Kargil Vijay Diwas turned out to be an occasion for Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi to engage in a healthy conversation with members of the Council of Ministers, probably for the first time in the last several months after the turf war reached its zenith.
On Wednesday, when Ms. Bedi reached the war memorial on the Beach Road to pay obeisance to soldiers who were martyred in the Kargil war, she took aside Public Works Minister A. Namassivayam, Revenue Minister M.O.H.F. Shahjahan and Education Minister R. Kamalakannan and held an impromptu discussion with them.
In her conversation with Mr. Kamalakannan, she said there was no point in the abrupt cancellation of Centralised Admission Committee (Centac) counselling for MBBS course as the NEET stream had come into force because of the Supreme Court directive.
What the government could have done, she said, was to enact a law to get 65% seats from private medical colleges as government quota.
She said Tamil Nadu government had passed a similar legislation.
Coaching centres mooted
The government could set up coaching centres to equip the students deal with NEET. “We could get better results if the students are trained properly,” she said.
She wanted a thorough revamp of Centac before the next academic session. Ms. Bedi said she was in favour of filling key posts in Centac with meritorious educationists.
The Lt. Governor urged Mr. Namassivayam to find a long-term solution to dispose of garbage dumped at the Kurumbapet yard.
The Minister said the Local Administration Department was evolving the viability of various waste disposal mechanism.
Mr. Namassivayam used the occasion to take up with Ms. Bedi the delay in distribution of free rice. The Lt. Governor said she would talk to the Secretary, Department of Civil Supplies, on the issue.
The Lt. Governor urged Mr. Shahjahan to take steps in the Transport Department to improve public delivery mechanism.
Ms. Bedi said she had received complaints about lack of access to public transport in rural areas. She requested the Minister to bring structural changes in the department.
The conversation in full public glare had generated much curiosity as it happened after a long break where the titular head had seen sharing a dais with members of the Cabinet.
Shortly after Ms. Bedi left, a Minister told The Hindu that they took a conscious decision to be present much before she arrived and were prepared for a conversation.
However, whether the day’s events would pave the way to bring about a thaw in the administrative logjam between thje Lt. Governor and ruling Congress remains to be seen.
