Kartavya Bhavan Says No To Open Office; CBI Probes Everyone But Its Own

As one walks down the Hill along Rajpath, now renamed Kartavya Path, come other edifices — Rail Bhavan, Krishi Bhavan, and Shashtri Bhavan on one side and Sena Bhavan, Udyog Bhavan, and Vanijya Bhavan on the other. The bureaucrats who adorn the offices in these buildings decide India's economic, social, and industrial policies. There are many tales to be told from the corridors of these grandiose buildings. We let you in on some of them here in this week's edition of Inside Raisina Hill.

Kartavya-Bound Officers Unhappy With New Offices

As reported earlier, Central Secretariat Service (CSS) officers have been shifting to the newly constructed Kartavya Bhavan-3 as part of the Central Vista project for a while. But already, there seems to be trouble in paradise. Some officers are unhappy with the spaces provided to them in the new buildings, and have given a representation to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA) over their grievances. 

In its representation to the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary and the Secretary, MoHUA, the CSS Forum — which represents over 13,000 officers — has raised serious concerns about the “non-compliance with office space entitlements” outlined by the government in the order dated March 16, 2017.

As per the specifications, a Deputy Secretary or a Director is stipulated to have 240 sq ft of office space, an Under Secretary 120 sq ft, a Section Officer 60 sq ft and an Assistant Section Officer 40 sq ft. 

According to CSS officers, those who are now placed in the Kartavya Bhavan-3 are being provided substantially less space than these specifications. They claimed that even critical departments like those under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) have been allotted large, undivided work halls without proper demarcation or soundproofing, leading to frequent disturbances and a lack of privacy, which they claim compromises the confidentiality of the work they do. 

They also claimed that Under Secretaries — who handle court cases, vigilance matters and confidential files — have been treated unfairly. “Despite the sensitive nature of their work, these officers are being made to operate in open-plan offices, where in-person and telephonic conversations can be easily overheard,” a CSS officer said. 

Hence, the CSS forum has requested the government to issue directives to all ministries and departments to review current seating plans and take corrective action where space allocations fall short.

Provision of closed office chambers for all Group A CSS officers (Under Secretary and above), especially those dealing with sensitive and classified matters, in all Central Vista infrastructure projects, was also requested. 

CBI Probes Everyone Except Itself, Flags CVC

The 2024 annual report of the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has said that the CBI has failed to initiate departmental actions against its own staff. This, despite the CBI remaining India’s lead anti-graft probe agency that takes actions against "corrupt" officials across ministries, departments and other organisations under the Union government. 

The CVC report says that as many as 60 cases of departmental action are pending against CBI officials. Among these, 22 have been pending for more than four years. The CVC also lamented that such high pendency of cases against CBI officials dents the reputation and image of the country’s premier investigation agency.

According to the report, till December 31, 2024, 39 departmental cases were pending against Group ‘A’ officers and 21 cases against Group ‘B’ and Group ‘C’ personnel of the CBI, at various stages of inquiry.

The CVC has the power to supervise the CBI in the agency’s investigations relating to offences that are alleged to have been committed under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

The report also flagged that over 1,500 posts were lying vacant in the CBI. “The total sanctioned strength of CBI, as on December 31, 2024, was 7,300, against which 5,798 officials were in positions; while 1,502 posts were lying vacant,” it said.

At 887, the highest number of vacant posts are in the ‘executive ranks’, including 503 of ‘ministerial staff’, 57 of ‘technical officers’, 48 of ‘law officers’, and seven of ‘canteen staff’, the CVC said in the report.

Centre's U-Turn On Extension Of Tenure For Top State Babus

Going by the looks of it, the Centre has taken a U-turn on how to deal with requests made by state governments for extension in service tenure of senior bureaucrats, both administrative and police.

First, it refused extension in service requests for chief secretaries and DGPs by three states — Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, and Bihar. Since then, though, it has given the go-ahead for Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Telangana to extend the service tenures of their respective chief secretaries.  

It all began when the Jharkhand government requested the MHA to extend the tenure of the present acting DGP Anurag Gupta beyond April 30, which the Centre denied. The UP government’s request to extend the tenure of former DGP Prashant Kumar was negated next.

Thereafter, the Bihar government's request for extension of tenure for its former Chief Secretary Amrit Lal Meena was also denied, and Meena retired on August 31. In the same vein, the DoPT also rejected the UP government’s extension request for its former Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh. 

Since then, though, the Centre has done an about-turn. In back-to-back moves, it first gave a green signal to the Madhya Pradesh government to extend the tenure of Chief Secretary Anurag Jain, who was set to retire on August 31, by a year. Then, it allowed Telangana to extend the tenure of its Chief Secretary K Ramkrishna Rao, who was scheduled to retire on August 3, by seven months.

Finally, the Maharashtra government was allowed to extend the tenure of Chief Secretary Rajesh Kumar, who was due to retire on August 31, for three months. He will now continue in office till November 30 this year.

Since refusals and acceptances have been directed at both BJP and non-BJP state governments, the Centre's moves have left bureaucracy watchers confused.

Race For Next Delhi Chief Secretary Heats Up

With incumbent Chief Secretary of Delhi Naresh Kumar Dharmendra set to retire this month-end, the race for his replacement in the government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) has heated up.

According to sources in the DoPT, the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC), chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has shortlisted three senior IAS officers from the AGMUT cadre, as all of them are highly experienced administrators with diverse credentials.

The shortlisted officers are Bipul Pathak (1992 batch), Vikram Dev Dutt (1993 batch) and his batchmate, Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava. The final decision will be taken soon.

Pathak is known for his academic depth and administrative range. He holds a BE in Mechanical Engineering from Kurukshetra University and an MBA. He previously served as Director-General at the J&K Institute of Management, Public Administration & Rural Development, where he played a key role in administrative capacity building during a crucial phase in J&K. His fluency in five languages: English, Hindi, Kashmiri, Punjabi and Urdu, enhances his ability to engage across diverse regions and communities.

Dutt is also known for his technical abilities and policy foresight. He holds a BTech in Electronics and a PG Diploma in Organisational Behaviour. He has held key positions across various levels in the government, and is currently serving as a secretary at the Centre.

Srivastava also stands out for her extensive experience, including in the PMO and MHA. Currently posted as Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (MoHFW), she was earlier Officer-on-Special Duty (OSD) in the same ministry. Before that, she served as Special Secretary in the PMO, overseeing coordination at the highest levels of governance. A graduate and postgraduate in Physics from St Stephen’s College, Delhi, she also holds a Master’s in Public Management from the University of Maryland, USA.