Combustible Cabinet
Two Cabinet Ministers erupted in a verbal brawl during a cabinet meeting, leaving the chief minister and others baffled. It was over the proposal to constitute an authority looking after the revered shrines of the state. While one of the two insisted on such an authority being constituted the other erupted in anger, arguing that the committee now in place should not be dissolved as it is serving the purpose it is meant to. The unseemly fracas reminds one of what a former chief minister is saying about those from the Congress- now in the saffron camp- proving difficult to tame. Things cooled down after a certain time. But the possibility of such fiery exchanges erupting again and again during the cabinet meetings remains alive with the mercurial duo remaining at daggers drawn since the time they were in the old camp. It is, however, crystal clear to the discernible why one of the duo is batting for the present committee and why the other is going out of his way to swap it with a fresh one.
Retirement Quandary
The long-continuing practice of the retired officers being reemployed when seen against the backdrop of the Uttarakhand government making those above 50 to face the screening committee is likely to snowball into a major issue in the coming days. Questions are being raised over the discriminatory norm of age being deemed as the yardstick for efficiency as juxtaposed with those even nearing 60 being roped in afresh to speed things up. The move to infuse fresh blood in the administration at the expense of the grey-haired is welcome. However, would not the same logic apply to those whose age well crosses the bar of superannuationIJ Time would tell whether the recent move to chop the deadwood is meant to infuse efficiency or a ploy to favour the politically well-connected into the government service. At best, things are murky with politics being a game of the imponderables.