The power of H

Dilli is buzzing with the expectations generated by the quartet of four powerful mantris now getting their act together. These are the four crucial 'H' sectors where the government expects to deliver quick and visible results in the short run, however difficult and almost impractical it may be. H1 (oh my! it does sound like a virus) must certainly be Home, where Chidambaram is now carrying on from where he had left post-electoral.

And now, armed with a new Home Secretary, hand-picked for him, it's going to be full steam ahead to ensure that the nation feels more secure under the new UPA regime.

The next big H, is clearly the Health Ministry. Here the redoubtable Ghulam Nabi Azad opened with some gratuitous remarks on both AIDS and cigarette smoking. Starting stutters maybe, but he is about to unleash his entire administrative muscle in creating the new rural health scheme, which is going to be the high point of the next aam aadmi initiative of the UPA regime.

Then there is the small matter of the big ministry HRD, where an eager-to-prove-himself Kapil Sibal has to unravel the impossible knots that his Jurassic Park predecessor Arjun Singh had got the ministry into. The temptation to certify deemed universities aside, Sibal has lots of constructive initiatives that are just waiting to be launched.

One cannot of course forget Highways. The redoubtable former commerce minister, Kamal Nath may have initially felt that he has a smaller turf to trample on, but it's a track that is lying fallow thanks to his corrupt predecessor. Nath will now hopefully rejuvenate the sector that can generate quick employment across the length and breadth of the country as well as ensure huge assets and pathways to fuel growth for the future.

He knows that he can, and probably will, like everybody else on the H list, be measured almost on a monthly basis and therefore cannot afford to waste even a few hours.

Go for it, H boys!