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Men of action

It was jus another harassing night yesterday. With the pictures of tsunami devastation afresh in everyone memories, no one was taking any chance after the second quake in Banda Aceh on Monday night.
Though the government departments were on their alert, the bureaucratic diplomacy was seen to the core in the words and actions of officials. It was irritating to hear Kapil Sibal clearly washing his hands off the episode during such an hour of crisis.
When queried on what actions was being taken after the possible tsunami threat, he simply said "we've informed the home ministry about the quake and that's our duty. about what action would they act, its up to them to decide."
At such an hour, when everyone is confused as to what to do and where to look, being the first government representative to have appeared on screen, I felt it called for a little more responsible answer from his side. Instead of sticking to his bureaucratic parlance about "its not my department's job" , the matter surely called for some more human considerations. After its human life that's at stake.
Compared to this, it was heartening to hear about Cuddalore and Nagapattinam Collectors' taking stock of the situation instantly and not awaiting the arrival of the "official word" for any kind of evacuvation process.
Of course, the difference in both the cases, the latter had not just witnessed the disaster but suffered along with those affected while the former has only been watching it over his TV screen sitting in his cosy cabin.
Its time that ministers start visiting their constituencies and other places other than for election canvassing and foundation stone laying.

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