Back space

Officials in the finance ministry can partly blame the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for making them work last weekend. It is learnt that about 300 files were sent to the PMO over the last one month when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was handling the finance portfolio. Most of these files were pending in the PMO and were sent back to the finance ministry when Chidambaram took charge. With eight to 10 files up for the FM’s approval every day, the new minister naturally wanted to clear the backlog. And sure enough, he wanted all officials to be present in the office to answer his queries.