A day after the Centre submitted a roadmap for elite institutions in the Seemandhra region, HRD Minister MM Pallam Raju, who had last month tendered his resignation to protest against the Cabinet’s decision for a separate State of Telangana, attended an official engagement on Wednesday.
Raju had since kept away from his Ministry and official functions even though his resignation was not accepted by the Prime Minister. Raju hails from Kakinada constituency in Seemandhra region of the bifurcated Andhra Pradesh. HRD Ministry on Tuesday submitted a Rs 7,000-crore education infrastructure plan including IIT, IIM and Central Universities for Seemandhra to the Home Ministry for representation to the GoM Telangana
Ending a long spell of absence, Raju along with top officials of HRD Ministry including HRD Secretary Ashok Thakur turned up at a workshop on ‘designs’ in the presence of adviser to the Prime Minister Sam Pitroda.
On the occasion Raju said he was only making it for Rs some productive seminars’. “I address the seminars that I feel are productive to me. So I have that luxury of having resigned and not yet out of the job,” he said.
“I am going through a very different way of working myself. In reality I have quit being a Minister, I have submitted my resignation to the Prime Minister which he has not accepted as yet, it’s been over a month. So I have found a new way of working. I work out of home now, have flexible timings,” Raju said in his brief remarks on the occasion.
Though he said he has left the policy issues to Education Secretary and he was looking into the files he wants to, officials have been briefing him at his residence. Sources said he is also expected to attend a meeting of the directors of National Institute of Technology (NIT) on Thursday likely to be chaired by President Pranab Mukherjee.
Raju had attended one programme at Rashtrapati Bhawan organized by HRD Ministry earlier but not in the capacity of a Cabinet Minister but to “respect” the chair of President. He also skipped the crucial Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) meet in October and several others ever since he resigned.