A day to remember for a soon-to-retire home ministry staffer

For Mahipal Singh, the senior- most support staff in the home ministry, it was an unforgettable day as he, flanked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and a host of ministers, inaugurated new dynamic lighting of North Block and South Block here today.
Singh, who will retire in 10 days, was seated in the front row with Union minister Hardeep Singh Puri next to him, followed by Modi and Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman.
Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar, Ravi Shankar Prasad, Maneka Gandhi, Jitendra Singh, Ashok Gajapati Raju, Ram Vilas Paswan, Birender Singh, Radha Mohan Singh, T C Gehlot, Dharmendra Pradhan and Harsimrat Kaur Badal were among those who sat in the rows behind.

"I am so happy," Mahipal Singh, who joined the Ministry of Home Affairs in a Group-D post in 1975, said a few minutes before the arrival of the prime minister at the venue.
After the inauguration, Modi was seen shaking hands with and talking to Mahipal Singh.
A 20-minute demonstration of the new lighting system was organised.
The Rashtrapati Bhavan, which is flanked by the illuminated North Block and South Block, will be covered with similar lighting next year.