Delhi Confidential: Back to basics

North East Delhi MP Manoj Tiwari will undertake a series of inspections at the New Delhi Railway Station to assess facilities for Bihar-bound passengers ahead of Chhath Puja. Tiwari will begin the drive on Tuesday with a visit to the station’s newly-constructed permanent holding area, which is not known for an efficient crowd-management system. This will be the second time that the Purvanchali singer-actor-politician will underline passenger comfort as one of the priorities of the NDA governments at the Centre and in the state. On September 6, Tiwari led a snap showcasing of the facilities at the Patna airport after landing there.

Ruling Out

The Indian Council of Agricultural Research has issued new guidelines for foundation laying and inauguration of infrastructure projects. Now, works costing over `50 crore are to be inaugurated by the PM or Agriculture Minister, while those valued `3 crore or above may be inaugurated by a Cabinet minister or an MoS. Any renovation work irrespective of the expenditure involved should not be inaugurated, it says. “It has been observed that Institute Directors often organise foundation stone-laying or inauguration ceremonies for minor or renovated facilities during visits of senior ICAR officers. In some cases, even small refurbishments of existing structures have been inaugurated… the competent authority has taken a serious view of this practice,” says the October 9 order. Incidentally, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had laid the foundation stone of two buildings at ICAR Hyderabad in June even as half the construction work was already complete.