Scheduled Tribes - PESA -FRA - Role of Governor !

Scheduled Tribe community constitute more than 8 per cent of our national population  and are still waiting to receive the benefits of freedom even  after a lapse of more than sixty years since we achieved independence.  The tribal populations are placed at the lowest rungs of the society in terms of various developmental indicators.   The lowest literacy rates, high drop-out rates, widespread poverty,  high infant and maternal mortality rates, an alarmingly high incidents of malnutrition, the absence of basic facilities and scarce livelihood means have deprived them the opportunity to a dignified livelihood among the fellow citizens of our country.  It is not merely a matter of coincidence that Left-Wing Extremism is prevalent in the Schedule V areas while the insurgent movements have confined themselves to Schedule VI areas. It is necessary for us to introspect and get to the bottom of the reasons and causes which has led us to this place and situation.

Despite the various efforts that have been made a large gap still remains to be bridged.  The alienation of the tribal population has been growing rapidly mainly because they are being dispossessed of all their livelihood resources.  The diversion of forests and common property resources for the use of non-forest purposes has resulted in the displacement of tribals from their homeland.   The general apathy of official machinery, the escalating assaults related to their existing rights, the growing clout of market forces, the threat of mining and of course, the meager  advancement through planned development efforts have been responsible for the growing unrest amongst this most oppressed and depressed class of people. 

Towards Empowering STs

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs has the responsibility of reducing these glaring gaps by supplementing the efforts of the nodal Ministries in the Government and of the State Governments through need-based interventions.  It has taken up a series of programmes and schemes to empower the tribals socially, politically and economically.  However, in this context, it is pertinent to mention that Governors have a vital role to play.  The Governors have been endowed with certain special powers with regard the Fifth Scheduled Areas.  The judicious use of the provisions enshrined in the Fifth Schedule of our Constitution will certainly make a very positive impact on the tribals living in these regions.

Role of the Governor 

Under the powers conferred by the Fifth Schedule, the Governors can not only direct that any particular law or part thereof may not apply to a Scheduled Area that can also make regulation for good governance and peace in these areas.  The Governors can intervene in areas relating to-Prohibition or Restriction of the transfer of land by or among Scheduled Tribe members; regulation of allotment of land in such areas; and the regulation of money-lending activities.  The Governor has basically been given the legislative power to make regulations for the “peace and good government of any area which is a scheduled area.”The peace and good government are words of very wide importance and give wide discretion to the Governor to make laws for such purpose.   

One can recall the observations made by the President at the Governors’ Conference held on 16th and 17th of September, 2008 regarding the need for an authoritative legal opinion with respect to powers of Governors under the Fifth Schedule.      The matter has since been examined in consultation with Ministry of Law and Justice and Attorney General of India has opined that “in performance of the functions and exercise of the powers under the Fifth Schedule, the Governor  is not bound by the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers of the State”.  The provisions of Articles 244(1) and 244 (2) which provide for the administration of the Scheduled Areas within a State in accordance with a Fifth & Sixth Schedule respectively emerge from the Excluded and Partially- Excluded Areas as envisaged under the Government of India Act, 1935. 

Implementation of PESA

The focus of the the Panchayat Extension Scheduled Areas Act, 1996 (PESA) is to recognize the Gram Sabha as a key unit of governance in the Scheduled V areas as this would in turn give the people a control over their own resources.  The Gram Sabhas under PESA are meant to be competent to safe-guard and preserve the traditions of their people, community resources and customary mode of dispute resolution.  The Gram Sabhas are to approve plans, select beneficiaries and give utilization certificates to the Gram Panchayat.   The Gram Panchayats further have - right to mandatory consultation in matters of land acquisition, resettlement and rehabilitation; right to recommend prospecting licenses/mining leases for minor minerals; power to prevent alienation of land and restore alienated land; power to regulate and restrict sale/consumption of liquor; power to manage village markets, control money lending to STs; ownership of minor forest produce; control over institutions and functionaries in all social sectors; control over local plans and resources for such plans including TSP, etc and planning and management of minor water bodies.

