UP secretariat employees are facing unusual problems these days. To save energy, the air-conditioners in most departments are turned off after 6.30 pm. This would have been fine, had the staff managed to leave by that time. But, these days, with most of the Secretaries and Principal Secretaries staying late, the staff too has to stay back. But, while the bosses manage to keep their ACs on, the staff has to make do with fans. The Sachivalaya Karmachari Sangh has complained.
Two months ago, the Secretariat (including the famous fifth floor where the Chief Minister’s Office is located) had seen an agitation when the employees protested against their bosses in the CMO for working till late at night and on holidays. They complained that it was affecting the employees’ health and their family life. Then too the secretariat employees union had asked the Secretaries and Principal Secretaries to stop work after 6.30 pm.
Common effort for Commonwealth Games missing
Though money is no concern to ensure the success of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, there seems to be no united effort towards this even though there is only a year to go. Many of the stadia, shooting ranges and other venues are not yet ready for upgrading to international level in the next few months. Forty thousand rooms are required, but there is still a shortage of 41 per cent.
One wonders whether there is proper coordination between the Central Home Secretary, Sports Secretary and other officials of the Delhi government. If the PM or other high-level functionaries call a meeting, the concerned departments send those officers who cannot do anything beyond noting down the instructions. So, citizens had better keep their fingers crossed for the Commonwealth Games.
On the Northeast fringe
Perhaps the average citizen is aware of the existence of a Department of the Northeast in the Union Home Ministry. However, if he or she is not aware, there is little amiss. Because even the officers in the department wonder why they are there. Nagaland or Manipur are not blissfully peaceful places. But the Home Minister or Home Secretary hardly listens to the advice of the department. The officers feel expenditure on publicity about Manipur to make people aware of its problems and prospects is justifiable. The State’s achievement in sports should be highlighted. But the proposal has been turned down. The Northeast is truly removed from the mainstream.
No end to Krishna’s woes
Senior-level rumblings within the bureaucratic establishment have resulted in some more clipping of the wings of SM Krishna, the high-flying External Affairs Minister. He does not enjoy the sweeping command and control of his predecessor, Pranab Mukherjee, in foreign policy. There’s a reason. The country’s security establishment has been looking askance at Krishna’s grip on details of the conduct of external affairs, especially concerning neighbours.
The Minister is one of three members of the Cabinet Committee on Security, the others being the PM and the Defence Minister. When Mukherjee was part of this apex body, senior bureaucrats breathed easy because of his experience and dexterity. Krishna is considered a novice. So a decision has been made quietly to assign day-to-day handling of SAARC affairs to National Security Adviser MK Narayanan and his staff.
The brouhaha over his making a 5-star hotel his official domicile is not the only development that has added an extra furrow to the brow of the suave, tennis-playing former CM of Karnataka.
