Withstanding reshuffle

Pratibha Patil8217;s takeover as the President triggered a thorough reshuffle in Rashtrapati Bhavan, with even the not-so-important Military Secretary changed, because A P J Abdul Kalam had not gone by the Government8217;s choice a few months ago. However, one official has remained untouched8212;1987-batch IAS officer Barun Mitra. He joined Rashtrapati Bhavan as a director and now is a joint secretary. In-charge of constitutional matters, he has completed more than nine years at this position8212;over four years with K R Narayanan and a full term with Kalam. So, how did he survive? It8217;s believed that the turning point came during the Government8217;s famous tug-of-war with Kalam on the controversial office-of-profit Bill, where he played a key role in saving the situation and avoiding an embarrassment to the Government. This Bill was being closely monitored by 10 Janpath for obvious reasons.