P K Mishra is back in Gujarat

P K Misrahas happily returned to Gujarat to 'fix' power tariffs. He has been appointedhead of the Gujarat Electricity Regulatory Commission (GERC) on retirement asUnion agriculture secretary in the end of August. Now, he has little problemstelling his Gujarat cadre colleagues how, despite being in Delhi since May 2004,he has managed to be close to Chief Minister Narendra Modi. "I met Modi when he was inDelhi on August 29. He was all praise for my job in Delhi and wanted me toreturn to Gujarat to head GERC," Misra was quoted as telling his colleagues. Andwhy not? He had failed to get a post-retirement job in Delhi. Though he had anoffer from Hyderabad, Ahmedabad was a better location. Already, there is speculationthat Misra will work as the most formidable advisor to Modi - especially on howto 'manage ' state-based IAS babus and where to transfer them. His biggest assetis his past - he worked as Modi's principal secretary during the 2002 riots andlater. His name figures in the famous R B Sreekumar diary as one of those whotried to ensure that investigations in the post-Godhra riots were soft-pedalled.Manybabus wonder why chief secretary Manjula Subramaniam was not taken in as GERCchief despite being most suitable. Known for her integrity, she ushered in theera of power reforms in Gujarat after the state lagged behind several otherstates. To retire September-end , many are not sure where she will gopost-retirement . She was heard telling her colleagues that she "decided not totake up the GERC post" because she wanted a 'lighter job' . A senior official inthe chief minister's office (CMO) said, Subramaniam may possibly be offeredchairmanship of the bluechip public sector undertaking Gujarat State PetroleumCorporation (GSPC). After all, she would feel quite 'relaxed' at GSPC, where alljob is being carried out by GSPC managing-director D Jagatheesa Pandian. Pandianhas been efficiently working in the GSPC since October 2001, when Modi came topower. He will be celebrating his seven years in office in October 2008 alongwith Modi. The longest-serving bureaucrat on one post, speculation is that,Pandian would continue heading GSPC for next three years - or till GSPC startsproducing gas from the KG basin exploration site off Andhra coast.A few days back,Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani was spotted at the chief minister's office(CMO). He came out of the office of Modi's principal secretary K Kailashnathan,smiling. He also met state ports secretary HK Dash. It is not known what thepurpose of the top tycoon's two meetings. But it is believed that he isconcerned about the future of Dholera port, which he wants to develop inpartnership with JK. On coming out of Kailashnathan's room, he told someone,"The government wants the Kalpasar project in the Bay of Khambhat. How canDholera port come up in that case?"An official in the CMO, onhearing Adani's remark, worriedly said, "This sounds like doom for either of thetwo projects." Ever since the tycoon's visit, many wonder if Kalpasar should bedropped. After all, Kalpasar was envisaged under Chimanbhai Patel and had thefirm backing of Modi's bete noire Keshubhai Patel when they were chiefministers. At that time, there were no plans for port-based investment inDholera region. Now, stakes for the port are rather high.One of the programmes worked out by the Gujaratgovernment to celebrate Gandhi Jayanti day is to install video-conferencingdevices simultaneously at Porbander jail and Porbander district court on October2. A file has already been moved for this in the state home department. Thoughapproached, it is not known whether Chief Minister Narendra Modi will personallylaunch the infrastructure in Porbander that day. But officials who are involvedin installing it are enthusiastic. State home secretary and IPS officer TSBisht, told someone that this will "reduce the time taken in transportingprisoners between the court and the prison". Many cops need to be involved injust taking prisoners to and fro. With the video conferencing deviceoperational, these cops could be put on "more useful jobs".But insiders say, the realreason for putting up the electronic device in Porbander is because it housessome of the most dreaded criminals. They tend to escape during transit with thehelp of criminal gangs operating in Porbander. The facility may stop the menace.Chief Minister Narendra Modi's principal secretary KKailashnathan was found to be busier than other babus in the Sachivalaya onSeptember 4.He did not want to be disturbedfor reasons he knew best. Though he was sitting alone, his staff said, he was"giving important dictations". Insiders later revealed thatModi had asked Kailashnathan to coordinate his ambitious plan to address nearly15 million schoolchildren on Teacher's Day for two hours. "Kailashnathan wasbusy contacting on phone, all and sundry, including district education officersand collectors to see that the V-sat facilities were intact in all schools ofevery town and village," a senior official in the state education departmentsaid, pleased with himself."As the CMO was coordinatingthe job, we had little work to do," he added. It is not known how successfulKailashnathan's effort was. But state IT officials said, out of a total of13,000 villages where V-sat facility has been installed, live telecast waspossible in 7,000 villages. The rest had to make do with live telecast onDoordarshan's Gujarati channel.Chief Minister Narendra Modi used an uncannyanalogy to explain to schoolchildren the importance of GUJCOC Bill. Even as thekids were already wondering about the reference to Gujarat Control of OrganisedCrime (GUJCOC) Bill in his Teacher's Day address, Modi went on to say how it waslike the "lock in the almirah at home which contained valuables" .He said, "I told the Prime Minister that parents lock their almirahsto ensure that their children do not become thieves. "It's a safety measure,"Modi told the children. "If parents were to keep their almirahs open, childrenwould be lured to steal. First they would steal Rs 2only, but later on they will start stealing Rs 4, then Rs 100 and so on," heclaimed to have told the PM. "We as state governments have to act like goodparents. GUJCOC is just a safety measure to ensure that citizens do not getdepraved." All this Modi said to a child's question on why NCC shouldn't becomecompulsory in order to fight terrorism!