Star-Stricken Govt

Officials of Maharashtra govern­ment’s Public Works Department are going through a trying phase, astrologically speaking.

Officials of Maharashtra govern­ment’s Public Works Department are going through a trying phase, astrologically speaking. With a change of regime under Prithviraj Chavan, requests are piling up from newly-appointed ministers to align their offices with the stars.  “One minister in the last cabinet wanted the door aligned more to the left, this time another wants it to be centre-right. Some of them want yellow or orange coloured lights outside their doors. How many times can these changes be made? These requests are mind boggling,” says a PWD official who naturally wants to stay anony­mous. A majority of ministers have got astrologers, numerologists, vaastu shastra and feng shui experts to design their offices. Every request to the PWD is backed by superstitious mumbo-jumbo from an ‘expert’. Gurus walking in and out of cabins, exercising their divine powers and links in search of the perfect office, have become a common sight at Mantralaya. PWD officials can’t deny these requests. It would be a career hazard.

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Haima Deshpande