Feeling the pinch

Minister of State for Urban Development Ajay Maken has distributed copies of the Sixth Pay Commission report to all the eight housing colonies for government employees in New Delhi8212;with a preface thanking the UPA government for implementing the Commission8217;s recommendations. Maken, who is the MP from the constituency, began a tour of government quarters hoping to receive kudos but he found that the employees were keener to discuss their individual complaints8212;sewerage problems, water shortages and electricity breakdowns8212;than to talk about their salary hikes. Maken has now decided it is simpler to host big lunches and dinners for his constituents than to visit them at home.

Food for thought

Despite her illness, Minister for Women and Child Welfare Renuka Chowdhury, was at her combative best when she confronted Deputy Chairperson of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia at Thursday8217;s Cabinet meeting, on the issue of the type of meals to be served under the Integrated Child Development Services ICDS. Chowdhury pointed out the impracticality of the Commission8217;s suggestion that only hot cooked meals should be supplied in ICDS kitchens all over the country. There was, she pointed out, an obvious lack of the 3As availability accessibility and affordability, to be able to implement this. The necessary infrastructure was missing at the grassroots, from cooking vessels to fuel to clean water. The minister also questioned the Planning Commission8217;s U-turn in its policy towards food fortification. She was unmoved by Ahluwalia8217;s protests that many organisations would rebel if the Commission8217;s proposal for hot cooked meals was not implemented. Chowdhury asserted that she was answerable to the people and could not be intimidated by a few members of civil society. Her male ministerial colleagues decided it was wisest to stay away from the minister8217;s line of fire.

Fortune8217;s favourite

Ashwani Kumar, the soft spoken CBI director who took charge in August, was the dark horse who pipped the front runner and media favourite, former special director CBI, M.L.Sharma, to the post. The Delhi media speculated that Kumar, formerly DG of Himachal Pradesh, must have had a powerful backer to have swung the coveted post at the last hour. Actually the opposite is true. The PMO was impressed because Kumar was the only candidate who didn8217;t petition senior leaders in Delhi before the selection process.

This is not the first time fortune has smiled on Kumar8212;despite the odds. In 1972, he came to Delhi to appear for the UPSC exam. A stranger to the Capital, Kumar had to change two buses to reach the examination centre at Dholpur House. On his way, his pocket was picked. On hearing Kumar8217;s story and seeing his torn pocket, the conductor not only excused him from buying a ticket but gave him money for the second bus ride as well. An invigilator at the examination centre was similarly kind and gave Kumar Rs 5 for his return journey. Kumar remembers these two acts of kindness by strangers with immense gratitude to this day.

Home again

The Tata group, although originally from Gujarat, has not invested in its home state for the last 50 years. Until Nano arrived in the state, the only Tata industries in Gujarat were Tata Chemicals in Mithapur, Saurashtra and the century-old Navsari Cotton Mills. Earlier attempts by Chief Minister Narendra Modi to attract the Tatas had largely been unsuccessful. The Tatas had explained that they were not interested in setting up industry but wanted to set up a hotel along Gujarat8217;s scenic coastline. The Gujarat Government offered a pick of the locations but the Tatas held back. They felt Gujarat8217;s prohibition laws would come in the way of wooing tourists.