The purpose of  implementing  PESA in the Scheduled V Areas is to promote self-governance in order to address the problem of exploitation.  But unfortunately, the implementation of PESA has not been satisfactory despite the guidelines that have been issued in this regard to State Governments by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj.

Key Issues under PESA

A process of notifying villages as PESA and constituting Gram Sabhas accordingly needs to be undertaken at the earliest.  Applications may be invited from the community and inquired into by an official designated by the State Government in terms of whether or not the villages proposed are as envisaged in PESA.  Villages proposed as per PESA may be so notified and a Gram Sabha constituted for each village.

Recently, Ministry of Panchayati Raj has commissioned studies on laws and rules in each State, pointing out the gaps and possible new formulations.  These have already been shared with the State Governments of Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.  Studies  of remaining States will also  be shared.  These studies  can be used for making necessary amendments.

Ministry of Panchayati Raj has framed model rules which can be used as a reference point for making rules under the relevant State Acts so that the procedures to be followed by Government functionaries are clear.

The National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) has recently prepared a training module on PESA and shared  it  with the States. States may adapt this training module as per their needs and intensify their efforts in capacity building.

Gram Sabha and FRA

The Gram Sabha is a congregation of the entire body of a village and cultivating this basic unit will give an opportunity to all citizens including those who have not been elected to any post to participate in the process of development and governance. It should be our earnest endeavor to ensure that the people who have been neglected for several years are made to feel that they are also a part of our democratic process.

Forest Rights Act for Scheduled Tribes and other  Traditional Forest Dwellers is a land mark legislation which gave a new hope to millions of tribals who have been living in forests for generations.  For the first time ever, this Act seeks to recognize and regularize the pre-existing rights of tribals living in the Scheduled Areas.  The Governors of the Fifth Scheduled States may ensure the speedy implementation of the Forest Rights Act through their respective State Governments as this would reduce a lot of tension arising out of land related issues in these areas.  Under the provisions of para-3 of the Fifth Schedule wherein the Governors of Scheduled Areas States are expected to make an assessment of the administration of the Scheduled Areas and send an annual report to the President of India.  The said reports should also deal with the observations made by the Tribal Advisory Council of the State and indicate steps taken with respect to the recommendation of the TAC.  As per the records available with the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Governor’s Report of the administration of the Scheduled Areas for the year 2009-10 is yet to come from some States.   It is urged that the Governors to send this annual report in a timely manner as this would help the Ministry to evaluate the progress that has taken place in the Scheduled Areas of the States. 

The Sixth Schedule of the Constitution among other things provides for the administration of tribal areas through District/Regional Councils in the States of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura in exercise of powers given under the Constitution, the Governors of the Sixth Scheduled Areas may hold consultations with State Governments and Councils to emphasise need for having the democratic and decentralized governance at the village level.  

Some of the provisions that could be considered may include 

(i) creation of elected Village Councils where they do not exist; 

(ii) making Village Councils answerable to Gram Sabha; 

(iii) recognize Gram Sabha under the law and specify their powers and functions; 

(iv) mandatory and regular election for the Village Council through the State Election Commission 

(v) vesting of more powers to Village Councils and Gram Sabha.

These measures will help in strengthening the democratic process and the empowerment of women which would consequently result in improved health services, education and nutrition programmes.  This would also increase transparency in the process of planning, implementation and monitoring the developmental programmes. 

