While his Cabinet colleagues are putting in their papers , Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who was asked to wait after giving his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 23, hasn’t come to Rail Bhavan for the past 10 days.
He has been holding official meetings and issuing directions from his residence and has avoided public events since. “He hasn’t come to Rail Bhavan since he offered his resignation,” a senior Railway Ministry official said. After two trains derailed in Uttar Pradesh in four days, claiming at least 24 lives and injuring more than 150, Mr. Prabhu gave his resignation to the PM.
Immediately after Mr. Prabhu met Mr. Modi after a Cabinet meeting, he left town for Maharashtra. Next day, he attended a ‘New India Pledge’ event in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra.
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A senior Railway Ministry official said the Minister’s office has discontinued the practice of circulating his engagements to top officials since August 23. Most of the meetings in his schedule were lined up at his residence at Akbar Road in New Delhi. The Minister met the newly appointed Railway Board Chairman Ashwani Lohani for a courtesy call at his residence, sources said.
The Minister has been actively issuing orders to the Rail Bhavan officials. On Wednesday, the Ministry of Railways said in a ‘tweet’ that “on the direction” of the Minister, they are putting in all efforts to provide relief to passengers of Mumbai suburban trains in the wake of heavy rains. “(He) has directed officials to ensure resumption of Mumbai suburban services as soon as possible once the water recedes,” the Ministry said.
On the same day, Mr. Prabhu held a meeting with United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director General Irina Bokova followed by a meeting with Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo at his residence and posted photographs of his meetings on Twitter. He also met Brune Poirson, a Minister of State in France, for a courtesy meeting at his residence on Thursday.
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An email questionnaire sent to Mr. Prabhu on Thursday didn’t elicit any response. He didn’t attend at least two public events in the national capital for which he had initially given confirmation – The Economist India Summit 2017 on Thursday and FICCI’s ‘Business and Climate Change Summit 2017’ on Friday.