In Andhra, taskmaster Naidu’s meetings are making matris, babus a jittery lot

Hyderabad:Sitting is the new smoking. This new buzz in health circles in the US in reference to sedentary lifestyle may have merited no attention in India, but senior babus and ministers in Chandrababu Naidu’s government, exhausted physically and mentally after the routine marathon meetings of the chief minister, are finding it apt in their case. The Andhra chief minister, known for his long-winding public speeches where he makes the same point at least thrice, has become something of a scare among senior bureaucrats and his ministers at review meetings. Such meeting stretch into hours and moving out to refresh is a strict no-no for the participants. The classroom-like situation has left even the cabinet ministers grumbling. A minister, who hero-worships Naidu, doesn’t mince words: “We want to replicate everything akin to America. My boss got Microsoft to India. But their thought process and new scientific findings on health-related tuning of daily regimen are the least followed. We do Cabinet meetings on iPads. But their long battery life too drains out before the meeting ends.” [caption id=“attachment_2237458” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Andhra Pradesh CM N Chandrababu Naidu. IBNLive[/caption] Another minister from Rayalseema said: “On some days, some of us have to attend three to four meetings. The only difference is the nomenclature - the christening of the meeting. Content may change at times, but the length and breadth of the meeting remains the same.” The three-day annual jamboree of the TDP Mahanadu between May 27 and 29 witnessed Naidu in action as he went into a talkathon. The much-needed breaks were provided by leaders who moved resolutions. Again, the boss wouldn’t relent. He insisted on his introduction and summary on every matter offering version 2.0 to every other leader’s feeble deliveries. The TDP has its share of motormouths and windbags but Naidu is on the way to beat them. His Cabinet meetings used to run for two to three hours depending on the subjects taken up for discussion during 1995-99 and 1999- 2004. This time the duration is getting longer. In his earlier stints the length of the meetings, at least where review of districts was involved, was understandable. Now he has a state that is shrunken in size. There are 13 districts instead of 23. But the length of the work day hasn’t condensed. The first-ever Cabinet meet conducted after assuming the reins of the residuary state lasted a full eight-hour shift with ministers being served a cup of curd rice. Of late, the meetings are forcing the some participants to partially practice the age-old dictum: “Eat breakfast like a king…” For, they hardly get time to have “lunch like a king and dinner like a pauper.” This may not be true, always. But, mostly, this is what happens. Fearing a snub from the boss, they are stretching their tolerance limits in case of nature’s call too, quipped a bureaucrat. What irritates them most is no decision taken in those sessions is earth-shaking. It’s mostly a monologue involving the chief minister. A senior bureaucrat quoted a recent story from Economic Times, which highlighted that several top-notch Fortune 500 companies are creating facility to stand and work, and wittily remarked: “We may have to request the chief minister to create a gym with treadmills and conduct the meetings there. So, we can walk the talk or listen to the gospel.” But he is quick to add: “Our boss means business.” Naidu has not missed the silent resentment though. In an oblique reference to a newspaper article on his prolonged lecture sessions, Naidu told his team: “If all of you are working well, I wouldn’t have had to conduct the meetings this long. But, you are not living up to my expectations. So I am compelled to prolong them.”