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs is actively pursuing the matter relating  to  the constitution of a Cell in the Governor’s Office with the State Governments in order to handle the constitutional responsibilities of the Governor relating to the rights of Scheduled Tribes in the Scheduled Areas.   It is high time that the Governors should personally intervene when necessary to deliver to the tribal population the dreams of our Founding Fathers

Polar Vortex

Polar Vortex

• A polar vortex (also known as an Arctic cyclone, sub-polar cyclone, and a circumpolar whirl) is a persistent, large-scale cyclone located near one or both of a planet’s geographical poles. 
• On Earth, the polar vortices are located in the middle and upper troposphere and the stratosphere. They surround the polar highs and lie in the wake of the polar front. 
• These cold-core low-pressure areas strengthen in the winter and weaken in the summer. 
• They usually span 1,000–2,000 kilometers, in which the air is circulating in a counter-clockwise fashion (in the northern hemisphere). 
• As with other cyclones, their rotation is caused by the Coriolis effect.

• The Arctic vortex in the Northern Hemisphere has two centres, one near Baffin Island and the other over northeast Siberia. 
• In the southern hemisphere, it tends to be located near the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf near 160 west longitude.

• When the polar vortex is strong, the Westerlies increase in strength. 
• When the polar cyclone is weak, the general flow pattern across mid-latitudes buckles and significant cold outbreaks occur. 
• Ozone depletion occurs within the polar vortex, particularly over the Southern Hemisphere, which reaches a maximum in the spring.

Decoding the Sahara FRAUD !!!

What is a Debenture ?

• Debenture is the acknowledgement given by the company to u. 
• There r situations where the company may need finance. 
• During that time it issue debentures. By purchasing the debentures it means that u financed the company the value of debentures and the company owes u. 
• For eg. u bought a debenture worth rs. 1000 it means that u financed the company by Rs.1000 and the evidence for it is the debenture. 

Than what is a convertible Debenture ?

• The company may open an option for the debenture holders to change the debentures to shares. 
• Ur position in the company changes from a creditor to a owner in case of convertable debentures. 
• Once the debenture is converted u get share from profit instead of periodical interest. 

What is OFCD ?

• OFCDs are optionally fully convertible debentures. 
• These are issued by the company to potential investors in order to raise money. 
• OFCD holders can become shareholders of the company if they chose to do so. 
• Generally (which is true in the case of Sahara) there is no asset marked against such investment, in other words they are unsecured in nature and in case of a default and liquidation of the company they will be one of the last stakeholders to be refunded.

===========================================

 

What is the Sahara Case all about ?

Sahara’s case is all about OFCD and its investor. But its root is in a ruling by the Reserve Bank of India in 2008. Here is a chronological list of how events unfolded from 2008 to the issuance of non-bailable warrant to Sahara chief.

1. In 2008, RBI debarred Sahara India Financial Corporation from raising fresh deposits. Growth of Sahara’s empire was always a mystery; many believed it ran a Ponzi scheme by collecting funds from investors. The group needed continuous flow of fresh funds to keep it afloat. With RBI closing a door on the group from collecting deposits from the people, the group needed a financial instrument that would be out of the purview of RBI but still get access to public funds.

2. Sahara decided to issue OFCDs by floating two companies – Sahara India Real Estate Corporation (SIREC) and Sahara Housing Investment Corporation (SHIC). It was the Registrar of Companies (ROC) that needed to clear these investment vehicles.

3. ROCs role in the entire episode is critical since it cleared the proposal without raising the most basic questions. Consider these facts. Both the companies had negligible net worth. SIREC had an equity capital of only Rs 10 lakh and a negative net worth at the time of issuance while the net worth of SHIC was around Rs 10 lakh. But both the companies planned to raise Rs 20,000 crore each. Imagine applying for a bank loan of Rs 20,000 crore with only Rs 10 lakh as your contribution. A banker would fall laughing on such a proposal, but ROC allowed the Sahara Group companies to go ahead with the proposal. More than one law was flouted by Sahara in issuing these OFCDs, which it calls private placement.

4. Firstly the sheer size of the issue makes it a public issue. Any company seeking money from more than 50 persons have to take the approval of Sebi in doing so, in which case the company would have to make all the disclosures required as per Sebi norms. The Sahara group had sought money from nearly 30 million investors. Apart from the size and number of investors, another deliberate error was keeping the issue open ended; ideally such issues should be closed within six weeks. In fact a Sahara group company kept an issue of Rs 17,250 crore open for 10 years.

