Victory for RTI

Babus in Haryana can no longer keep their personal information out of bounds under the RTI Act. The Punjab and Haryana high court recently directed the state information commission to re-hear the case of an applicant who had sought information on corruption by state officials under the act. But it was denied by the government, citing a Supreme Court order — Girish Ramchandra Deshpande vs Central Information Commission. The order stated that “income-tax returns, immovable property statements, showcause notices, chargesheet and service records of an employee are personal information whose disclosure has no relationship to any public activity or interest. They may not be disclosed unless there is a clear overriding public interest in disclosure.”

This SC order, observers say, has been used as a shield by bureaucrats to not disclose information about their personal assets and also to protect their colleagues who have been accused of corruption.

RTI activists say that the high court order provides a ray of hope for those who are trying to weed out corruption. Apparently, during the hearing the high court cited another order to state that such information should be given under RTI. The RTI Act does after all state that information cannot be denied even if it is of personal nature when corruption and human rights issues are involved.

IFS blues A report by the parliamentary standing committee on external affairs, headed by former diplomat and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor, has highlighted, once again, the many troubles afflicting the Indian Foreign Service.

The committee has expressed grave concern over “inadequate” size of India’s diplomatic corps considering the tasks and challenges before the country. The number of IFS officers currently is 770 against the sanctioned strength of 912. Although every second year, the MEA is supposed to examine its ideal strength, the exercise is hardly undertaken. Further, the report notes, the annual take of about 30 to 35 officers through the UPSC, is clearly not enough.

The Tharoor-led committee has also commented on the “deterioration” in the quality of talent entering the IFS, of late. Clearly the days when the IFS was the service of choice of the toppers of the combined civil service examination (usually in the top 30) are long gone, as most now prefer the IAS, IPS or revenue services. To tackle this, the committee has recommended that an additional paper should be made mandatory for candidates opting for the IFS and that the scope of personality test should be enhanced considering the qualities required for a diplomat. There are other recommendations too, for the PMO to mull over, especially now, as many say, Indian diplomacy is being run out of PMO than the MEA.

Revenge of babus Never spurn a babu would be a good lesson for many in the public to remember. The “heaven-born” who claim first rights on all things bureaucratic do not like being kept out of any action, especially when it comes to being denied full-time membership of the elite Bombay Gymkhana. Perhaps members of that exclusive club forgot that the Delhi Gymkhana is a virtual haven of serving and retired senior bureaucrats, among other dignitaries.

Now, those in the know say that though the club has realised its error, but perhaps it is already too late. The entire government machinery seems to have descended with a vengeance on the high-profile south Mumbai club, two months after it rejected the proposal that offered life-long membership to senior IAS officers. Among the visitors to the club these days are the state excise department, officials from the city collector’s office, fire brigade and municipal corporation, demanding inspections and issuing notices for a slew of alleged violations. Not the kind of trouble anyone would wish to invite upon themselves. Hopefully, bruised egos and frayed tempers will heal and peace will descend again on the club.