Smart project? Congress in talks to manufacture 300 AC shelters for cows

The Congress-led government in Madhya Pradesh is considering adopting a corporate model for the proposed smart cow shelters. The state government is in talks with a Delhi-based company to manufacture some 300 air-conditioned cow shelters for its 0.6 million cow population. The company will make 60 cow shelters a year for the next five years. This smart cow shelter project will be funded through MGNREGA and CSR funds. Cow shelters were an important issue in the Congress party manifesto released before the Assembly elections. The Congress party also accused the previous Bharatiya Janata Party government of not setting up a single cow shelter in the state during its 15-year regime.

Panic in MP cabinet

The Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government, hanging by a wafer-thin majority, is finding it difficult to keep its ministers under control. During a recent meeting, a minister, allegedly owing allegiance to the Scindia camp, got into an altercation with Chief Minister Kamal Nath. Those present at the meeting said they had never seen anything like that before. There are rumours that Nath, who is under pressure from independent MLAs and smaller allies, might have to expand his cabinet to "accommodate" allies. And to make space for new ministers, he might have to ask some current ones to resign. This rumour has created a flutter in the Jyotiraditya Scindia and Digvijaya Singh camps. Some ministers are said to be holding unofficial meetings and preparing their responses to handle such an eventuality.

Speed is of the essence

Despite Kerala Chief Minister's repeated appeal that "each file has a life depending on it", and that they should be dealt with swiftly and in a humane way, little seems to have changed in some government offices. According to a recent report, over 100,000 files are in queue in the Kerala state secretariat, with almost 25,000 of them waiting for at least three years. The report was published in the wake of the alleged suicide by an NRI businessman after some local government bodies held back approval to the ownership of a convention centre in one of the districts in the state citing various reasons.