5. Sahara’s money making machine could have continued had it not committed another major mistake. Sahara decided to tap the stock markets to raise money through Sahara Prime City. In doing so the company had to file a Red Herring Prospectus and disclose working and financials of other group companies. This is when KM Abraham spotted SIREC and SHIC and found that the money raised through OFCDs was camouflaged as private placements.

6. Abraham found out that even though the Sahara group companies collected money they did not have proper records of the identity of its investors. How and to whom would they then return the money? Even professional agencies were unable to locate the investors.

7. The two companies, Abraham alleged, intended to rotate money between group companies. Though the OFCD instruments were issued in the name of the two companies, cheques were sought in the name of Sahara India.

8. When Sebi issued its order on the wrongdoings of the Sahara group on June 23, 2011, Sahara group took the matter with Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT). But SAT held the Sebi findings to be correct. SAT in its order said “What it (Red Herring Prospectus) did not disclose was the fact that the information memorandum was being issued to more than 30 million persons inviting them to subscribe to the OFCDs and there lies the catch…This concealment is, indeed, very significant    and goes to the root of the controversy.”

9. Sahara group then approached the Supreme Court but in August 2012, the honourable court asked the group to repay an amount of over Rs 24,000 crore to Sebi within 90 days. The regulator will then distribute the money to bonafide investors. But suddenly Sahara said it had repaid most of the money over the last one year and an amount of just over Rs 5,000 crore was pending.(tactic dekho)

10. In the October hearing Supreme Court had clearly hinted that it was no longer amused by the delaying tactics of the Sahara group and would detain the group’s officials till the payments are made. The Supreme Court Bench had said that previous orders not been compiled with and that was why Roy and the directors were been summoned to explain the delay. Roy did not turn up, thus the non-bailable warrant with an order to appear before the court on March 4.

CENTRAL VIGILANCE COMMISSION --->> A Perspective !

The Central Vigilance Commission was set up in 1964 on the recommendation of Santanam Committee. The CVC was a one man Commission for about three and a half decades for exercising general superintendence over vigilance administration in the Government.  Justice Nottoor Srinivasa Rau became the first Central Vigilance Commissioner with effect from 19^th February, 1964.  

The Supreme Court of India , in criminal writ petitions nos.340-343/1993 (Vineet Narain and others Vs.Union of India and others) popularly known as Jain Hawala case, had directed on 18.12.1997 that statutory status should be conferred upon the Central Vigilance Commission.  It came on the statute book as the CENTRAL VIGILANCE COMMISSION ACT, 2003 (45 OF 2003).

            

The Central Vigilance Commission Act,2003 provides for constitution of Central Vigilance Commission to inquire or to cause inquiries to be conducted into offences alleged to have been committed under the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988 by certain categories of public servants  .  

The Act also empowers the Commission to exercise superintendence over the functioning of the Delhi Special Police Establishment (DSPE) now called Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).     The Commission is also empowered to review the progress of investigations conducted by the CBI and the progress of applications pending with the competent authorities for grant of sanction for prosecution for offences alleged to have been committed under the Prevention of Corruption Act,1988.  The Commission also exercises superintendence over the vigilance administration of the various organizations under the Central Government.

            

The Commission’s jurisdiction to cause inquiry/investigation into alleged offences of corruption suo-moto extends only to the upper echelons of public servants viz. members of All India Services serving in connection with the affairs of the Union, Group ‘A’level officers of the Central Government and such level of officers in the corporations, Government companies, societies and other local authorities of the Central Government.

The Annual Report of the CVC not only gives the details of the work done by it but also brings out the system failures which lead to corruption in various Departments/Organisations, system improvements; various preventive measures and cases in which the Commission's advises were ignored etc.

