Minister of state for telecom and IT, Gurudas Kamat, and the minister of state for social justice, Prateek Patil, have also been away from Delhi.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh presided over a half-empty Cabinet meeting on Thursday. The missing elements were nearly a dozen cabinet ministers, who were away campaigning in Maharashtra, for the assembly polls.
The notable absentees were agriculture minister Sharad Pawar, civil aviation minister Praful Patel, power minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, minister for heavy industries Vilasrao Deshmukh, petroleum minister Murli Deora, minister for science and technology Prithviraj Chauhan and minister for social justice Mukul Wasnik.
Minister of state for telecom and IT, Gurudas Kamat, and the minister of state for social justice, Prateek Patil, have also been away from Delhi. This absence has slowed down work in nine major ministries. Significantly, all the ministers in question are from Maharashtra and head portfolios like food and agriculture, civil aviation, power, heavy industries and social justice. They have all been away for more than two weeks and are likely to return to Delhi only after the October 13, the day of polls in Maharashtra.
The ministers and their mandarins have sought to defend the absence by saying that campaigning is part of the job and that work has not suffered on account of their absence.
They say all important documents that require their immediate attention are being flown to wherever they are.”No important decision has been left pending. I attend to my work even from here,” says social justice minister Mukul Wasnik.
One minister also defended the ferrying of files, saying it is usual, “Even when we are on tour, all important matters are referred to us.” Observers feel that the prolonged absence of senior ministers such as Sharad Pawar looks odd, especially since everybody’s talking about price-rise. However, functionaries in his ministry say that the minister is monitoring the situation and issuing instructions from wherever he is.
Praful Patel is another minister whose absence is being felt. During last month’s standoff between pilots and the Jet Airways management, the Prime Minister’s office reportedly advised him to take a break from the campaigning and resolve the crisis.
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