Rajasthan Governor Madan Lal Khurana finally had his moments in the sun when his much-hyped janta durbar got off to a ‘‘better than expected start’’. Added bonus was the presence of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, who briskly went about the business, with Khurana trying to keep pace. On the sprawling lawns of the Raj Bhavan here, hundreds had gathered with letters in hands, waiting for the healing touch. Despite the teething troubles, Khurana and Raje managed to accept the applications from everyone who had queued up to meet them. While Khurana insisted on checking how many people were below the poverty line, Raje went through the rows of people quickly, and directed her staff to take necessary action.‘‘There are mainly three kinds of problems that people have come with,’’ Raje said. ‘‘There were complains from relatives of people who died in service, people wanting jobs and some demanding access to health services. The only cases where the government will not be able to do much is unemployment. I have told everyone to apply for jobs and try on their own first.’’Admitting that giving government jobs to everybody was not possible, Raje said: ‘‘They all want government jobs. But governments are shrinking and the job openings demand certain qualifications. This is a problem which cannot be fully solved by the government alone.’’A number of complaints also related to non-payment of wages during famine relief work last year. ‘‘The previous government has left behind this mess,’’ Raje said, adding, ‘‘They made people work and in return gave them slips of paper. Now, all these people are coming to us to clear their dues.’’ Raje has already written to the Centre, asking for 50,000 metric tonnes of additional wheat, to tide over this problem.There were complaints, minor hitches and confusion. Khurana, however, brushed them aside as first-day problems and said: ‘‘We will go through all the letters we have got and sort them carefully.’’After more than an hour of holding court, a tired-looking Khurana said: ‘‘The first task will be to identify the genuine complaints of BPL families and dealing with them.’’As the officials rushed about the neatly manicured lawns, trying to keep a track of the complaints, the Governor and the politician winded up the show.
