Game set and match to power kids

The tennis court at the secretariat is where one finds shorts-clad IAS and IPS officers or their children wielding the racquet in the morning and evening. Former chief secretary G.S. Kang used to be uncompromising when it came to his tennis time and refused the request of ministers to be present at a meeting if it clashed with his game schedule. owever, a new building is coming up in the court and the work threatens to hamper the tennis. As workmen began the process of bull-dozing the tennis ground, the children of some IAS officers who were playing put up a strong resistance. “Where will we play our tennis if you people finish off this court?” texted a son to his IAS-dad. The IAS officer was sitting at a meeting with senior colleagues and put forward the question to his friends. The end result: the bulldozing of the tennis court has been put on stay until an alternative arrangement is made.

Choosy Nitish

Chief minister Nitish Kumar of late has become very choosy about attending the functions he has to go to. He skipped a marriage function of the relative of a high-profile MP on the pretext that his mother was ill. On Sunday, he was invited to attend the reception hosted by the relatives of a high-profile family which once had a political say in the affairs of the state. Ignoring the red carpet laid out for him, the chief minister went off to his ancestral village Kalyanbigha with the urns of his mother and skipped the party. “He, however, did go to the house of an RJD MLA to mourn the death of the legislator’s father,” said a close associate. According to political gossip, the chief minister believes that the family which invited him to the reception was actually fanning the “revolt” at the site of a project which is a brainchild of Nitish.

‘Unsporting’ board

The secretariat’s sports club is virtually controlled by the top bureaucracy. However, the present location has to be changed as it has been earmarked for a massive building. The officials have approached the Bihar State Electricity Board for land near its school in Patna for building a new infrastructure for the sports club. The board initially verbally agreed to hand over its land for the sports club. “But the rising estate prices has suddenly made the board change its mind. Now they are asking for the market rate for the land,” rued an IAS officer, stressing that now the future of the sports club hangs in the balance.