My Columns: Without Fear and Favour

Causes of Corruption in Indian Bureaucracy By  Deepak Parvatiyar July 15, 2014 During my college days, quite a few of my friends wanted to crack the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) for a bizarre reason – an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer would fetch more dowry than anybody else! A politician friend of mine, upon becoming a first time minister after winning the elections, compared his babus with Aladdin’s jinn who were more than eager to fill the coffers of their political master, including their own A professor of financial management at a top ranking institute of the country, after holding a workshop for some senior bureaucrats, was visibly annoyed by a participating bureaucrat who wanted him to teach ways of managing unaccounted money worth crores. An upright Indian Police Service (IPS) officer said he could not stop his juniors from indulging into corrupt practice because he could not risk them deserting him in a riot-like situation. A newl...

published in http://www.elections.in/blog/why-does-india-have-a-separate-railway-budget/ Why does India have a separate Railway Budget By  Deepak  Parvatiyar July 14, 2014 The Economist described it as a “bizarre system introduced by the British colonial government” that makes India the only country to have a separate budget for its railways. But political expediency requires a separate railway budget, every year. What are the compelling reasons? Let’s find out. On June 20, when the Narendra Modi government announced hike in the passenger as well as freight fare with effect from June 25, it did not wait for the railway budget that was due to be introduced in Parliament in less than twenty days’ time. The Indian Railways Act, 1989, empowers the Central government to fix fares, freight rates and other charges and also empowers zonal railway administrations to quote special rates and contractual freight rates. Similarly, trains can be introduced or extended by ...