Inside The Secretariat: Tussle For Top Vigilance Job, GPSC's AI Move & Online Policing Move

High Stakes For Top Vigilance Post in Gujarat

With Gujarat Vigilance Commissioner and former IAS officer Sangeeta Singh set to retire this October, the state government has begun the search for her successor. Recently retired IAS officer Kamal Dayani of the 1990 batch (former Additional Chief Secretary, GAD), former Chief Secretary Rajkumar of the 1987 batch, and Jagdish Prasad Gupta, IAS officer of the 1991 batch from the Tribal Development Department, are being considered for the post. Sangeeta Singh was serving as Additional Chief Secretary in the Home Department. She was appointed Vigilance Commissioner on the day of her retirement, October 31, 2020. She belongs to the 1986 batch of the IAS. Significantly, her husband, IAS officer Sanjay Prasad, was also in the government’s good books and was appointed State Election Commissioner on the day of his retirement. After his tenure ended, Dr. Murali Krishna was appointed to the post. Singh will complete her five-year term as Vigilance Commissioner on October 31, 2025.

Black Films On Car Windows Take A Dark Turn

The unauthorised (not approved by the RTO) use of black films on car windows in Gujarat has brought in a multitude of challenges for law enforcers, as vested interests have turned the veritable darkness to their advantage to indulge in unlawful activities. This has prompted the state traffic police to launch a special drive to remove such black films from car windows, in compliance with the Gujarat High Court’s order during the Navratri festival, with even some MLAs and party leaders facing the music. The traffic-related offence gained widespread attention to the extent that the matter was taken up at the state secretariat. Cabinet ministers and senior bureaucrats remained immune, courtesy of the fact that they used cloth curtains in place of black films. “We have not installed dark films on the glass doors of our official vehicles, but cloth curtains. Therefore, the police cannot stop our cars," an officer said.

PSUs: Sweet For Some, Sour For Others!

The Gujarat government has decided that employees permanently absorbed into boards and corporations, who are receiving pensions lower than the minimum pension as per the Seventh Pay Commission, will be granted a minimum monthly pension of ₹9,000, with effect from October 1, 2025. However, Pravin Sutariya, president of the Board-Corporation Employees’ Federation, has pointed out discrepancies in the Finance Department’s order. He stated that out of nearly 20,000 retired employees, about 5,000 to 7,000 will not benefit from this scheme, as they are not registered with the Provident Fund Commissioner’s Office. He argued that the government should extend the benefit of the minimum pension to all the board corporation employees. It is noteworthy that retired employees from boards and corporations who currently receive pensions below the minimum threshold will become eligible for the revised pension. According to the Finance Department, the order was issued based on the notification published by the central government and after considering various representations from employees’ unions.

Government In Quest Of Food & Drugs Chief

The Gujarat government is in search of a new Food & Drugs Commissioner. At present, Dr. Ratankunwar H. Gadhvicharan, Commissioner of Health (Rural), has been given additional charge, but soon the state will be compelled to appoint a full-time commissioner for this crucial department. The Commissionerate is considered highly sensitive in the wake of rising cases of food adulteration and spurious drugs. Recently, Dr. Hemant Koshia, who had received six extensions in this important branch of the Health Department and served for over a decade, has bid farewell. Dr. Koshia had earlier served as Joint Commissioner in Food & Drugs from 2001 to 2009, and in January 2009, he was promoted as Commissioner. In all, he served in the same office for 16 years. It is noteworthy that his predecessor, Commissioner S.P. Adesara, served from 1990 to 2007, but was eventually transferred due to a controversial tenure. Together, these two officers held sway over the Food & Drugs Department for a total of 33 years—nearly three uninterrupted decades of one-man rule.

Tweet, Tag, Or Post – Police At Your Doorstep

In Gujarat, residents have turned watchdogs through social media to curb the rising crime rate. According to the State’s Director General of Police, Vikas Sahay, residents can file complaints online or through social media. If anyone tags the police on platforms such as X, Instagram, or Facebook, the police would immediately act on the complaint. In an area in Ahmedabad, for instance, a resident posted a photo on social media about a traffic-related issue, tagging the traffic police. Shortly afterwards, the police responded to the post with photographs indicating that the matter had been resolved. The use of social media to register complaints has proven to be more much more efficient in resolving issues, particularly during emergencies or in cases such as harassment, robbery, murder, rape, and assault. However, the police will need to continuously monitor their social media handles.

UPSC’s AI Leap Inspires GPSC’s Next Move

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) recently conducted a pilot program to test AI-based facial recognition technology during the NDA, NA II and CDS II examinations for fast and secure candidate verification. Implemented in collaboration with the National e-Governance Division (NeGD), this initiative aims to strengthen the integrity of the examination process and make the entry smoother for candidates at exam centers. The pilot program was carried out at select centers in Gurugram, where candidates’ faces were digitally matched with the photographs submitted in their registration forms. The new system reduced verification time to just 8–10 seconds per candidate on an average. At the pilot locations, 2,700 successful scans were completed for 1,129 candidates across different sessions. If such an experiment is implemented by the Gujarat Public Service Commission (GPSC) and other state service commissions, it could benefit both candidates and the examination system.

Udyog Bhavan Renovation Soon? 

The blocks of the Secretariat and its departments are being decorated in a corporate style, yet one part—the Udyog Bhavan—has fallen into a pitiable state due to lack of maintenance. Built 35 years ago in Gandhinagar, the building is now seen in a dilapidated condition. On one floor of the GIDC, the soot from a fire that occurred years ago is still clearly visible. No representative from any corporate house is willing to visit Udyog Bhavan a second time after their first visit. Following the offices of the Industries Commissionerate, GIDC, Indext-B, and eight to ten other offices, all blocks and floors are becoming hazardous. A senior official at the MD level remarked, “The government needs to repair the Secretariat, but no one is even thinking of demolishing this haunted building 400 meters away and constructing a new one. While state ministers and officials often make surprise visits to district offices, ministers or secretaries rarely find the time to visit the board-corporation offices under their charge.”

Recycling Revolution

To tackle the growing plastic pollution in urban areas, the state government is planning to establish Material Recovery Facility (MRF) systems across all cities. A senior official from the State Pollution Control Board said that through this system, collected dry waste will be segregated into recyclable materials such as plastic, paper, metals, and glass, which will then be processed and sold to producers.

Currently, while every municipal corporation has this facility, only 32 out of 150 municipalities are equipped with it. The government has decided to extend the facility to all urban local bodies so that recyclable materials, including plastic, can be supplied as raw material to industries. This decision was taken in a meeting of the State Monitoring Committee regarding MRF facilities in all cities. It is noteworthy that GPCB has also installed vending machines in several cities, where inserting a plastic bottle gives the user a cloth bag in return. The bottles collected are crushed and later used in making plastic roads.