Mamata, Alagiri absent from most cabinet meetings, RTI plea finds

New Delhi: Former railway minister Mamta Banerjee and Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister M.K. Alagiri had the lowest attendance record at union cabinet meetings, information obtained by a Right to Information (RTI) applicant revealed.

According to the findings, while the Congress ministers in the United Progressive Alliance government have been regular in the cabinet meetings, ministers from other allies have a poor record of attendance.

Banerjee, who heads the Trinamool Conference and Alagiri, of the DMK, had the lowest attendance record.

"Ministers from smaller regional allies of UPA government have no seriousness even for attending cabinet meetings with Mamta Banerjee and M.K. Alagiri with the worst record of having attended just about 15 percent of cabinet meetings," said RTI activist Subhash Agarwal, who had filed the query.

While Alagiri attended eight out 48 cabinet meetings in fiscal 2010-11, Banerjee, who resigned from the cabinet to take over as the West Bengal chief minister, had attended only six.

However, the ministers from Congress, which leads the UPA government, have had a good track record with some recording full or near full attendance.

According to the findings, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and Defence Minister A. K. Antony have cent percent attendance while Home Minister P. Chidambaram and Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal are also close to the 100 percent figure.

"Analysis of attendance of union ministers in cabinet-meetings as revealed through RTI response reveals that only ministers from main national party (Congress) in UPA alliance are serious in legislative business by having appreciable attendance-record in cabinet meetings with some of them being even cent percenters," said Agarwal.

The government denied any provisions to make the attendance record of cabinet meetings public by posting the details on an official website.

"As of date, there is no such proposal in the cabinet secretariat," said K.L. Sharma, director in the cabinet secretariat.

                                           Home | Top of the Page

Top Stories

Judiciary, PM should not be under Lokpal: Former CJI

It would be a "mistake" to bring the judiciary and the prime minister under the Lokpal's ambit, former chief justice of India J.S. Verma has  »

Ahead of June 30 deadline, uncertainty continues over Lokpal bill

Lokpal debate ends on conflicting and sour note

  Most Read

Union Finance Minister to sell India's growth story on US visit

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee's two-day visit to Washington beginning Monday will be focused on reassuring foreign investors that India continues to be an attractive investment destination  »

Media's obsession with celebrities and ignorance of common people

For the Indian media, only the celebrities are important. If you are not famous enough, your say, your cause and even your life has little news-value for the mainstream media. In India, when a celebrity sneezes, whole media weeps in sympathy whereas when ordinary people die, in protest  »

  News Pick

Kashmir Interlocutors to hold round table in Jammu

The interlocutors on Jammu and Kashmir will hold a round table conference here in the second week of July to elicit views on finding a solution to the Kashmir problem. The interlocutors held a round table  »

Egypt turns down IMF, World Bank loans

Egypt has declined to take loans from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) presently, following cuts in budget deficit, Xinhua reported. "Egypt doesn't need any loans from IMF or WB (World Bank)  »

Afghan great game to influence India-Pakistan ties

With the talks between the foreign secretaries of India and Pakistan ending with a decision to explore more cross-Kashmir CBMs, the focus has now shifted to the unfolding Afghan great game and how it will influence  »

Educating Muslim Women in Modern India: Problems and Perspectives

The proportion of Muslim women who are illiterate is substantially higher for rural north India than for the entire country — more than 85 per   »

Picture of the Day

They are not high-profile celebrities, but at least 33 wildlife lovers have adopted animals at Bhopal's Van Vihar National Park here under their unique guardianship scheme. Others can also do the same. A board is put outside the enclosure with the name of the sponsor.

(Photo: IANS)