In a meeting following the explosions, senior ministers of the ruling coalition reproached Home Ministry
In a meeting following the explosions, senior ministers of the ruling coalition reproached Home Ministry
The special meeting of the state Cabinet last morning was clearly not a forum for an uninterrupted expression of condolences for Wednesday's fatalities.
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Reportedly, senior ministers of the incumbent Democratic Front alliance, impatient with explanations forwarded by the Home Ministry headed by RR Patil, directed their barbs at it over the three chain blasts that killed 17 Mumbaikars and stunned the nation once again.
According to sources, as the meeting began, the Home Minister set forth to elaborate his department's initiatives for strengthening police force and updating security measures, telling his colleagues how some proposals were stuck in procedure and about plans to procure new weapons and equipment.
Slants abound
But senior ministers such as Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, Industries Minister Narayan Rane, PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal, Textiles Minister Naseem Khan and Public Health Minister Suresh Shetty, cut him short testily.
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The ministers are believed to have told Patil that no one had stopped him from procuring the required weaponry and equipment. "You have to take the decision," stresses a minister pertly.
Bhujbal asked rhetorically if the available CCTV footage was even monitored by the police on a regular basis.u00a0
When Patil spoke of the purchase of bulletproof jackets and how only two bids had been received so far, Pawar retorted that the required funds had been made available for the purpose and it was the home department's job to take a call on it.
Hush!
Former chief minister Rane, for his part, was vocal about his dissatisfaction with the compensation package for victims afflicted by permanent disability, as they would be rendered jobless.
The Rs-5 lakh package announced for the deceased should also be enhanced, he demanded. He is believed to have said that the police were divided in groups, which affects their performance.
u00a0But, interrupting the discussion fraught with shrill comments, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan told his colleagues to restrain from speaking further the media reports these things the next day.u00a0
A boo for big entourages
The Cabinet also spent considerable time discussing the propriety of the visits by politicians and ministers to blast victims in hospitals.
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Advocating a code of conduct, Dy CM Pawar said that drawing political mileage through such visits was deplorable.
"Norms should be set on the number of party workers a politician can take along to hospitals," he reportedly said.
He was referring, according to sources, to RPI leader Ramdas Athawale, who was accompanied by at least 50 of his party workers to hospitals on Wednesday night.
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