Raman Singh146;s nursery

It was only after RSS seniors complained the ministers were spending too little time at work and attending too many public felcitations instead, that Singh cracked the whip. He issued written orders, making it compulsory for ministers to attend office at least two days every week.

With greenhorns in the secretariat, Singh has been asked to get major policy decisions validated by a core committee comprising six top state BJP leaders. Ministers have been told not to sign files without consulting party seniors or the chief minister. They are not even being trusted with departmental transfers and postings.

Not that the experienced hands in the ministry are doing much better. Kanwar had a heated argument on the phone with D.M. Awasthi, SSP, Raipur, asking the police officer to drop criminal charges against one of his supporters. Minister and civil servant growled at each other, to the bemusement of those present.

Aggarwal, considered Singh8217;s number two, jumped the gun in announcing the use of POTA to curb Naxalites. This, when the chief minister was unkeen on POTA and offering talks to Naxalite groups.

If only to prove the more things change the more they don8217;t, Aggarwal, actually his brother, Yogesh, is embroiled in a controversy over a cable television network.

If the infamous Akash Channel was said to be an Ajit Jogi-Congress mouthpiece, CCN, run by rice mill owner Yogesh, is accused of a BJP slant. CCN has a cable monopoly in Raipur and a few other areas of the state.

FOR sheer drama, non-stop fun and games, there8217;s no beating the first-time ministers though. Transport Minister Rajinder Pal Bhatia was in the news recently for insulting the district collector of Rajnandgaon in the presence of district officers and partymen.

Education Minister Vikram Usendi was taught the virtues of silence after he announced he would distribute school bags with pictures of Lord Ganesh or Swami Vivekananda on them. A few months ago, Jogi had distributed bags with his picture on them. The cabinet looked askance at Usendi8217;s proposal, it hadn8217;t even discussed it.

Most of the ministers spent the first month and a half attending felicitation ceremonies, getting their offices re-done and installing red lights atop their cars. The first two may have been par for the course, the third wasn8217;t. The previous Congress government had banned use of beacons by ministers and government officials. The BJP ministry has restored that bit of pomp and pageantry.

The BJP has proposed a 8216;8216;to do8217;8217; list for ministers. They have to set aside a day to meet workers at the state BJP office. They8217;ve been told to mind their manners on tour, not snub bureaucrats publicly. In fact, the party is planning a training camp for its ministers.

WHY did the BJP choose such raw faces, some of them no more than district level politicians, for its ministry? The problem arose when close to a dozen BJP veterans 8212; cabinet certainties 8212; lost the December assembly election. Many of them had experience in the previous BJP government in Madhya Pradesh.

Singh was thus saddled with a team of 15 first time ministers, 10 of them first or second term MLAs. The youngest minister is Kedhar Kashyap, 30, son of tribal leader and BJP MP Bali Ram Kashyap. He is minister of state independent charge for PHE.

8216;8216;I never thought I would become a minister straightway,8217;8217; Kashyap confesses, 8216;8216;It8217;s a great experience. But it will take me some time to learn to work, take decisions on files or apply my mind on policy matters. Currently I only try to study things.8217;8217;

Ajay Chandakar, minister for rural development and parliamentary affairs, is also a first-timer. He has more or less latched onto Home Minister Aggarwal as an apprentice. 8216;8216;I know many things on the ground,8217;8217; he says, confidently, 8216;8216;and will not give a chance to bureaucrats to fool me.8217;8217;

A senior RSS functionary sees the learning-on-the-job ministry as an 8216;8216;opportunity for the boys to grow8217;8217;. They8217;d better grow fast. As per the new law restricting ministry sizes, Singh has to drop four ministers soon. Which of the children are going to be sent home?