gfiles magazine

May 22, 2018

Bric a Brac : North Block adrift


Anew grapevine has taken root in the Finance Ministry since the news of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley kidney problems appeared in the media. Arun Jaitley himself tweeted about his health, “am being treated for kidney related problems & certain infections that I have contracted. I am therefore currently working from controlled environment at home. The future course of my treatment would be determined by the doctors treating me.” Jaitley’s sickness has created a different scenario in North Avenue. North Block is a busy zone and the scenario seems much the same. The same cannot be said of the Finance Minister’s office. Generally, the visitor room of the Finance Minister is full whenever the Minister is in his office. Now there are less public visitors. Business leaders are not seen though their heads of corporate affairs are seen meeting civil servants for pushing their files. The really worrisome situation is the absence of babus. Though they reach office in time due to the biometric attendance system but most of the day, they are not sitting in their rooms. The jurnos who visit the North Block after lunch find it difficult to locate anybody to get some inkling of what is happening in the ministry. Importantly, nobody dares talk about a change of Finance Minister as Prime Minister Narendra Modi has unflinching faith in the capacity and capability of his minister.


No comments:

Post a Comment