Munna pill for pay panel boss

B.N. Srikrishna, who headed the Sixth Pay Commission, has been flooded with get-well-soon cards. No, he is not ill, the retired Supreme Court judge is only getting a taste of Munnabhai’s medicine.

The “well-wishers” are income-tax officials unhappy with their proposed pay packages.

Srikrishna, who lives in Mumbai, has decided to go on a two-month holiday to avoid being bombarded by the postcards.

Nearly 50,000 tax employees plan to send a lakh get-well-soon cards, like in Lage Raho Munnabhai.

But Srikrishna is not ready to give in to any Gandhigiri. He says even if the cards had come while he was heading the commission, it would not have made any impact on his decision.

True Gandhigiri, he adds, lies in working honestly instead of spending money on such a “futile exercise”.

Srikrishna has advised the protesters to direct their postcards to the Prime Minister or the finance minister’s office. He has instructed his staff and deputed a person specifically to throw away the cards.

Author Naidu, agent Cong

The Congress in Andhra Pradesh has found a new missile to fire at N. Chandrababu Naidu — his own book.

So, the party is busy promoting Plain Speaking to prove that the Telugu Desam president is anti-farmer.

In the book, penned in 2003 when he was chief minister, Naidu criticises free power for farmers and subsidised rice schemes.

To debunk his “tall talk” during his recent rath yatra, promising 12 hours of free power, pension to the poor, unemployment stipends and subsidised rice, the Congress has decided to distribute thousands of copies of the book.

The party has also decided to hold conferences across the state to expose the “real Naidu” ahead of the Assembly polls.

“We are not questioning his right to hold opinions,” Congress MP Undavalli Arun Kumar said. “But why is he talking exactly in the opposite manner now?”

Hawkers on a high

Hawkers are getting elevated, literally.

Mumbai’s civic body is considering a proposal to build 50 skywalks with separate zones for hawkers to clear the roads, a senior official said.

“The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is planning to build 50 skywalks and the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai has said that it would be interested in constructing 50 more,” metropolitan commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad said.

The MMRDA discussed the project with corporation officials a few weeks ago and the civic body showed interest in the project, Gaikwad added.

The skywalks will come up in areas where the flow of traffic is the heaviest.

“With the 50 skywalks that we are constructing, it is expected that 30,000 hawkers can be rehabilitated. If the corporation chips in with another 50, the number of hawkers will rise to 60,000,” Gaikwad said.

UNI

Office on wheels

A provident fund tribunal has not had an office for more than a year — it has been running from a car.

The Bar Association of Employees Provident Fund Appellate Tribunal recently moved Delhi High Court seeking a directive to the government to allot it a permanent office.

eeking a status report from the Centre by May 15, the exasperated judges asked: “How can a tribunal function in a car?”

The tribunal has been operating from the official car of its presiding officer, which is parked near Mayur Bhavan in Connaught Place, since its Nehru Place office was gutted in June 2007.

PTI

Mumbai: A creative writing workshop will teach Mumbaikars how to become professional writers and techniques used by editors. Organised by a group called Write Right in Khar (West), the workshop will be on till May 19. For details, call 9820119421.