Reproduced from Mumbai Mirror November 18, 2008 page 4
Jana, Gana...man ho na ho
NGOs march to minister’s office, start singing national anthem, force him to stand up
DANISH KHAN
A group of NGOs marched into a minister’s office at Mantralaya and sang the national anthem, forcing him to stand up. The incident happened on Monday when activists from various NGOs met Patangrao Kadam, minister for co-operation, rehabilitation and relief works.As the group reached the office at the appointed hour, they were ushered into the conference room of the minister’s cabin. “Kadam was kind enough to grant us an audience, which is rare thing among ministers,” said Vijay Chauhan, a member of a social organisation, Public Concern for Governance Trust (PCGT).
The minister joined them and before discussions, the ministers’ aide instructed the group to keep the meet short as Kadam had a busy day ahead. But suddenly, without warning, members of the group and particularly Chauhan, insisted they sing the national anthem.
“I told him we never start any meeting without singing the national anthem. Kadam said there was no need for it and that discussions could start straightaway,” said Chauhan. But to everyone’s surprise, Chauhan started singing the anthem anyway.
“The minister had no option but to stand and sing along with us. We started putting forth our points after the anthem was over,” said I K Chhugani, member of social organisation PLEAD, who was part of the group. The meeting lasted 30 minutes with Kadam giving them a patient ear. The group, who met to discuss state co-operatives issues, asked the minister to ensure administrators appointed by registrars were not incompetent or corrupt and that registrars act on complaints registered by members of co-operative societies. “We also asked him to ensure that corrupt registrars were transferred to non-executive postings, transparency be brought into the department and pending cases be expedited,” said Chauhan.
“He instructed principal secretary Dr Sudhir Kumar Goel, to look into the issues raised by us. We will meet him again after 15 days,” said Mukund Parekh, another member.
At the end of the meet, sixtyone-year old Chhugani even asked the minister his age. “Kadam told me he was 72, to which I mentioned we were all getting older and that we should do positive things so that our future generations have a better life,” said Chhugani. When contacted Patangrao Kadam said: “I have asked my officer to look into their issues and if anybody is found guilty, necessary action will be taken.”
It is now to be seen if the NGO members sing the national anthem again, at the next meet.
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