Fear of favours

2G, Commonwealth Games and all the murk that surrounds them has turned finance ministry officials ultra-cautious about accepting even the most harmless of favours. During the last Indian Premier League tournament, a senior official received and distributed bunches of high-value tickets; this time, he’s kept his desk empty. “We have strict instructions from the bosses that no undue favour should be sought,” he explained, adding, “The sponsors also told us that they could buy the tickets and send them to us if we wanted to watch the matches. Obviously, we can’t ask them to do that. There are also fewer complimentary tickets this time.” The result: even relatives of finance ministry officials were politely denied free entry to the venues.