           

 The emphasis of the Commission has been to have in place effective preventive measures to fight corruption and also to increase transparency and accountability in the functioning of the Government.  In tune with the emphasis on good governance, the Commission closely looks at the prevailing systems and procedures of the Government departments and its organizations and recommends system strengthening and improvements.  The Commission has also been continuously emphasizing on Leveraging technology by adopting e-procurement, e-payment, reverse auction etc. for reducing scope for corruption and improving transparency, equity and competitiveness in public procurement.

        The Commission has been engaging with various international anti-corruption agencies/organizations, as a measure of international co-operation.  Creating a Knowledge Management System for international Association of Anti –Corruption Authorities (IAACA) has been one of the recent collaborative initiatives.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Appointment of the CVC Commissioner !

• The Chief Commissioner of CVC will be appointed by the President of India for a term of six years or at his retirement at the age of 65-years, which ever is earliest. 
• Hence, the CVC Chief Commissioner does not hold office at the pleasure of the President. 
• He can be removed from office by the President on ground of misbehavior but only after the Supreme Court of India has held an inquiry into his case and recommend an action against him.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Organisational set up of the Central Vigilance Commission?

Organisational set-up

The Central Vigilance Commission has its own Secretariat, Chief Technical Examiners' Wing (CTE) and a wing of Commissioners for Departmental Inquiries (CDI).

The Secretariat

The Secretariat consists of a Secretary of the rank of Additional Secretary to the GOI, one officer of the rank of Joint Secretary to the GOI, ten officers of the rank of Director/Deputy Secretary, four Under Secretaries and office staff.

Chief Technical Examiners' Wing (CTE)

The Chief Technical Examiner's Organisation constitutes the technical wing of the Central Vigilance Commission (India) and is manned by two Engineers of the rank of Chief Engineers(designated as Chief Technical Examiners) with supporting engineering staff. The main functions assigned to this organisation are:

• Technical audit of construction works of Governmental organisations
  from a vigilance angle;
• Investigation of specific cases of complaints relating to construction works;
• Extension of assistance to CBI in their investigations involving technical matters and for evaluation of properties in Delhi; and
• Tendering of advice/assistance to the Commission and Chief Vigilance Officers in vigilance cases involving technical matters.                                                               

Commissioners for Departmental Inquiries (CDIs)

There are fifteen posts of Commissioners for Departmental Inquiries (CDI) in the Commission, 14 in the rank of Deputy Secretaries/Directors and one in the rank of Joint Secretary to Government of India. The CDIs function as Inquiry Officers to conduct Oral inquiries in departmental proceeding initiated against public servants.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jurisdiction of CVC !

Commission’s Jurisdiction under CVC Act Members of All India Service serving in connection with the affairs of the Union and Group A officers of the Central Government Officers of the rank of Scale V and above in the Public Sector Banks Officers in Grade D and above in Reserve Bank of India, NABARD and SIDBI Chief Executives and Executives on the Board and other officers of E-8 and above in Schedule ‘A’ and ‘B’ Public Sector Undertakings Chief Executives and Executives on the Board and other officers of E-7 and above in Schedule ‘C’ and ‘D’ Public Sector Undertakings Managers and above in General Insurance Companies Senior Divisional Managers and above in Life Insurance Corporations Officers drawing salary of Rs.8700/- p.m. and above on Central Government D.A. pattern, as on the date of the notification and as may be revised from time to time in Societies and other Local Authorities Which Ministry/Department controls the CVC? The CVC is not controlled by any Ministry/Department. It is an independent body which is only responsible for the Parliament. Can the CVC investigate a case against anybody? Firstly, the CVC is not an investigating agency. The CVC either get the investigation done through the CBI or through the Departmental Chief Vigilance Officers. Secondly, the CVC orders investigation in to cases of officials of Central Government Departments/Companies/Organisations only. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SWOT Analysis of the CVC !

Strength (S)

• The strength of CVC lies in its stature, though it does not find a place in the Constitution.  
• Perhaps while framing the Constitution it was not expected that there would be so much of erosion of values and eruption of corruption.  
• Otherwise, they must have included in the Constitution itself, a Commission of the stature of CVC similar to CEC, CAG and UPSC.   
• Probably, realising this gap that the government thought it fit to give the status of the CVC at par with the CEC/UPSC and subsequently made it a statutory body.  
• So, the present stature of CVC is certainly the greatest strength.

