Waiting for instructions

The first cracks are beginning to show in the iron loyalty imposed on the Narendra Modi Cabinet. The rigid control of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) on all bureaucratic appointments is, as many had predicted, becoming something of a flashpoint. The first to speak out is, according to reports, the irrepressible Maneka Gandhi, minister for women and child development. Apparently, she is still waiting for a name from the prime minister on who will be appointed the chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights. The entire commission has been defunct for months, as the ministry has been unable to appoint the remaining members until the chairperson is appointed. The word on the bureaucratic grapevine is that the PMO has been warned that it is best not to try the mercurial minister's temper too far.