UD Secretary Krishna claims that Chidambaram humiliated him

NEW DELHI: Urban Development Secretary Sudhir Krishna has written to Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath as well as top finance ministry officials, stating that he felt insulted and humiliated at a recent meeting chaired by Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

Top government officials aware of the development told ET that the incident occurred during a meeting called by the Finance Ministry to consider changes sought by the urban development ministry in the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission or JNNURM.

"When Chidambaram asked the Urban Development Secretary to explain the need for the changes proposed to JNNURM, Krishna explained the proposition partly in Hindi and partly in English," the official said, adding that the minister requested the secretary to speak in English on a couple of occasions as he was unable to follow the gist of his submissions in Hindi mixed with English.

Finally, Chidambaram is learnt to have told Krishna that if he is not comfortable describing the proposal in English, he could do it in Hindi and other officers in the room could help translate it.

The meeting concluded with the Finance Ministry seeking more information from the Urban Development Ministry.

Two days later, Krishna separately wrote to officers present in the meeting, including Finance Secretary Sumit Bose, stating that he felt insulted and humiliated by the turn of events. A similar letter was also sent to Nath, said another senior government official who is aware of the matter’s background.