Finance Minister Arun Jaitley discharged from AIIMS

NEW DELHI: Union minister for defence and finance Arun Jaitley was discharged from the All India Institute of Medical Science ( AIIMS) on Monday after he recovered from an infection that had followed a surgery to treat diabetes.

Jaitley, who had gone straight to his new official residence, soon issued a statement as defence minister warning Pakistan on repeated ceasefire violations. Although he was advised by doctors not to exert himself too much, sources close to Jaitley said that the minister wanted to see all the papers and files that had piled up during his month-long hospital stay.

Jaitley has been clearing important files even from the isolation ward of AIIMS’ Cardio-Neuro tower, but he wanted to see what the other pending matters were, said the sources.

“He was being briefed about all important things in the hospital but he wanted to know about pressing matters like pending appointments because of his hospitalisation,” said an aide. His absence from two key ministries, finance and defence, for almost a month had raised concerns about slow decision-making, including delays in appointments of officials like the chief economic adviser in the finance ministry.