Closer Grassroots Links Planned

With ministers in the Vajpayee will devote two hours every week exclusively for meeting party functionaries and getting their work done. A suggestion to this effect has already been adopted by the party's three day national executive which concluded here yesterday.

The details of the scheme is to be finalised by the BJP president Kushabhau Thakre in consulation with prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The sub committee that recommended this also said that a coordination ceell comprising party and government reprsentatives be formed to coordinate between the party and goverbnment. The sub committee was formed at the Gandhinagar national executive meeing when members demanded that a mechanism be evolved for effective and better interaction between the party and government.

The sub committee recommended that a cell be formed at the party level to screen applications from party workers for various governmental favours. This cell which is to be headed by a senior party leader will route the applications to the concerned ministers for appropriate action. The cell will also arrange meetings between party functionaries and the concerned miknisters.

Many party leader complained at the meeting that ministers have not been respondinf to their applications or recommendations sent to them. To make the ministers more responsive senior party leaders have agreed to evolve a procedure and circulate it to the ministers. Under this process a minister would be obliged to reply to an applicant even if the work could not be done, a party leader said. The concerned minister would tell the applicant or those recommending the case the exact reason for the delay.

Another recommendation is to appoint political persons in the staff of key ministers.

They would deal in BJP leaders' interaction with the minister. They party had received complaints that ministers personal staff refused to recognise important party l;eaders on many occasions. Some Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leadersalso faced similar problems. Some national executive members pointed out to Business Standard that they did not face problems with union home minister L K Advani as his private secretary Deepak Chopra knew the entire BJP line-up. The committee has also recommended that the same mechanism should be set up in the states where the BJP is in power. The central coorfination cell will oversee implementation of the scheme at the state level.

The committee has hopwever rejected suggestion of some BJP leaders that party ministers should regularly\ sit in party office. The suggestion was mooted by union parliamentary affairs minister Madan Lal khurana at the Gandhianagr meet. The committee concluded that this could prove to be dangerous as ministers time could not be reserved exclusively for party workers.