The next is its network provided in the statute by way of extended hands to perform its function, i.e. the Chief Vigilance Officers (CVOs) on the one hand and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on the other.  The spread and reach is all over the country.  This certainly is strength.  

The next one is the amalgamation of experience and expertise.  This amalgamation comes with the officials deputed to CVC from different central services.  This is unique in a sense that the repository of knowledge in CVC gets supplemented and enriched through their domain knowledge / expertise in their respective services.  

Finally, the in-house repository of knowledge available in CVC in its permanent officials who provide not only continuity but also posses the wealth of knowledge and also in the thousands of complaints, cases handled and advice tendered by CVC over half a century is a great strength as well. In fact, with these CVC could set up a Vigilance Academy which would go beyond the stature and purpose of the International Anti-Corruption Academy which was inaugurated in September 2010 in Laxenburg, Vienna, Austria. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weakness (W)

• The biggest weakness of CVC is its jurisdiction.  

Out of the three pillars of our democracy, CVC has no jurisdiction over Legislature and Judiciary.  In the case of the third pillar, i.e. Executive also, the CVC has jurisdiction only over the Central Government and the State Governments do not come under CVC.  In a nutshell, the CVC’s jurisdiction is very limited and does not commensurate with its stature. Even though the CVC is claimed to be the apex anti-corruption body of India, this limitation of jurisdiction has been the greatest weakness of CVC.

• The second weakness is the absence of an exclusive ‘Investigation wing’ in CVC.  

Of course, CVC has been undertaking direct enquiries in addition to the cases referred by it to CBI for investigation.  However, in most of the cases, the CVC depends on its extended hands, the Chief Vigilance Officers (CVO).  The weakness gets exposed here particularly when there are allegations of corruption against Board level executives of the Public Sector Enterprises. In all such cases, the CVOs of the PSEs are not authorised to investigate.  The Board Level executives come under the jurisdiction of the Ministry/Department.  Only the CVOs of Ministry / Department are authorised to enquire into such allegations against Board level executives. Unfortunately, the CVOs of the Ministry/Department are part-time CVOs and they have a minimal manpower and a structured vigilance department is missing. In fact, this is not only weakness but also vulnerable particularly when a Ministry has half a dozen or more PSEs under its basket and managed by a part-time CVO without a structured vigilance department.  

• Another weakness is the lack clarity on the role of the extended hands of CVC, i.e. the CVOs.  

Presently, the CVOs act as special advisor/assistant to the Head of the department or the CEO of organisation.  At the same time, they report functionally to CVC and per se has independence in functioning.  Nevertheless, the actual protection to CVOs comes from CVC when the ACRs of CVOs are finally accepted by CVC after the reporting by the Head of the Department/CEO and review by the Secretary of the Administrative Ministry.  However, this alone cannot guarantee total independence of functioning of CVO on a day to day basis.  The ‘catch 22’ situation can not be ruled out, which is definitely a weakness.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Opportunities (O)

Most of the time, the opportunities emerge out of weaknesses, if they could be identified.  Every weakness when identified provides an opportunity and the onus lies with us to convert it into strength.  Some of the weaknesses discussed above certainly provide opportunity to convert them in to strength.

Firstly, the weakness of limited jurisdiction of CVC could be converted into strength in the following manner:

(i) Recommendation No.71 of the Santhanam Committee reads as follows:  ’71.  Sub-offices of the Central Vigilance Commission may be established at Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi and Madras in charge of serving Government servants of a sufficiently high rank and to discharge such functions and duties as may be allotted to them by the Central Vigilance Commission.’  

