Babus work hard to help ministers boast

As Union ministers are addressing press conferences to showcase the achievements of the National Democratic Alliance, officials of the departments concerned  are working hard, some even during weekends, to prepare materials that help ministers to claim they are doing wonders.

Officials under ministries handling portfolios directly concerned with the people are really overburdened. They have to prepare speeches that could impress common people. The Railways and labour ministries, for example, come under this list.  

As Railway Minister Sadananda Gowda is to address his press conference on Monday, the ministry officials are worried whether he would be able to meet the schedule owing to the controversy surrounding his son. 

However, Gowda has okayed the schedule and the officials are on the job to show how bullet trains and other steps taken during a short period of three months is going to change the rail travel experience.

The Labour Ministry is going ahead with reforms which even strong votary of new economic policies, Manmohan Singh could not do. 

Trade unions, including that affiliated to Sangh Parivar, are opposed to it. However, Labour Minister Narendra Singh Tomar wants to showcase reforms like minimum pension of Rs 1,000  and better facilities by Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation.
 Officials of his ministry are working overtime to prepare points which the minister has to stress in his press conference. He has called officials on weekend for a “crucial” meeting.

Power Minister Piyush Goel has been a known face on TV screens and is aware of dynamics of news dissemination. So, he has chosen Sunday for his press conference, so that he can get better coverage. 

He is also video-linking his press conference to National Informatics Centre studios located at Srinagar, Jammu, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Bhopal, Ranchi, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Hyderabad, Patna, Kolkata , Lucknow and Guwahati. Mediapersons from the above state capitals will have the opportunity to attend his press conference.