Delhi Confidential: Some Respite

Suresh Prabhu

Railway babus have managed to work around the latest diktat by minister Suresh Prabhu that all those who have completed their terms in the present posts should be repatriated. The deadline was March 31. But officials have held the plea that en masse departure of staff from existing posts might stall important work. So they have got Prabhu to agree to stagger the process, which means a few more months would go by before the process completes. Last heard, orders to move out around 30 people were issued. Since the total number of affected is in the hundreds, officials say it is a breather of sorts.

INTERIM ARRANGEMENT

Following retirement of Vijayalaxmi Chhabra from the post of Doordarshan’s Director General — she was made interim DG in 2014 — the race for the top job at the public broadcaster has begun again with at least nine senior officials, mostly from Doordarshan and All India Radio, in serious reckoning. Two IAS officers, one each from Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh cadres, have also been shortlisted for the job.

However, the Prasar Bharati Board, which has to select and appoint the new DG for Doordarshan, is yet to fill up several key vacancies of its own and won’t be able to appoint the DD DG till its own full board is in place. So, the government has once again resorted to an interim solution. C Lalrosanga, currently an ADG in AIR, has been named as interim DG of Doordarshan till further orders.

REACHING OUT

The top leadership of the Congress finally seems to have realised the importance of social media in connecting with the masses. The party is going to start two WhatsApp groups called Amethi and Rae Bareli, the constituencies of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi respectively, in which residents of the constituencies will be added for regular updates. Similarly, Facebook pages for both the constituencies will also be created. It seems these activities are being carried out under the direct supervision of Priyanka Gandhi, who is monitoring it very closely.

ON VACATION

After her earlier trip was turned down by the PMO, Minority Affairs Minister Najma Heptulla has finally left on a two-week vacation to the United States. All three daughters of the minister live there. Her youngest daughter Asma, who is based in Chicago, had in fact worked as a volunteer in President Barack Obama’s campaign.

Source:: Indian Express