• So, here lies an opportunity to expand.  This does not automatically expand the jurisdiction of CVC.  
• Nevertheless, the Commission could perhaps take up the issue further to place it at par with the CEC by all means.  
• Like the CEC is responsible for the State Elections as well, the CVC should be made responsible for entire anti-corruption measures in the country including the States.  
• For this purpose, the CVC needs to be given the Constitutional status with the State Vigilance Commissions under its fold.  
• After all, the money flows to the States from the Union government and the RBI under the Union has the complete control over the States on money matter and as such a simple interpretation could be drawn to this effect and CVC’s jurisdiction could be extended to all States to ensure proper spending of the money allocation.  
• Then automatically, the State Vigilance Commission could come under CVC as in the case of Election Commission.  This may not happen immediately. 
• Till that time, the Commission may seriously take all efforts to establish      sub-offices in the four metro cities as recommended by the Santhanam Committee.  

(ii) The Commission may also consider taking officials on deputation from the State Governments, so that such officials could carry home the vigilance experience which could be utilised for the state governments by entrusting them with the vigilance work in the state government departments.

• Secondly, the role of CVOs needs to be reviewed and redefined.  The present status of CVOs as ‘Special Advisor/Assistant’ to the Head of the      department or the CEO of the organisation needs to be changed and redefined as a ‘special monitor/oversight expert’ who must report to CVC.  
• In fact, this would become feasible with the establishment of sub-offices in Metro cities as recommended by the Santhanam Committee.  
• By this way, the CVOs could be made to report to the CVC through the sub-offices in their respective regions.  This would be similar to the set up and reporting of the Audit under CAG.  

(iii) There is yet another opportunity available in taking officers from various central services on deputation to CVC.  It is true that these officials come on deputation to CVC with their domain knowledge and expertise.  However, they do not generally possess vigilance experience.  In fact, during their deputation period with CVC, their domain knowledge gets amalgamated with the vigilance experience, which needs to be utilised in a much effective and practical way.  Here a cap could be introduced.  For the purpose of deputation to CVC, there should be a condition in such a way that the officers who are taken on deputation to CVC should initially work in CVC for a period of 2-3 years and then would be posted as CVO in some organisation/department depending upon the need / choice.  This in a way would be like an internship in CVC followed by a practical regular work in the organisations.  No CVO who has not completed the so called internship in CVC should be appointed as CVO in the organisations.  This kind of model is working successfully in the education department of Singapore, wherein the officials who frame the policy at the government level are subsequently deputed to the schools/colleges to implement the policies which they made.  This perhaps will ensure that only policies which are practical alone are made.  

The Commission could also think of selection of CVOs to the PSEs through the PESB route, wherein the CVC could be made as the Chairman of the Selection Committee.  

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Threats (T)

• One of the major threats as of now is the Lokpal.  The workload of CVC would go up, with lokpal referring complaints against even Group B, C and D officials to it. The CVC will continue to investigate complaints against Group A officials independently as well as on reference from lokpal. 

• Secondly, the advisory role of CVC has also turned out to be a threat over the period of time.  As per the scheme of things, the option available with the CVC when its advices were not taken by the authorities has been to reflect such cases in its Annual Report, which are placed before both the Houses of Parliament.  The intention behind this was that such cases reported in the Annual Report are deliberated and debated in the Parliament so that the authorities concerned are pulled up and held accountable for their (in)action.  Unfortunately, as is witnessed, there has been hardly any discussion on the Annual Report of CVC in the Parliament.  An easy parallel could be drawn between annual report of CAG and CVC to observe the contrast.  This certainly is a major threat.  Unless the Annual Reports of CVC are taken seriously and debated in the Parliament, the whole effort of the CVC and its extended hands, i.e. the CVOs would not yield result, particularly when the role of CVC and CVO are advisory in nature.  This threat could be overcome only when the CVC gets the Constitutional authority like the CEC and the CAG.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Miscellaneous !

According to the new Lokpal and Lokayut Bill, the CVC would continue to head the selection committee to shortlist the CBI chief, and will also shortlist the newly proposed director of prosecution for the investigating agency.