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Journalism of Courage
What secrets lie buried in the EQ test that Madhya Pradeshs ministers took at Pachmarhi?
In 2009,a few months after the BJP had won the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh,Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and 25 other ministers retreated into the glades of Pachmarhi. The new ministers attended a workshop,jointly conducted by the School of Good Governance and Policy Analysis and IIM-Indore,to identify their strengths and weaknesses. At some point that weekend,an emotional quotient EQ test was conducted. But the BJP has been tight-lipped about the sensitive results ever since what happened in Pachmarhi stays in Pachmarhi,is the general party line. Now,the Madhya Pradesh High Court,responding to an RTI petition,has directed the state government to make the results public.
At Pachmarhi,Chouhan and his ministers were tested on parameters like trust,integrity,compassion and emotional expression. Reportedly,they scored low on trust and integrity,which could explain the BJPs reticence. But on emotional expression,the party cant have had much to worry about. Chouhan,who is said to tear up magazines that contain sex surveys to protect his sons from such material,and once brandished fistfuls of grain at voters to illustrate a tirade against Congress misrule,must have scored full marks there.
