Extra caution

Once accessible even without prior appointment, officials in the ministry of urban development are now shying away from the media. When a journalist presented her visiting card recently, the personal secretary of a senior official nodded regretfully: “Media not allowed.” When asked why, the secretary simply said the minister (M Venkaiah Naidu) had issued instructions to that effect last week and he was just following orders. Seems like the ministry in question is extra cautious about giving out any information, given that the issue of the allotment of VIP bungalows – one responsibility of this ministry among many others – has always been fodder for speculation and has caused a lot of heart-burn in recent years.