Uniform consent for coal probe to come up in Centre-state meet today

Irregularities in coal block allocation will come up for discussion between the Centre and states on Tuesday, in the context of seeking state consent for investigation. Absence of state consent often results in blocking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. In a deliberation with all states and Union territories, the department of personnel & training (DoPT) will try to find a "uniform consent" of various state governments in cases relating to allegations of irregularities in the coal allocations. This will be among the many administrative and human resource issues to be discussed at the first such meeting in the Narendra Modi-led government.

Currently, taking up investigation by the CBI, a state requires prior consent of the latter's government according to Section 6 of the Delhi Special Police Establishment Act, 1946. As states have furnished different decisions and opinions in the coal allocation cases, "it is therefore requested that the states concerned may provide uniform consent in such cases", according to the agenda of the Tuesday meeting to be held in the capital. In the coal scam, the CBI has filed 26 first information reports, two charge-sheets, four closure reports, and is looking into five preliminary enquiries.

ON AGENDA

• Centre & states to discuss irregularities in coal block allocation, seeking state consent for investigation
• Absence of state consent often results in roadblock in a CBI probe
• Courtesy to public representatives and privilege notices against IAS officers are also part of the meeting’s agenda

Courtesy to public representatives and privilege notices against Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers are part of the meeting's agenda. Among the list of pending privilege notices, for which states are yet to respond, are those seeking clarification on whether a member of Parliament (MP) can call government officials to public meetings chaired by him; allegations by MPs of discourteous behaviour by district magistrate of a state; and MPs not getting invitations for inauguration of state government schemes.

Communication strategy, for which the Modi government has been both lauded and criticised for different reasons, will also be discussed. "In the digital era, where the speed of communication transactions has cast onerous responsibilities on the administration for efficacious governance, the three cornerstones for action are fairness, accountability and transparency in all endeavours," says the government note on the meeting. Towards that goal, the value of human capital and the power of new technology have to be adequately harnessed, according to the meeting agenda. The Modi government is known for giving out information using new technology tools such as on Twitter and Facebook. Sharing of best practices on communication between states and the Centre will be another focus area.

The meeting will take up issues related to cadre training, and seniority. The strength and composition of the IAS cadre of any given state is reviewed by the DoPT at an interval of every five years in consultation with the state government concerned. Since the IAS cadre review is due next year for Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Jharkhand, Manipur, Tripura, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim and Uttar Pradesh, these state governments have been asked for their proposals. Top officials of state governments are expected to be present in the meeting.