The Hindu Business Line : Away from the finance beat

The Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, arriving for an interactive meeting with women journalists at Indian Women's Press Corps in the Capital on Thursday. — Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , Aug. 12

THE articulate Finance Minister delighted and disappointed women journalists in the Capital on Thursday.

Speaking with members of the Indian Women's Press Corps, Mr P. Chidambaram veered away from his usual finance beat and with a certain freshness and insight spoke on a number of social sector issues that form the crux of good governance for any government. However, he forbade an `on record' rendering of his thoughts and concerns, making press personnel regret not being able to convey the other side of the hard core economics man.

Amidst red roses and light-hearted banter, including his three favourite Hindi words Mein Hoon Naa, the serious concerns of a finance minister who has to walk the delicate balance between the pressures of globalisation and the compulsions of coalition politics were obvious.

But what was new from the interaction was the serious deliberations taking place in the Government on key issues such as evolving an ideal delivery mechanism that would filter to the mass population and possible ways of ushering in accountability at every step of the delivery chain.

The six years out of government and the extensive travel within that period seems to have crystallised the minister's perspectives on development issues, which now he can put to practice.

His talk, which was punctuated with his experiences in and out of office and political life, revealed that the government was thinking out of the box. It seemed to be considering to put in place vital social sector solutions that have not been tried on a large scale before, but would be a challenge to implement.

Lunch, in fact, was interspersed with incessant hardcore economic and political questions that the minister patiently and wittily answered, sometimes dipped in utter diplomacy. But the taste he left behind was that the FM was focused in intent and meant business, may it be at an informal interaction or while calling the shots at North Block.

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Away from the finance beat