Deadwood in the Indian bureaucracy will not be able to clog the government any longer. The Centre has notified a rule making it compulsory for IAS, IPS and officers from other all-India services to retire in "public interest" if they fail to clear a review after 15 years of service.  Officers adjudged as inefficient and non-performing will be shown the door and even those who make the cut will need to...

The Gujarat Congress Legislature Party has launched a scathing attack on R.K. Raghavan, chairman of the Supreme Court–appointed Special Investigation Team, probing some of the gruesome 2002 Gujarat communal riot massacres. The Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Shaktisinh Gohil, said his party took strong exception to the style of functioning of Mr. Raghavan, who he alleged “blatantly tried to protect Mr. Modi and other accused.” The CLP meeting was held...

-Express News Service   Concerned over the increasing instances of senior civil and police officers resigning at the last minute to contest polls, the Election Commission of India has asked the government to bring in a “cooling off period” clause for government officers who contest elections. According to sources, many senior officials were found to misuse their positions to nurture their prospective constituencies before finally quitting their jobs to contest elections. In a letter...

The role of police in the November 2007 bloodbath in Nandigram has come under the scanner with the CID looking where the Mamata Banerjee government thinks it will find the trigger behind the firing. The investigators are scanning police records to figure out how some officers allegedly took decisions to favour the ruling Left, even as they carry on with their probe on the role of CPM leaders like Lakshman Seth,...

-The Economic Times   Bureaucracy bashing is India's favourite national vocation. And for good reason. Our bureaucracy has its good share of crooks, criminals and cheats who need to be put away - with or without a Lokpal. The simple counter-question is, does the bureaucracy have a disproportionately larger share of crooks than in other professions in India, and the data clearly does not say a resounding yes.  In fact, there is perhaps...