The secretariat corridor remains empty on Tuesday as most of the ministers, including the chief minister, have left for Swabhiman Samavesh in Delhi. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, June 11: Some were hooked on to computer games, a few others caught taking a nap, but for a majority of ministerial employees, today was a holiday by default.

With chief minister Naveen Patnaik and most of his ministers having left for Delhi for the BJD’s June 12 Swabhiman Samavesh, the state’s power corridor has been robbed of its usual buzz.

Only higher education minister Badri Narayan Patra and his ST/SC development ministry colleague Lalbihari Himrika were today closeted with their employees in their respective offices. Deputy chairman of the state planning board Surendranath Nayak was also spotted in office.

Sources said Himrika was not sure of his Delhi plans as he was under pressure following the Union tribal ministry’s rap on the controversial Niyamgiri issue. The ministry has raised questions on the state government’s decision to hold gram sabhas at only 12 villages of Niyamgiri in Kalahandi district where Vedanta Group’s bauxite plant is located.

On the other hand, Patra was busy attending a meeting about streamlining the ongoing junior college and degree admissions. He was supposed to leave for the capital tonight to join the rally where the BJD will seek to attract the Centre’s attention to Odisha’s demand for a special state status.

In the absence of their bosses, the ministerial staff members had a field day. The offices of quite a few ministers, including that of agriculture and housing and urban development minister Debi Prasad Mishra, were closed by 1pm. The offices, which remained opened beyond the lunch hour, witnessed thin attendance.

The staff members had even forgotten to switch on the lights on the first floor of the power corridor. When the afternoon became pleasantly cool following rain, a few of them enjoyed a siesta. Some others were glued to the television to keep a tab on the developments for Delhi’s rally tomorrow.

In many cases, the private secretaries of various ministers also did not turn up for work. Only one staff member was seen working diligently in the tourism minister’s office. However, in the case of panchayati raj office, the private secretary was present along with a few support employees.

“Not a single file moved today. The staff members, who were present in office, spent the day fixing appointment of their ministers with their respective counterparts in the Union government,” said sources.

A senior officer attached to a cabinet minister said there had been no work over the past seven days due to preparations for the rally. “We remained busy in booking flights and trains for the ministers and their supporters for the Delhi Challo meet. The buzz will be back after the much-hyped rally gets over,” the officer said. Many employees said work would begin in the right earnest at the state secretariat after June 17 in view of the three-day Raja festival beginning Friday.