Losing ground

Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla seems to have suffered on account of Manohar Parrikar being inducted into the Union cabinet.

Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla seems to have suffered on account of Manohar Parrikar being inducted into the Union cabinet. Since Parrikar is the new Defence Minister and a member of the Cabinet Committee on Security, he has been allotted a ground floor room in Parliament House, close to the Prime Minister’s room. Heptulla has been forced to cede her ground floor room — No. 37 — for a room on the third floor. A ground floor room in Parliament House is considered a status symbol for its occupant. For Heptulla, the loss is compounded by the fact that she had occupied the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman’s room, also located on the ground floor, for 16 years.

Stuck to post

Twelve days after the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet cleared UT cadre IAS officer K K Sharma’s appointment as additional secretary in the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare, the officer in question is yet to be relieved of his post as advisor in Chandigarh. Sources said Sharma had been trying for a stint as Goa chief secretary instead of coming on central deputation, but the file moved by the Home Ministry on the matter was turned down by the PMO.

PM’s time table

Conscious of the image of his government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has advised his council of ministers to be punctual for scheduled meetings. Modi, it is learnt, has personally said this to six ministers — Ram Vilas Paswan, Radha Mohan Singh, Dharmendra Yadav, Piyush Goyal, Nirmala Sitharaman and Ashok Gajapathi Raju. The PM said he has received complaints that these ministers — who are handling key portfolios — had been arriving late for their appointments.

Behind schedule

The PM may be prompt when it comes to matters of governance, but even after six months of being in power, his government has not managed to nominate two Anglo Indian members to the Lok Sabha. The tenures of the two earlier members, Charles Dias and Ingrid Mcleod, expired when the last Lok Sabha was dissolved, and a list of names was submitted for the government’s consideration.

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