The National Advisory Council (NAC) set up by Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has now become a limp shadow of its earlier avatar, after Ms Gandhi’s exit and Rahul Gandhi’s seeming role in UPA’s functioning, presently. That the body has practically lost its meaning is apparent from the fact that no communication has been sent to the government, even though there have been regular meetings of its members.

For the record, the last communication from the NAC to the government was on March six, 2006, 17 days before the UPA chairperson quit from her Lok Sabha membership as well as NAC chairpersonship following allegations that she had been holding an office of profit in the form of the latter. The NAC, set up to monitor the implementation of the National Common Minimum Programme (NCMP) of the UPA government, is continuing to hold meetings to review various programmes of the government, but as highly-placed Congress sources put it, “it is no more the same story now”.

“Since Ms Gandhi resigned from the chairperson’s post, the NAC has practically fizzled out. The earlier zeal and drive is no more there,” the sources said.

The last meeting of the body was held as recently as on January 24, to review the implementation of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Mid-Day Meal programmes of the government. Incidentally, social activist Aruna Roy and economist Jean Dreze had earlier quit the body, set up by the Prime Minister as an interface between the government and the civil society on the implementation of the NCMP.

Roy had quit the body in June, 2006, expressing her unhappiness at the way NAC was functioning and over the lack of rehabilitation for tribals affected by the Narmada dam. Her role was crucial to NAC pushing the government to enact the Right to Information Act and the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme Act. When Rahul Gandhi demanded better implementation of the NREGA, it signalled that he was assuming a role that NAC had been set up for.