Seating Plan

Secretaries and other senior officials were restricted to their seats at Rashtrapati Bhawan the whole day while attending a meeting of the committee of Governors

Seating Plan

Secretaries and other senior officials were restricted to their seats at Rashtrapati Bhawan the whole day on Thursday while attending a meeting of the committee of Governors on farmer-industry partnership since President Pratibha Patil decided to sit through the entire session. The President usually attends the opening and closing sessions of such conclaves. Many officials use the opportunity to dash out in between to attend office or other meetings,and return in time for the closing session. On Thursday,however,the President sat through the entire seven-hour session along with the Governors,leaving the officials with little choice but to remain in their seats. The meeting,incidentally,was to recommend measures to enhance productivity and sustainability of agriculture sector,particularly rainfed farming in the country.

Securing Support

Crestfallen after failing to get the National Food Security Bill cleared by the Union Cabinet in one go,Food Minister K V Thomas has decided to intensify his efforts to ensure that it is approved when the Cabinet takes it up again on Sunday. He is already learnt to have got in touch with Veerappa Moily,Sushil Kumar Shinde,Farooq Abdullah and Kamal Nath. Next,he is slated to meet P Chidambaram,Kapil Sibal and Vyalar Ravi. He is also learnt to have reached out to Trinamool Congress leader and Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi to keep the UPA constituent in good humour to avoid any embarrassment on this issue.

Work Out

When everybody was keen to express their views on the Lokpal issue at the all-party meeting convened by the Prime Minister,RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav was on a different trip. He was concerned about when the meeting would end, said a leader who attended the meeting. Lalus argument: People have been working since morning. How long would you make them work? he reportedly kept asking. Who would have thought Lalu,who has been virtually jobless all this while,was actually overworked?

Back with Interest

BJP leader and newspaper editor Chandan Mitra was leading the Opposition demand in the Rajya Sabha for Home Minister P Chidambarams resignation over the conflict of interest issue. The Minister of State in the Prime Ministers Office,V Narayanswamy,took him on over the same issue. Your paper The Pioneer has published the charges against Chidambaram. You cannot be raising the issue in the House. This is conflict of interest.

Voting Rights and Wrongs

A day after the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi urged the government not to bring the Lokpal Bill,many of his fellow parliamentarians were echoing his views. At the all-party meeting,the Hyderabad MP had said that this anti-graft legislation should not be brought as it would collapse under its own weight. If worse comes to worst,the PM and the CBI must be kept out of Lokpals purview and the Lokpal should be from SC/ST,backward caste or minority community only,he had demanded. If we dont have a party whip,I would also vote against this legislation, said a Congress MP on Wednesday. On Thursday,the Congress issued a whip asking its MPs to be present in Parliament from Monday to Thursday.