JOIN USTop bureaucrats, who do not like to be named, said the political crisis, to certain extent, has affected the day-to-day administration. It is strange that even those ministers who are supporting the CM, too are not attending to official work. Only one minister who was spotted for a couple of hours in Vidhana Soudha was RD&PR Minister Shobha Karandlaje.
Even if ministers come, they mostly remain glued to a TV set or on their cellphones following the political developments, official sources said.
CM Yeddyurappa, who has been claiming and trying to show off that he is still focused on development, has not been able to spend time either in his office, meet officials or tour the state.
A senior official in the CM’s office said the file clearance has been badly hit. A number of proposed policy decisions that need final approval, have piled up. The cabinet meeting, scheduled to be held on Friday evening, was also put off.
Even the donations to the relief fund have begun dwindling with donors not sure of the stablity of the ruling party.
While S M Jaamdar, the nodal officer for executing relief works, insists that the work has been going on smoothly, an officer said, “the pace of work, especially land acquisition for house construction, has suffered. Officers need the CM and ministers’ consent for many development works. But who is available?”
The worst affected are people who want to meet ministers at their official residences seeking solution to their problems. Either the ministers are not available at their residences or strict instructions would have been given to the security personnel that no public should be allowed inside, sources said.
With political crisis hotting up, the austerity measures announced by the CM have taken a back seat. It has been a common sight to see ministers and legislators constantly moving in government cars for holding the meetings regarding the political turmoil. Having food in five star hotels too was also common. Enquiries made at Vidhana Soudha revealed that the cost of ‘air lifting’ the MLAs to Hyderabad and Goa was borne by the mining lords.
In fact, the CM used his official helicopter to offer a pooja at Kukke Subrahmanya to ward of evil spirits that are creating trouble. The cost of using helicopter is a whopping Rs 60,000 per hour, sources said.