My way forward

Ministers and their bureaucrats rarely agree on policy and a small example of this was on display at a conference hopefully titled "Development of Indian Mining Industry - The Way Forward", organised by industry lobby Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. Minister of Mines Dinsha Patel was supposed to deliver the inaugural address but was unable to attend at the last minute. So, Arun Kumar, joint secretary in the ministry, who was scheduled to chair a session afterwards, was requested to fill in. Kumar obliged but right at the start he firmly clarified that he was not there to read out Patel's prepared speech or convey his thoughts. "Whatever I will say will be in my personal capacity though I happen to be the joint secretary," he announced.