Piyush Goyal and his three ministries - coal, power and renewable energy - were praised for holding a seamless press conference running for four hours across nine cities via video conference, but that wasn't the only initiative that was talked about. After the conference, "souvenirs" were handed out to journalists, with names and contact details recorded. Inside a gaudy bag was a solar lamp worth Rs 3,199.
The reason this was noteworthy is that government events rarely indulge in extending gifts to journalists the way corporations do. The gifts were distributed by the Solar Energy Corporation of India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the ministry of renewable energy.
Officials of this organisation present at the venue said this was a goodwill gesture to promote clean energy, though no one could clarify whose directions they were following.
Asked about this later, government officials said they were unaware of this development - which took place at the main exit gate of the National Media Centre, the venue of Sunday's conference. Senior ministry officials did, however, say the matter will be "looked into" with due seriousness.
