Fire, fire

Worried over negative publicity to the government when its chips are already down most United Progressive Alliance ministers have started making elaborate arrangements to face the media. But sometimes things don't go as planned. One such incident happened recently when minister of state for sports and youth affairs Jitendra Singh was asked to speak to the press on a topic on which he was not well-prepared. Singh did not want to take any chance. He immediately summoned his OSD and said that he should have been apprised of the talking points before being asked to face the media. The harried officers went into a huddle with the minister, keeping the pressmen waiting and emerged a good 10 minutes later with all the details in place. Firefighting is not just the Congress high-command's prerogative it seems.