Reporter's diary: Rush for ground floors

RUSH FOR GROUND FLOORS

Suddenly every IAS and IPS officer in Uttar Pradesh wants an office on the lower floors and even houses on the ground floor. The reason for this are the recent earthquakes and aftershocks that left everyone in a state of, well, shock. “My office is on the seventh floor of a high rise building and during the quakes and the aftershocks, we were completely rattled. It is difficult to evacuate easily from the seventh floor so I have requested for a change of office,” said a senior IAS officer.

An estate department official confirmed that they had also received requests for change of houses to the ground floor. “It seems that several officers now need a ground floor house because their parents are ‘old and infirm’. We cannot give everyone a house on the ground floor but there is tremendous pressure on us,” he said. The Chief Minister and majority of the top ministers in the state live in single-storied bungalows and are safe. They have not made any such requests so far.

DEVOTION OR DESPERATION?

Orissa agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy never thinks twice before courting a controversy as it yields lots of publicity, even if negative. A fresh controversy started during the holy ceremony of Daru Sagadi (a holy caravan carrying Neem log for Lord Jagannath). While the public is not allowed to touch the cart, Mr Maharathy, dressed as a cart man, mounted the bullock-cart in a bid to project himself as a true devotee of Lord Jagannath.

This athleticism was captured and relayed by local television channels that were covering the Daru Sagadi march to Puri from Mr Maharathy’s Pipili constituency. “Was Mr Maharathy allowed to climb the cart because he is an influential minister? He must answer this question and beg apology for violating the established convention,” said advocate and social activist Nishikant Mishra. However, Mr Maharathy remained defiant: “I just mounted the cart in order to serve and to be a part of the holy march of Daru Sagadi. The priests have committed no mistake. I don’t care about the opinion of others.” While the Congress is sharpening its knife to attack the minister, the Biju Janata Dal is wondering how to dodge the issue.

KISSA KURSI KA

The USP of Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi before 2014 general election was that he never promoted his family members in politics. However, this attribute was put to test when his only son, Gaurav Gogoi, decided to contest the general elections in 2014 and got elected. Now that the time has come to choose his successor, the octogenarian leader has passed the buck — sometimes he says it’s up to the Congress high command to take a decision and sometimes jokes that he has not taken retirement from politics yet. However, his detractors claim that Mr Gogoi intends to hand over his chair to his son. This has been the topic of discussion among the party leaders for a long time, but in lighter vein.

However, recently a photograph of junior Gogoi sitting in the chair marked for the chief minister has come into focus. He is seen interacting with youth Congress leaders in the chief minister’s official meeting hall. His detractors who were instrumental in circulating the photograph taken secretly by a Congress leader say that Mr Gogoi is, indeed, preparing for his masterstroke.

THE HEAT IS ON

The sartorial slip that put young IAS officer Amit Kataria’s reputation as a fearless and forthright bureaucrat at stake has now become the subject of intense debate in Chhattisgarh. Amidst the raging debate on Mr Kataria’s conduct while receiving Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his recent visit to Chhattisgarh’s conflict zone of Bastar in “informal” attire — shirt and sunglasses, instead of the prescribed bandhgala and no eyewear — as the district magistrate of Jagdalpur, two pertinent questions have been raised: Is the issue too silly to be taken note of, or, is it too serious a lapse to be ignored?

Mr Kataria was given a warning by the Chhattisgarh government for ignoring protocol. Admirers of Mr Kataria have jumped to his defence, citing his commendable service record wherein he was able to rescue Raipur Development Authority (RDA) from straitened circumstances to make it a revenue surplus civic body and how he refused to succumb to pressures by “self-seeking” politicians and asked a senior ruling BJP leader, in one instance, to “get out” of his chamber, to dismiss the sartorial slip as “not worth taking note of”.

Some retired bureaucrats, including former Chhattisgarh chief minister Ajit Jogi, although sympathetic because of his clean image, reprimanded him,  mildly, for flouting the dress code on the occasion. Soon an explanation, purportedly ascribed to him, was put out on WhatsApp to defend his conduct. One cannot wear bandhgala in 40 degree Celsius temperature, the message in effect said. Apparently irked over Mr Kataria going public to clarify his position on the sensitive issue, chief minister Raman Singh directed his chief secretary to take the matter seriously. As he waits for the note from the chief secretary to decide his fate, Mr Kataria’s well-wishers wonder if all his good work will come to naught over so trivial an issue.