Like every durbar, the Government of India has its palace intrigues, gimmicks, whims and fancies. And, on occasion, it can throw up some interesting situations. Like the hilarious one when, in a palace brimming with sycophants, a top official looking after law and order has a wife, involved in planning, with a penchant for painting. In early April, the lady exhibited her works at a venue belonging to a business house. The who’s who of government and industry dropped in.
Of course, the paintings were universally acclaimed and the admiring viewers were heard loudly saying that art was in madam’s genes. Such words were duly backed by action when the paintings commanded prices on a par with a Husain. Walking out, an official asked a colleague whether the paintings were really worth these prices. The reply was, “Can you dare say the emperor has no clothes?”
Sonawane swims against the tide
Although social activist Anna Hazare is from Maharashtra, not many in the State administration have openly supported his anti-corruption crusade. One exception is Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Commissioner Ramnath Sonawane. The bureaucrat not only attended a Hazare rally at a time when none of his colleagues dared to cross the line, but also accepted a felicitation and announced he would join the crusade soon, after retiring.
It brings to mind the Gadchiroli Additional Collector, Rajendra Kanphade. He had the courage to criticise Union Home minister P Chidambaram’s visit to the district. The white-bearded officer is known as a maverick. Local officials reveal that he often vanishes into the jungle areas under Naxalite control for days, much to the consternation of his staff. He invariably returns without incident. Little wonder that he questioned the government’s Naxalite policy.
Nirupama at target practice
Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao, a 1973-batch IFS officer, may or may not hang up her boots in July when her seven-month extension comes to an end. It depends on what her efforts of the past two years yield. Not insignificant is the contribution of hubby Sudhakar Rao, who retired as Karnataka Chief Secretary not too long ago amid a storm of controversy stemming from his proactive support for the BJP government of BS Yeddyurappa.
The couple is said to have been working on the leaders of the UPA and NDA to come to a consensus on the appointment of the next ambassador to the US. How near the goalpost the wife-husband team has reached will be known in the next few weeks. Nirupama has been working extremely hard on her mission, putting in extra hours to spare no diplomatic efforts to secure the job as a post-retirement bonanza. The UPA’s policy of rewarding loyalists is a strong positive for her but the tacit consent of the BJP is another matter.
Officers in 2G net
Murli Manohar Joshi has opened a Pandora’s box by submitting the draft report on the 2G scam before the Public Accounts Committee. Politicians can face the storm over the allegations named by him, but what will happen to the bureaucrats mentioned in the report for not performing their duties and becoming a party to “the dirty game”? Even the former DoT Secretary, DS Mathur, and IRS (I-T) officer, Manju Madhavan, who was Member (Finance) in the Telecom Commission and actually flagged the issue, have not been spared. Joshi also raps the then Finance Secretary, D Subbarao, who is now RBI Governor.
Mathur, it is said, gave an impression that he was against the Telecom Minister’s policies but this did not reflect in his official communications. Madhavan failed to bring to the notice of the Finance Minister or Secretary the disparaging remarks she received from the Telecom Minister when she objected to certain matters. However, she may not feel the heat as it was she who first exposed India’s biggest scam.
The Congress has lambasted it but the draft report is in the public domain and, leaving apart the political mockery, it remains to be seen if the government or CBI will take any action against the officials named.
