THIRD EYE: So, who’s in charge?

Home Minister Rajnath Singh left for Assam on a pre-scheduled two-day visit on Sunday morning even as the operation in Pathankot was raging. This was after he deleted his Saturday night tweet that the operation was a success. Inputs of such a strike were in the offing on January 1 itself when a meeting was chaired by NSA Ajit Doval and not the Home Minister to make advance preparations in terms of NSG troops being dispatched to Pathankot. Doval on Monday postponed his trip to China from Tuesday due to situations in Pathankot and Kabul.

Why the secrecy?

Uttar Pradesh State Information Commission, which had received flak for its draft RTI rules last year, is treading very carefully. Even though the rules were notified on December 3, 2015, they are still not in the public domain. Neither has the state transparency watchdog put it up on its website nor the nodal department on theirs. State chief information commissioner Jawed Usmani has been justifying the secrecy for over a month with an argument that the commission’s website was being revamped.

Keeping Away from Media

BJP president Amit Shah’s brusque handling of media seems to have rubbed on to his staff as well. Any query about Shah’s schedule or any important leader having met him is turned down with terse replies. Even though the decline is peppered with ‘please’ and ‘thank you’, the message is clear and curt: not to call again for the same information.

Statistics to Conferences

The HRD ministry’s latest appointment has raised eyebrows in the Press Information Bureau. For, it has appointed a nodal officer, B N Tiwari, deputy director general of HRD statistics division to handle and develop the ministry’s communication strategy, a move said to be made on PMO instructions. The interesting part is Tiwari is also entrusted with issuing press releases and organising ministry press conference, a function usually the sole preserve of PIB.