The Ministry of defence’s obsession with secrecy is both well known and understandable. But certainly it seems to have taken the secrecy fixation to a new level by censoring one of its own journals. Certain seasoned observers say, it’s a first that Sainik Samachar, the bi-monthly century old journal of the armed forces, will be vetted before it goes to print.
Apparently, the Army brass is objecting to the classified information— names of Army units, appointments of officers etc— being published in the journal. Interestingly, sources say only the Army seems to have raised these concerns. The other two services seem quite content with the journal. Nevertheless, the upshot is that now Lieutenant General DS Bartwal, Director General of Military Intelligence, will clear all articles submitted for publication.
But some observers are wondering why this has become an issue, especially when the journal’s content is contributed by Army officers themselves, after getting the required clearances from their superiors. But that’s for those who wish to quibble. The defence ministry has already moved to issue the note confirming the decision and clearly babudom rules the roost once again.
Sainik Samachar under Scrutiny
Bureaucrats misuse RTI Act
Nowadays the Central Information Commission (CIC) is busy playing "agony aunt" to a score of babus whining over various promotional and compensation matters. That seems to be the big new bugbear of the CIC. The trend in babudom, insiders share, is that many bureaucrats are now actually using the RTI Act for their own personal vested interest. Ranging from scrutinising file details when superseded, to petty complaints on out-of-turn allotment of houses, these applications make up an alarming 40 per cent of the ones received by the CIC.
Babus misuse RTI Act
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