Plan to appease the Lords

What do employees of the foremost planning body that India can boast off do when the world is faced with unprecedented uncertainty? Simple — they hold a yagna. Not entirely convinced about the Planning Commission big bosses’ ability to successfully ward off the clouds of an economic slowdown looming large over the Indian economy — as well as the world at large — the workers decided to take things in their own capable hands. They conducted a havan on Tuesday. Of course, there’s no doubting the secular and pluralistic credentials of our society, and so a maulvi too was roped in!

However, a scrutiny into the entire affair revealed that the mission was not as straightforward as it was initially made out to be. An employee revealed that over the past few months, a number of Planning Commission employees had passed away due to assorted reasons. The yagna was actually meant to be an all-in-one formula — to solve in-house as well as global problems, arising on account of health and economic reasons, both. Here’s hoping the Gods are merciful!

Strong bonds
The General Insurance Corporation’s relations with its erstwhile subsidiaries seem impossible to sever. For, though the cabinet has decided to delink the reinsurer and its four arms, the amendment to the GIC Act is stuck in Parliament. To add to this, the government is now having to hand additional charge of National Insurance Company to GIC managing director P C Ghosh.

In a break from the past, it is also planning to put Oriental Insurance under the charge of joint secretary (banking and insurance) Ajit Sharan. The chief executive of National retired last month and the Oriental CMD (concurrently in charge of National now) is also superannuating this month-end. With another three general managers retiring next month, isn’t it time the government tries to cultivate a proper — and indeed, a younger — hierarchy in the public sector?