Unlike his predecessor Yashwant Sinha, who frequently quizzed finance ministry officials as to why they were following one particular approach and not another, Jaswant Singh has given his officers full freedom to carry out the nitty-gritty of the budget exercise. Singh’s standing instructions are that he should not be disturbed over micro aspects of the budget and only be consulted on macro issues which call for a political decision at the Prime Minister’s level. This year’s budget is bound to be pretty soft, since the government is aware that general elections are just a year away. There is also some serious thinking on advancing the election dates in view of favourable opinion polls. Singh, with his army background, has incorporated some additional precautionary measures to ensure that the secrecy of the budget is not blown. Apart form a senior IB official posted in the excise department, men from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) are standing guard outside the entrance to the revenue department. A large gate with grills has been placed strategically on the first floor corridor of North Block between the home ministry and the finance ministry to insulate the L-shaped block where the officers who prepare the budget sit. All visitors to this corridor are frisked, and the gate is locked after 5 p.m. Monica On Board Pramod Mahajan may have lost his job in the communications ministry but at least his former aide Monica Arora has retained her directorship on the MTNL board. Mahajan had appointed the youngest ever board director without following due procedure. For four months, Monica could not take charge as a consequence, and Mahajan had to intervene personally to plead for her appointment to be cleared with retrospective effect. Deputy PM L. K. Advani has finally okayed Monica’s appointment, but with a caustic comment on the file suggesting that in view of the media publicity surrounding the case, he per force had to do so. Glory, No Power The information and broadcasting ministry is no longer as powerful as it once was, which explains why Pramod Mahajan refused to accept it as an alternative to the communications portfolio during last week’s reshuffle. One of the few major decisions left with the ministry is whether foreign news channels can uplink from India in view of the Star News channel’s application in this regard. However, the new MoS Ravi Shankar Prasad will have little scope to act unilaterally since his predecessor Sushma Swaraj had referred the question to all concerned ministries for their opinion. These inputs will now have to be placed before the Cabinet. While the ministry has little clout, the plus point is the publicity benefits. Doordarshan and AIR makes sure that their minister gets due prominence and even private TV channels are always keen to keep the I&B minister on their right side. At her farewell tea Swaraj turned to the DD news head and remarked ‘‘I never asked you to project me while I was minister, but now that I am going to the health ministry I will ask you to project me.’’ Similarly Swaraj requested the PIO Sahab Singh, whom she had appointed, to ensure that the health ministry was adequately covered by the media. The director, film festivals, remarked that they would all remember Swaraj for her favourite sweets and fondness for dhoklas. Swaraj tartly retorted, ‘‘You mean you won’t remember me for my work!’’ Post Haste Conclusion The media described Advani’s takeover of the department of personnel as a major shift of power. In fact, the establishment officer may sit in the personnel ministry but he continues to report to the PMO through the cabinet secretary. This is because the establishment officer, who initiates the files for appointments, is attached to the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), of which the PM is the chairman. (Selections for some 3000 posts of the rank of joint secretary and above are referred to the ACC). The personnel minister and secretary personnel for the most part will get to decide only on issues concerning disciplinary action, reform, training of the cadre and inter-ministerial disputes on postings. Coterie Vs Committee Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi may go through the motions of setting up various committees for different tasks, but when it comes to the crunch she relies on the advice of her small coterie and by-passes the concerned committee. Motilal Vohra is understandably upset: he is in charge of the party in UP but Manmohan Singh did not bother to consult him before fixing up an appointment between Sonia and Mulayam Singh Yadav to discuss a possible tie-up in UP. In matters concerning foreign affairs, Sonia relies entirely on Natwar Singh, even though the party has other foreign policy experts like Narasimha Rao, Pranab Mukherjee, Mani Shankar Aiyer, Salman Khurshid and Eduardo Faleiro. Actually, Sonia is increasingly turning for advice to journalists rather than her party colleagues and Congressmen recall bitterly the fate of V P Singh who was ever ready to lend his ear to his favourite scribes. Write to coomikapoor@expressindia.com
