Yes, chief minister

Not long ago, there was a certain daredevil chief minister of a certain state not Laloo of Disneyland who called his director of public re...

Not long ago, there was a certain daredevil chief minister of a certain state not Laloo of Disneyland who called his director of public relations DPR and asked him to appoint a certain fellow as district public relations officer DPRO in a certain district.

The DPR submitted to him respectfully that there was already a DPRO in position there. 8220;Transfer him to some other district,8221; commanded the CM. The DPR bowed his head like a darbari in Mughal darbar and whispered gently to the CM, 8220;I would be happy to do that, sir, but I would suggest that first you may like to talk to the home minister.8221; The CM wanted to know why that was necessary. 8220;That is,8221;8217; submitted the DPR, 8220;because the present DPRO happens to be the son-in-law of the home minister8217;s brother and he is the one who looks after his farmlands.8221;

8220;What about my farmlands?8221; the CM almost said, but he didn8217;t. For he knew that the DPR knew that his own farmlands, too, lay in the same district. 8220;All right,8221; said the CM, 8220;let the home minister8217;s brother8217;s son-in-law continue to work there as DPRO. Let the man I am talking about also taken there as DPRO.8221;

How could that be? There could be only one DPRO in a district just as there could only be one CM Bihar excluded, again in a state. 8220;Under the rules, Sir,8221; ventured the DPR, 8220;there can be only one DPRO in a district.8221;

The CM could not brook that kind of advice from his DPR. 8220;Who makes rules?8221; he put it to him a bit sternly. 8220;You, sir,8221; submitted the DPR meekly. 8220;In that case,8221; said the CM, 8220;the rule from today is that in the district I am talking about, there will be two DPROs till further orders.8221;

The second DPRO was appointed and everything proceeded according to plan. Just as everything is proceeding according to plan in today8217;s India where every second member of the ruling alliance at the Centre is either a minister or chairman of some corporation or committee holding the rank of a minister. Just as in Mayawati8217;s kingdom in UP, there are ministers hopelessly struggling to find out what they are expected to do. Just as in Shinde8217;s poultry farm in Maharashtra, strict control is exercised to see that the chickens don8217;t go astray.

We are told that rules are in the making to restrict the size of cabinets to ten per cent of the legislators. 8220;We know,8221; said good old Ghalib, a long time ago, 8220;that paradise does not exist. But the idea is good. Let it remain as one of Ghalib8217;s favourite fantasies.8221;