District in-charge minister S A Ramdas received a dressing-down from an ex-chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) for arriving one hour late to attend the inauguration of the Dasara Vidwat Goshti on Wednesday.

Ex-chairman of AEC and also advisor to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) M R Srinivasan minced no words, when he slammed Ramdas for arriving late for the programme organised at the Cauvery Auditorium on the Karnataka State Open University (KSOU) campus.

Srinivasan, who was seated outside the auditorium on a bench, berated the minister and said, “If you don’t have any respect for a 82-year-old person waiting for you, it’s ok. At least have some ‘maryade’ (respect) for the ‘jana’ (people) waiting for you.”

Ramdas immediately apologised to the eminent scientist and that the inauguration of the aqua sports event at Varuna Lake was delayed, which, in turn, resulted in the Vidwat Goshti being held-up.

The Vidwat Goshti is being organised to bring intellectuals under one roof to present their lectures on the contributions of India to the world.