CRANKY COMRADESHIP
Departing from the convention of a bureaucrat visiting a minister at the latter’s office, a minister has had eyebrows raised in the ever inquisitive Babudom by visiting the Babu’s office frequently. Tongues wagging, the curious Babus are saying that the minister is out to promote the importance of the Babu, making it clear to one and all that he is the person to take commands from. Asked why the convention is being twisted, the minister affirmed that the long-standing friendship between them was what was leading to it. Those who have greyed their heads while working in the Babudom are amused while remembering a minister during the previous regime getting annoyed over then Chief Secretary, busy with a meeting, asking him to wait.
EGO OR GREEDIJ
A Minister and a senior Babu have locked horns apparently for ego. But the discerning can hardly be bemused. What happened is that the minister asked the Babu to transfer another Babu working under him. But the seasoned Babu understood why the minister is after his junior. The junior Babu initiated manufacturing of a product with the help of a self -help group (SHG) which is fetching a huge profit. Seeing things, some friends of the Minister approached him, seeking permission to manufacture the same. The minister subsequently asked the junior Babu to clear decks for it. However, to the chagrin of the minister, the junior Babu refused to fall in line. The livid minister then asked the senior Babu to shift his junior to another post. But the experience-hardened senior Babu is standing his ground, saying an emphatic ‘no’ to the minister. With the minister fuming in impotent rage, the matter has been brought to the court of the chief minister. However, the wily CM is choosing to sit on the matter, allowing it to gain further steam. Both the Babus are firm in their views that SHGs being instrumental in generating jobs, nothing must be done to discourage them from going for more and more ventures. The question is which side the CM would finally take. Would he gratify the inflated ego of the minister or would he stand for his much- flaunted mission of checking migration through creation of new jobsIJ