Losing Lalgarh beatHome Secretary Ardhendu Sen seems to be quite annoyed with the way he is being sidetracked by Chief Secretary Asok Mohan Chakrabarti over the handling of the Lalgarh issue. Last week,for instance,it was Chakrabarti who led a team of senior state government officials to Lalgarh and held meetings with the local administration and people. Further,these days Chakrabarti usually briefs the press about the law and order situation in the state,especially Lalgarh,a job supposed to be done by the home secretary. From Left to CentreIs Principal Secretary for Commerce and Industries Sabyasachi Sen moving to the Centre? Grapevine at the Writers Buildings has it that fed up with the present state of affairs in his department,which has been in limbo since the Marxists faced the electoral debacle in the Lok Sabha elections,Sen has expressed his desire to move to the Centre on deputation. Many others also believe that Sen,who has been in that post for a record six years,wants to move out because he,along with Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee and Commerce and Industries Minister Nirupam Sen,is held responsible by a section of the CPM for the partys defeat. Doctors prescriptionChief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee wore a startled and partly annoyed look while the audience and other dignitaries struggled to control their laughter at a function of the state governments doctors association last week. The CM,accompanied by Health Minister Suryakanta Mishra,arrived a few minutes behind schedule and hurried to take his place on the dais waiting for the speakers ahead of him to finish. A top functionary of the hospital,where the programme was being held,took the podium only to begin his address with the words: We welcome honourable Chief Minister Shri Jyoti Basu. As startled laughter echoed in the auditorium,he quickly corrected himself. Bhattacharjee,taken aback,somehow regained his composure. Paint railway greenAfter Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee has bagged the portfolio of the Railway Minister,a question the Eastern Railway officials are facing more often than not,is if their sudden allegiance to a particular hue is in correspondence with the particular colour of the party,the new minister belongs to. The buzz originated after every programme the Eastern Railway recently organised,conspicuously showcased decorations,tables,banners and even inauguration ribbons- all green in colour. Asked if they had changed the railway colour to green,to show solidarity to Mamatas green Trinamool party,the officials painstakingly explained that the official colour of the Eastern Railway division has been green since inception. Sweetest revengeWith the Central declaration to do away with the UGC and AICTE,vice-chancellors and academicians are leaving no opportunity to vent their ire against the institutions that have been regulators in the field of higher education. When former UGC chairman professor Yashpal,who has recommended doing away with these institutions,came to the city last week to interact with VCs,they not only congratulated him for his recommendations but also did not waste the opportunity to cry hoarse on how there has been compartmentalisation of higher education by these regulators. At the sidelines of interactions,when the issue was raised about the future of the employees of these institutions,a VC,who was earlier associated with UGC,said the employees might be absorbed elsewhere but the people at the helm of affairs will have to face the music.
