India Services/Central Services are allowed to widen and persist in the interest of one service namely IAS. I do not understand the reason and rationale behind it. May, be the reason that other services are not allowed to come in contact with political masters and also not allowed to reach at the top echelon of the pyramid. Unless this frustration among all other services is not addressed and everyone is not allowed to climb the ladder based on merits and professional competence, I do not find that this talk of bonhomie and common courses can do any good. Sooner it is taken care of, better it will be in the interest of the general public. Wide gap in promotion, empanelment, key positions, etc need to be looked into on top priority, leaving aside feeling of supremacy and one-upmanship
Samir

How things have changed for Congress. So far it was considered as the main and only national level opposition party. So when poll alliance possibilities were considered, it played the role of a senior partner. But now things have come to such a passé that the grand old party may have to fight as junior partner in Bengal, Punjab with TMC, AAP in lead, as stated by senior party leader P Chidambaram. During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Kejriwal wanted to forge an alliance with Congress. But now parties even fear that if they make an election alliance with Congress then this could have a negative impact on them.
Adarsh Arya

Debate
It is not practically possible to have only one agency to deal with economic offences. In a vast country like India, one single agency can’t deal with a large number of economic offences taking place daily. There are different types of economic offences like tax evasion, bribery, counterfeiting of currency, bank frauds, money laundering, hawala transactions. So different agencies dealing with such offences conduct investigations into them and they cannot be dealt with by a single agency.
Dheeraj Pandey
In triangular contest in Delhi, BJP will gain and AAP will suffer
In Delhi elections 2020, BJP could win only 5 out of 67 seats although it polled about 38.5 percent of total votes. AAP’s landslide win can be attributed to almost direct contest between AAP and BJP and AAP’s votes were not split. In UP, the BJP’s vote share was 41.2 percent which is slightly more than its vote share of 38.5 percent in Delhi. But it bagged 255 seats out of total 403 because the votes were split. Now the question is, if Congress makes a fight back in Delhi and bags more votes then will it still be cakewalk for AAP ? I think in case of a triangular contest in Delhi, BJP will gain and AAP will suffer.
Gaurav Nigam

Your reaction to the Punjab results is shameful. ‘Punjab will be Kashmir’. Are you cursing the new government? It's well known that you are unable to digest AAP's victory but how can you curse the government?
Pallav
A way to promote peddled propaganda
Your political analysis and so-called insider news from the same are nothing but a way to promote BJP peddled propaganda. The extent of the correctness of your political analysis can be seen from the fact that you said Amarinder Singh and BJP were at the pole position before the elections when Captain Amarinder Singh resigned. The result which we saw in Punjab showed the reality of your political knowledge. Learn to respect the mandate given by people instead of peddling right-wing propaganda like "Punjab to become new Kashmir". Your portal should not become a mirror reflection of Whatsapp groups. It would be good for you to drop your anti-opposition bias, especially with respect to the new ruling party in Punjab if you really want your readers to maintain the same credibility in you intact.
Joy

An agency having a control over all the agencies dealing in economic offences is not likely to be very fruitful, as it would be difficult to maintain coordination among these agencies. Agencies like CBI, ED, DRI etc do not work in coordination with each other and any agency controlling them will not in fact be able to exercise much authority over them. In the Defence field it is a different thing. Army, Navy and Air Force work in coordination with each other and the level of discipline and responsibility seen in the defence sector would be lacking in agencies dealing with economic crimes.
Deepak Yadav
Submission to Finance Minister
The Financial year is coming to a close. People are worried about obtaining annual statements, interest certificates, TDS certificates from banks and post offices online without visiting a physical branch. Are we in position to comply with this? The Minister for Finance may help and issue necessary directives to provide download facilities from the sites to have certificates and statements on line as desired by customers.
Naveen