Finance ministry seeks Idiot's tip to tackle Budget blues

As the ministry of finance gets into the Budget mode, its officials perhaps want to tell themselves, "All is well". So, they have none other than Aamir Khan, alias Rancho of recent Bollywood blockbuster 3 Idiots, talking to them this weekend on Cinema and Society.

The Aamir Khan talk is part of a three-day retreat, which will take the finance ministry officials away from the dry world of files and bring them back "refurbished", albeit, within the same opaque walls of North Block, which has turned even more secretive this week in the run-up to the Budget.

"The idea is to have just self-reflection and camaraderie among the officials," said a senior finance ministry official. Khan will not be charging anything from the ministry, as he is "coming as a goodwill gesture". Around 80 officials -- from the level of deputy secretaries and above -- in the departments of economic affairs and financial services would take part.

"Cinema is an important part of the society. We wanted a cerebral film personality to hold the workshop. Last time we had invited Shekhar Kapur," said the finance ministry official.

The offsite programme will be held at the National Institute of Financial Management in Faridabad, courtesy the ongoing austerity drive, from January 8 evening. The previous two annual retreats were held at the popular tourist spots of Surajkund and Sohna near Delhi.

"The budget for the retreat is nominal, since we are availing of the hostel facility at the institute. The expense is only on transportation through buses and food, which is being provided by our regular caterer," the official added.

Another official said providing separate rooms to each participant was proving to be difficult and some of the directors would need to share accommodation.

Attendance at the retreat is compulsory. Officials, therefore, are frantically trying to reschedule their Friday meetings, lest they are forced to defy the informal "whip".

The senior-most bureaucrat, Cabinet Secretary K M Chandrashekhar, is expected to join in for some time on Saturday, after being personally escorted by Finance Secretary Ashok Chawla. The top man at North Block, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, may, however, give the event a miss.

Besides a session on India in the Emerging Global Scenario scheduled for the second day, there would be sessions on yoga and skill enhancement. Yoga would be conducted by the government-run Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga. The programme would wrap up with a skit presented by the officials and a cricket match.