Delhi underground

The right expression
In politics it seems even staging a protest requires a healthy level of stage-managing. When newly elected All India Mahila Congress Chief Prabha Thakur geared up to condemn the Noida police and the Bahujan Samaj Party for their failure to provide safety to women in Noida,she made it a point to instruct her supporters about the ‘right expressions and gestures’. Soon after she entered Noida,her car stopped to tell the women supporters,who were raising ‘murdabad’ slogans,not to create ruckus. She asked them to put on a ‘serious’ expression as and when the situation demanded.

Basking in media glow
The Delhi ministers’ apparent love for television cameras and tireless urge to give quick bytes is not going down too well with Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit. In her very first Cabinet meeting,Dikshit reprimanded the ministers for allowing reporters to walk into their offices and camp there for several hours. She instructed them to maintain decorum and not give minute-by-minute updates on the government’s work. However,the instructions have fallen on deaf ears and the ministers continue to bask in the light of media cameras.

Hasty decisions
A tout thrives on crisis. And this was evident when the recent petrol strike hit the Capital. Though many vehicles were seen waiting in serpentine queues at petrol pumps,touts managed to make quick money by selling petrol bottles at street corners at inflated rates. There were many takers for the bottles,which saved them from the tiring wait at petrol pumps. However,when the strike was called off on the third day,they rued their haste.

No crunch
While it is known that government schools in Delhi are facing a shortage of teachers,despite contingency measures like hiring teachers on contract since the Delhi State Subordinate Services Board is taking time in appointing new teachers,the Department of Education has its own perspective on the crunch. A DoE official recently said: “Around 8,000 posts for teachers are to be filled,but you must see that about 3,000 of them are required for activities like dance,music and art. And then there are some required for computer education. As far as academics is concerned,there aren’t that many vacancies.”

In the news
In an attempt to feature in the news,a senior doctor at the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital hired a PR agency and regularly called media persons to ensure that his ‘name appeared in leading newspapers at regular intervals’. Recently,he called journalists and arranged an interview with a patient suffering from arthritis. However,it was detected that the patient actually had only a knee injury. Once the doctor’s lie was out,he was seen pleading and tutoring new patients in the OPD to give the journalists interviews highlighting his ‘services’. The journalists,however,walked out before he could ‘arrange’ more interviews.