Jaswant Cleans On...

(From Indian Express)

Fed up with the Central Public Works Department's sloppy upkeep of North Block, Finance Minister Jaswant Singh wants the housekeeping and cleaning of the offices to be privatised. Finance Secretary S Narayan conveyed the minister's views in a memo. ''I will not have an unkempt ministry of finance,'' Singh thundered in another message to his staff, pointing out that the ministry cannot inspire confidence in others if it presents such a shabby and unkempt exterior. The action plan drawn up by additional secretary B P Mishra, who has been given 90 days to set the place in order, has created a flutter in North Block. All those occupying unauthorised makeshift cabins, which have destroyed the facade of the heritage building, have been ordered to vacate and find alternative space. The expenditure, revenue and economic affairs departments have to remove their numerous almirahs which currently clutter the corridors. There is a similar six-week deadline for clearing out abandoned air cooler plants and dead electrical cables. The courtyards of Lutyens's historic building, used as a dumping ground, are being cleared of broken furniture and odds and ends. The CPWD has been ordered to restore the gilded elaborately painted central dome ceiling which was covered with plaster of Paris during one of the routine white washing exercises! ... Yashwant Pitches In TooJournalists at External Affairs Minister Yashwant Sinha's first press confrence this week were assailed by an overpowering smell of agarbatti trying to camouflage a foul odour. Although the room had been fumigated just a day earlier and a dozen air freshening machines installed, the strange smell could not be eradicated. The swanky conference room at Shastri Bhavan, where the press meet was held, was renovated earlier this year at considerable expense and the External Affairs ministry is understandably furious that the CPWD has been unable to locate the source of the stink, which has been steadily growing stronger over the last month. At first, dead rats in the false ceiling were thought to be the cause, but a check of the vents ruled that out. Last heard, the CPWD engineers were investigating whether the damp in the wall to wall carpeting was the cause, even as MEA officials grind their teeth in frustration. Amma Vs MadamThe vibes between Sonia Gandhi and J Jayalalithaa were always cool and the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's recent outburst is merely one more manifestation of the strained relations. Jayalalithaa had high regard for Rajiv Gandhi, who made it a point to inquire solicitously about her various ailments. She felt Rajiv's widow ...