CM meets Akali ministers
By Sarbjit Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 2 — Alarmed at the resurgence of the Congress as evident from the Adampur byelection outcome, the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and his Akali Cabinet colleagues met for over three hours here today to find out what went wrong with the party within a short span of 21 months of its governance.

The meeting, was held at the residence of the Chief Minister. No BJP minister was invited. Refusing to divulge the details, the ministers said that the party plan to check the advance of the Congress would begin to unfold in days to come.

It is the first time that the Chief Minister and his colleagues have felt a challenge by the Congress in the state since the Akali-BJP government took over the reins of power in February, 1997. The Akali-BJP combine has been on a winning spree since February 1997. Hence, it had almost forgotten the presence of the Congress as a political outfit in the state.

At the meeting most ministers looked towards the Chief Minister for political direction to make governance more effective so that its impact is felt by all concerned. Informed sources said some ministers urged Mr Badal to give a new look to the politico-administrative set-up and make it more accountable.

Some ministers went to the extent of urging Mr Badal to change the portfolios of ministers if he felt that such an exercise was required to project a new image of the government.

In a subtle and polite manner, a number of ministers told Mr Badal that even "clerks were more powerful" than them. Many a time instructions or files sent by them with official remarks were put in the cold storage by the lowest functionaries of the government, they reportedly told the Chief Minister.

The ministers also complained against bureaucrats who often missed important meetings of their departments. Most bureaucrats preferred to send junior officials at such meetings, they said. Some ministers said in districts MLAs were treated as subordinates by bureaucrates.

The ministers stressed on the need for gearing up the development process in the state and for providing funds for this purpose. They wanted the official machinery made more accessible to people in the districts.

Mr Badal told the ministers not to remain confined to their constituencies but also make themselves available to people in other parts of the state.

Informed sources said rising prices, poor performance of the BJP-led government at the Centre and the "indifferent" attitude of the bureaucracy in the state were the main reasons for the defeat of the party candidate in the Adampur byelection. The issue of corruption also figured briefly.

From today's meeting it is clear that a major reshuffle in the state administrative machinery is on the cards before the coming session of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha. According to sources close to Mr Badal, the Chief Minister has decided to overhaul the politico-administrative set-up in the state.