Gaffe Prone

IN its eagerness to prove former Andhra Pradesh chief minister the late Y S Rajasekhara Reddys loyalty to the Nehru-Gandhi family,the Congress is showing off what had once earned it sharp criticism from Opposition parties. The foreword of Padayatra: My diary a compilation of diaries of the late CM during his 2003 padayatra written by Congress MP Vundavalli Aruna Kumar,describes how almost all the schemes and irrigation projects started by Reddy were named after Nehru-Gandhi family members eight after Jawaharlal Nehru,nine after Indira Gandhi and 25 after Rajiv Gandhi.

Travel Plans

TRAVEL agents authorised by the Railways to book tickets for passengers have dragged the national transporter to the high court. The Rail Travellers Service Agents,an umbrella body of authorised agents,has complained to the court that the Railways was being too harsh and unfair to them in its quest to keep out touts. It has cited a recent circular by the Railways,which had restricted the time allotted during which authorised agents could book tickets from reservation counters. They pointed out that while on the one hand the Railways had published advertisements urging passengers to book tickets only through authorised agents,on the other it was making it difficult for these agents to function. In their petition,the agents have demanded that the circular be withdrawn and that the service charge they earn per ticket be doubled.

Unhealthy Means

UNDER attack for limiting the health allocation to just 1.5 per cent of the GDP as against the promised 2.5 per cent,the Planning Commission is now trying statistical jugglery. It now wants the allocations for myriad Central government programmes like ICDS,water and sanitation,and even mid-day meal schemes to be put under the health head. At least on the mid-day meal scheme though,it is on a particularly slippery ground as even the health experts concede that it is an education intervention and not one of child nutrition.

Copping Out

BIHAR DGP Abhayanand was probably hoping to receive accolades from others at the annual DGPs conference when he offered to make a presentation on his police forces restrained response to a rampaging crowd after the killing of Ranvir Sena chief Brahmeshwar Mukhiya in June. Abhayanand justified the inaction on the grounds that the mob was not destroying any private property only police vehicles and vans and that any intervention from the police could have resulted in the situation going out of control. His policemen,he said,captured the incident on camera which later helped identify and arrest a few of them. Abhayanands argument,however,boomeranged on him,inviting criticism and ridicule from others,including Director of Intelligence Bureau Nehchal Sandhu who said the police forces are trained to deal with such situations and they cannot hide behind arguments that intervention could aggravate the situation. The only consolation for Abhayanand was that Jamp;K DGP Ashok Prasad came to his support.